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The significance of ideas in undergraduate mathematics.

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<mark>Journal publication date</mark>06/1998
<mark>Journal</mark>Teaching Mathematics and its Applications
Issue number2
Volume17
Number of pages8
Pages (from-to)78-85
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

This study considers the extent to which students are acquiring an understanding of mathematics as a whole and of the relative significance of different parts of mathematics to that whole. Lecturers and undergraduates were asked to give five "big" ideas appropriate to the first two years of a mathematics degree, and to give reasons for their choices. The study indicates that, even after two years of undergraduate mathematics, many of the students involved had not developed such an understanding, and concludes that developing such understanding, while also maintaining high standards in students' content knowledge, will become an increasingly important challenge in the future.