Timeline for Where and when did "transition to abstraction" courses start?
Current License: CC BY-SA 2.5
13 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Apr 7, 2019 at 11:35 | review | Close votes | |||
| Apr 7, 2019 at 15:10 | |||||
| Nov 29, 2017 at 18:18 | review | Close votes | |||
| Nov 30, 2017 at 9:23 | |||||
| Dec 15, 2013 at 0:58 | answer | added | Steven Landsburg | timeline score: 5 | |
| Dec 15, 2013 at 0:30 | answer | added | Benjamin Dickman | timeline score: 14 | |
| Jan 6, 2011 at 15:31 | comment | added | Zhen Lin | @Gerald Elgar But why is there an assumption that such a course is not necessary for mathematics students? Certainly some, maybe even most of them won't need much introduction to it, but I'm not convinced that there aren't people who wouldn't benefit from a transitional course introducing abstraction. | |
| Jan 6, 2011 at 12:47 | comment | added | Gerald Edgar | My impression ... when mathematics students are combined with engineering and physics students at first, the courses don't do much on proofs, so there needs to be such a course for the mathematics students to take before they can go on. Another impression ... in Europe, mathematics students do not take the same courses as engineering and physics students, so their courses can include proofs from the start. Who knows if my impressions have any validity? | |
| Jan 6, 2011 at 8:56 | comment | added | Ben Webster♦ | @Alex - For example, look at MATH 307 on this page: uocatalog.uoregon.edu/liberalarts/Mathematics | |
| Jan 6, 2011 at 7:49 | comment | added | David Feldman | @Daniel I don't associate such courses with "New Math." Indeed quite possibly they arose to compensate for its demise. But I'm not sure. | |
| Jan 6, 2011 at 7:48 | comment | added | David Feldman | @Alex I'm asking about college and university courses that go by many names, "Introduction to Proof," "Introduction to Abstraction," "Basic Structures of Mathematics." I have in mind courses intended and required of primarily mathematics (and possibly computer science) majors, designed to follow calculus, but to precede one-variable analysis, abstract algebra and topology (ideally so that professors in those more advanced courses can focus on content rather than methodology). | |
| Jan 6, 2011 at 7:26 | history | edited | Ben Webster♦ | CC BY-SA 2.5 |
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| Jan 6, 2011 at 7:20 | comment | added | Daniel Litt | My guess from the comment about high school geometry courses is that the OP is referring to courses introducing students to the mechanics of proofs and abstract mathematics, as opposed to the purely algorithmic courses one generally sees in high school. My understanding is that this began in some secondary schools with the "New Math" movement (now defunct, though the song it inspired is pretty well-known) but I obviously have no personal experience to back up that claim. | |
| Jan 6, 2011 at 7:09 | comment | added | Alex B. | Dear David, could you please explain in more detail what kinds of courses you are talking about? | |
| Jan 6, 2011 at 7:03 | history | asked | David Feldman | CC BY-SA 2.5 |