Undergraduate Work in Mathematics in Colleges of Liberal Arts and Universities. International Commission on the Teaching of Mathematics, The American Report, Committee No. X. Bulletin, 1911, No. 7. Whole Number 453
Author: Department of the Interior, United States Bureau of Education (ED)
Date: 1911-00-00
Type: Historical Materials
Subjects: Undergraduate Students,Criticism,College Mathematics,Inferences,Plane Geometry,Mathematics Instruction,Coeducation,Single Sex Schools,Questionnaires,Males,Females,School Catalogs,Surveys,College Admission,Academic Standards,Secondary Education,Algebra,Statistical Data,College Faculty,Mathematics Teachers,Teacher Education,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Secondary School Teachers

The work of this committee has been done in large part by three subcommittees, as follows: (1) On men's colleges; (2) On women's colleges; and (3) On coeducational colleges. The facts presented in these reports have been gathered from 60 or more leading colleges by the Bureau of Education through the use of a questionnaire, and have been supplemented materially from the catalogues and by special correspondence carried on by the subcommittee on colleges for men, and by a special short list of questions circulated by the subcommittee on coeducational colleges. By these means over 100 colleges were included in the survey. The practical uniformity found in the amount of mathematics required for admission to the colleges shows that in this particular a condition of equilibrium has been nearly attained; the secondary school teacher is not hampered in his work by diversity of standards. Accordingly, most schools now fit students for many colleges, and very little direct criticism from the single college reaches or affects them. Some more effective and stimulative mode of interaction, as through associations, is yet to be developed. Standardization has been the aim, and the fact is recorded that, temporarily at least, the mathematics of the secondary school is standardized, and the prevalent minimum is two and one-half years--one year of plane geometry, one and one-half years of algebra. Some colleges have imposed and later have withdrawn a requirement of solid geometry. In the reports of two subcommittees, some statistics are given of the number of men trained in universities and now teaching college mathematics. The very great increase in such teachers during two decades indicates two things: A broader knowledge of the field of mathematics, and the acquisition of what has been called the research attitude in the leading members of the profession in the United States. Two other inferences may be gathered from the data and the reports of the subcommittees: (1) College departments of mathematics could be improved by closer internal organization and esprit de corps, by more frequent discussion over the details of elementary courses, and by systematic study of the specific results attained in each course; in short, by organic self-criticism; and (2) The secondary schools, and colleges no less, could achieve more permanent results if they insisted upon teachers having specific training of a pedagogic kind in those subjects in which large classes are to be expected. (Contains 1 footnote.) [Best copy available has been provided.]