It is the case that some activities claiming to reside under the STEM umbrella do not, in fact, give participants the opportunity to engage in anything other than routine mathematics. With this in mind, we explore here the potential for developing and then delivering STEM activities based on the discipline of mathematical epidemiology. We argue…

This article looks at the question of whether and how a geometrical cube may be determined as the solution set of a single equation. Beyond this being an interesting and surprising result for upper high school and first year college students, we argue that, as an investigative activity, it has value in refining students' images of what solutions…

The number of students studying for A and AS level Further Mathematics has fallen dramatically since the early 1980s. Explains this decline and why it is vital that Further Mathematics be saved. Outlines the Gatsby-funded MEI project 'Enabling Access to Further Mathematics' which aims to show that distance learning using modern technology can…

Answers to mathematical problems come in all forms and most come with a variety of questions. Students often forget to ask questions once they have found an answer. This paper suggests that students would always benefit by questioning answers.

We first discern three different sources to describe the non-modelling-friendly environment in Taiwan: the background of mathematics teachers and students, examinations and textbooks. Under such unfriendly circumstances, how one can implement the teaching and learning of mathematical modelling is explored. In this paper, we focus on the analysis…

The ubiquity of calculators led to many "computational abuses", when numbers substitute for substance. On the other hand, it resulted in decrease in number oriented dexterity of students. The latter led to a disdain for even simple calculations to work about unfamiliar mathematical problems. As a reaction to the former, the reputation of…

The analysis and simulation of spiral growth in plants integrates algebra and trigonometry in a botanical setting. When the ideas presented here are used in a mathematics classroom/computer lab, students can better understand how basic assumptions about plant growth lead to the golden ratio and how the use of circular functions leads to accurate…

The potentially huge number of questions in a national database offers the opportunity for open testing where each student has his own test and can take the test in his own time, saving on supervision and PCs. (Author/ASK)

Advocates of the increasing use of the computer in mathematics teaching and learning claim that certain topics and techniques need no longer be taught. Addresses how far the access to so much computer power should influence the core of mathematics that needs teaching at different levels. (Author/ASK)

Discusses changes in the school mathematics curriculum as well as changes in how the subject is taught and examined. Emphasizes the impacts of these changes on university mathematics departments and draws attention to some of the less desirable outcomes of these changes. Suggests further reform with particular emphasis on the 16-19 curriculum and…

Reviews international practices in mathematics education for post-compulsory students. Identifies the unique nature of British practice with regard to both academic and vocational track students. Draws on the general literature of economic change and labor productivity to evaluate the current British approach and concludes that this is unlikely to…

Discusses the differences between puzzles and mathematics questions. Argues that mathematics teachers need to be thoroughly grounded in the well-documented recreational side of mathematics and be encouraged to use it. (JRH)

Discusses concerns about the mathematics education of students in England including national decision making about mathematics curriculum, new national curriculum requirements, mathematics examinations, early disillusionment of children in mathematics, calculator and computer usage, and recently lower expectations for students. (MKR)