The Teaching and Learning of Mathematics at University Level

This book is the final report of the ICMI study on the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics at University Level. As such it is one of a number of such studies that ICMI has commissioned. The other Study Volumes cover assessment in mathematics education, gender equity, research in mathematics education, the teaching of geometry, and history in mathematics education. All ofthese Study Volumes represent a statement of the state of the art in their respective areas. We hope that this is also the case for the current Study Volume. The current study on university level mathematics was commissioned for essentially four reasons. First, universities world-wide are accepting a much larger and more diverse group of students than has been the case. Consequently, universities have begun to adopt a role more like that of the school system and less like the elite institutions of the past. As a result the educational and pedagogical issues facing universities have changed. Second, although university student numbers have increased significantly, there has not been a corresponding increase in the number of mathematics majors. Hence mathematics departments have to be more aware of their students’ needs in order to retain the students they have and to attract future students. As part of this awareness, departments of mathematics have to take the teaching and learning of mathematics more seriously than perhaps they have in the past.