Undergraduate Survey for Math Dialogue March 2010 Transition from High School to University Technology in High School Math Classes Resources for Undergraduates

Transition Issues Did you feel adequately prepared for your university math classes? Please elaborate, if you can, as to why, or why not. Majority of respondents reported feeling well-prepared for the first university calculus course In hindsight, was there a topic or topics that you felt should have been covered more fully in your grade 12 math courses so as to better prepare you for university math? Many respondents would have liked to have seen some treatment of anti-derivatives, simple integrals in high school (useful in the first physics course for Science and Engineering) Other topics mentioned were trig*, conics, proofs*, matrices, vectors, sequences, series (Taylor series), limits

Transition Issues What was the biggest challenge for you in regards to university math classes? Learning that I would have to do more than just attend class to do well. Motivating myself to study or do homework when I didn't have a test** Keeping up with the work,, it can be hard to catch up if you are just studying right before the midterm Dependence on textbooks, learning how to read a textbook for understanding** The workload, large number of assignments in math classes. Steep difficulty curve between semester 1 and semester 2, the second calculus course**. Learning Integrals on the fly*, learning proofs*, sequences and series.

Transition Issues What was the biggest difference between university math courses and your high school math courses ? Importance of final exams at university, % final is common* Much more independent work required at university. The level of language used at university was much more sophisticated. University is more structured, with test and assignment schedules given at the beginning of the term for the entire term. Pace. The classes moved much faster at university. Generality. In high school we were given a definition and then 10 specific examples. In university we are given 10 definitions and then a general example that applies to all situations. In high school we learned the material like a recipe book; there were specific steps in doing everything, every concept we were taught was “basically a rule to follow”. We focused on the “how” part of the problems as opposed to “why”. In uni we changed our focus and started concentrating on why the so-called rules were even true to begin with, and why what we were doing made sense.

Technology in Math Classes Do you have any thoughts as to the appropriate use of technology in high school math classes? Which technologies did you find helpful then and which technologies do you find helpful now that you are at university? The majority of respondents felt quite strongly that the insertion of technology into the high school math curriculum is at best a distraction (or diversion) and at worst can hinder real understanding. Most felt that while some technology can be useful, trying to teach it in a math class is a poor use of the limited amount of time available. Even at the university level several respondents reported that they prefer profs who use the blackboard as opposed to slides. Several respondents mentioned the value of learning some programming in high school or university** Technologies that respondents like include Excel**, webpages, online video tutorials, some graphing software, but most don’t seem to feel any of these are particularly necessary at the high school level. The graphing calculator seems to be almost universally loathed.

Resources for Undergraduates Have you made use of any of the following resources - Math Review Manual, Math Help Centre, Office Hours, Tutorials, Centre for Student Development (or other)? What resource was most helpful in getting you through first year math courses? Most respondents had used one or more of the above resources. “I worked through a lot of the Math Review Manual during the summer before university.” “Tutorials and the Math Help Centre are extremely useful resources** that most students completely ignore. They essentially replace all the factors that make university more difficult than high school.” “I never used office hours too much, mostly because professors intimidated me in first year. This was a big mistake.” “My number one recommendation for first years would be: GO TO OFFICE HOURS!!!!! ” ** “Centre for Student Development taught me all the good study habits I currently have.” (google “McMaster CSD Online Resources”, “Math”) Many respondents mentioned the support of peers and the value of a regular study group.