Geodynamics as the Center of a New Earth-Sciences Curriculum and the Theme of a New Undergraduate Laboratory

Paola, Christopher; Alexander, Emma; Edwards, R. Lawrence; Hudleston, P.J.; Ito, E.; Karato, Shun‐ichiro; Kelts, K.R.; Kleinspehn, K.L.; Moskowitz, Bruce M.; Person, Michelle Muth; Seyfried, W.E.; Sloan, R.; Stout, J.; Teyssier, Christine; Tikoff, Basil

doi:10.5408/0022-1368-43.5.485

Cited by 2 publications

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“…This attempt at transferring quantitative skills has not been successful, mainly because of the lack of adequate integration of mathematical "skills" or "tasks" within the particular applied context (Verschaffel et al, 2000;Evans, 1999). Departments interested in building the quantitative skills of their students have recently taken various courses of action; some departments have developed a sequence of courses in which quantitative skills are developed (Paola et al, 2000), some departments offer a specific course that focuses on mathematical approaches to problem solving in geology and chemistry (for example, see Vacher, 2000), some departments teach a shadow course taken concurrently with a calculus course (for example, see Lutz and Srogi, 2000), and some departments focus on student projects throughout the curriculum (for example, see Keller et al, 2000).…”

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confidence: 99%

Designing a Mathematics Course for Chemistry and Geology Students

Witten

2005

Educ Stud Math

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Many mathematics departments usually teach a variety of courses for students from different science departments and even from different faculties. These "service" courses are usually taught in the same way as the courses for mathematics major students. However, in science, because of the need to better analyse and interpret experimental data and the increased use of mathematical tools in chemistry and geology textbooks, it is becoming necessary to teach these science students quantitative skills beyond the scope of first year mathematics courses. This paper describes the design of a one-semester second year mathematics course, mainly for chemistry and geology students, with three specific objectives: to develop students' ability to quantitatively analyse problems arising in their own field, to illustrate the great utility of mathematical models to provide answers to key chemistry and geology problems, to develop students' appreciation of the diversity of mathematical approaches potentially useful in the chemical and geological sciences.

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