MathinSite - Musings

Musings on the current state of mathematical ability of undergraduate engineers.

"Students today just aren't as good [mathematically] as they used to be". How many times have we heard this recently? I actually hear myself saying it from time to time and, to a certain extent, and, for a variety of reasons, it seems to be true. What I have to do, however, is to remind myself that I heard these same words from my mentor, Stan Simpson, when I started teaching undergraduate engineers over 30 years ago. Perhaps it has always been the same, but look at what was different back then:

came straight from school with no break in their education (currently more students are willing to take a 'gap' year - also there is now a higher percentage of mature students with a 10, or even 20, year break in their education).
experienced greater competition in gaining entry to the then approximately 30 universities (unlike the present 100+, so leading to a current 'wider trawl of the net').
had to have studied, and passed, A-level Maths, and probably Physics, to gain entry to undergraduate engineering courses (a wider diversity of A-levels nowadays has led to a reduction of students studying, hence offering, these more academically rigorous subjects).
had a feel for 'number' (most knew their 'times tables', for example, without having to resort to calculators).
weren't allowed formula books in examinations and so had to commit mathematical formulae and methods to memory - this helped to ensure that the mathematics was 'at their fingertips'.

So, there could be a case for proposing that some deterioration in student mathematical ability has occurred. One moment, though. 'Ability', here, is the wrong word. Student ability is not what is in question, rather it is capability. Most students are able to cope with undergraduate mathematics. However, owing to various reasons (some alluded to above - and mainly due to their mathematical upbringing), some students are not capable of successfully studying undergraduate engineering mathematics.

What university mathematics lecturers have to do is encourage and enhance students' innate mathematical ability by improving their mathematical capability.