Student Poll Finds Faculty Math Training for Scientists

No adaquate provision is made for instructing undergraduate science concentrators in mathematics according to a recent Student Council poll of about 30 students. Answers to the Council's questionnaire complained of repetition of material in physics, chemistry, and biology courses.

"Students go into physical chemistry courses totally unprepared for the type of mathematics that must be used there," the report charged, since most students have neither the time nor the inclination to learn two years of mathematics aimed entirely at concentrators and largely useless to scientists.

Physics instructors find, moreover, that the teaching of important concepts from a mathematical point of view is insufficient for their purposes, the report said. Consequently, the material must be repeated, not only once, but in every course using the concept. Instruction in vector analysis may be repeated in as many as five courses, students reported.

Lack of coordination between Natural Science courses and departments leads to duplication of material, the report added. The extensive sequence of prerequisites for many courses was blamed for the difficulty.

If the scientist is to find time to accumulate this knowledge, often peripheral to his real interests, close coordination between courses and departments is necessary, the report said. With this coordination lacking in the present curriculum, some students are insufficiently prepared and important material is omitted, it added.

The survey, made in conjunction with a report on the Natural Sciences, found "no essential material lacking," and saw no demand for courses in the philosophy of science.