- Joined
- Jul 11, 2012
- Messages
- 11,591
- Location
- l'appel du vide
- Gender
- Undisclosed
- HSC
- 2014
- Uni Grad
- 2018
http://www.smh.com.au/national/educ...ompulsory-for-62-degrees-20160322-gnp12v.html
The University of Sydney has revealed a list of 62 degrees for which 2-unit HSC mathematics will become a prerequisite for entry.
The list, which includes science, engineering, psychology and combined courses in music and medicine as well as commerce and law, is part of a wider push to halt Australia's plummeting maths standards after a 10-year plan to make maths compulsory was unveiled by the Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham last week.
Other leading universities are now also considering re-introducing the more challenging 2-unit maths prerequisite after it was abandoned in the early 2000s. The University of Sydney's restriction will come into effect from 2019.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of UNSW, Merlin Crossley, said the Kensington institution was "discussing the intended and unintended consequences of such a move".
"We agree that setting prerequisites would send an important and symbolic signal," he said.
The head of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, Nalini Joshi, said the prerequisite "absolutely has to become a national policy".
"We are leaching out the mathematical skills from the majority of the population," she said. "Prerequisites are just the tip of the iceberg".
"Apprentices are becoming bricklayers who don't how many bricks to order and students are becoming nurses who are unable to work out dosages."
Professor Joshi, who is also a professor of science at the University of Sydney, said that universities have long known about "the very concerning level of decline".
University of Sydney professor and Head of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, Nalini Joshi
University of Sydney professor and Head of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, Nalini Joshi Photo: Jayne Ion
"It started 15 years ago when universities and schools became more open to the idea that students did not have to do maths courses that where important and essential."
The move meant that tens of thousands of high-school students opted for the less challenging general mathematics or no maths at all over the next two decades in order to secure a higher university entrance rank (ATAR).
Marine ecology student Sean Douglas said that he did not understand why prerequisites were abandoned in the first place.
"Australia wants to be on the forefront of innovation. We need to pick it up or we are going to be left behind," the 19-year-old said.
Professor Joshi said that the decline had now reached all levels of education.
"We are not just talking about university entry anymore, we are taking about larger portions of the population who would find it difficult to work out something that isn't plugged into a calculator," she said.
Mathematical Association of New South Wales
Survey of 1000 maths teachers in 2013
In 2013, NSW schools produced almost 20 000 calculus students.
49% of Year 12 students in metropolitan Sydney and 24% in NSW regional schools are enrolled in a calculus course.
Only 2% of students in NSW regional schools enrol in Mathematics Extension 2 compared to 11% in Sydney metropolitan schools. For Mathematics Extension 1, the figures are 7% in regional schools and 17% in Sydney metropolitan schools.
Only 15% of students in regional schools study Mathematics (2 Unit), compared with 21% of students in metropolitan Sydney.
The NSW education system produces approximately 3 000 fewer calculus trained students per year than it did in 2001. This represents a drop of 13% over 12 years. The majority of the decline in calculus trained students is in the Mathematics (2 Unit) only cohort
The University of Sydney has revealed a list of 62 degrees for which 2-unit HSC mathematics will become a prerequisite for entry.
The list, which includes science, engineering, psychology and combined courses in music and medicine as well as commerce and law, is part of a wider push to halt Australia's plummeting maths standards after a 10-year plan to make maths compulsory was unveiled by the Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham last week.
Other leading universities are now also considering re-introducing the more challenging 2-unit maths prerequisite after it was abandoned in the early 2000s. The University of Sydney's restriction will come into effect from 2019.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of UNSW, Merlin Crossley, said the Kensington institution was "discussing the intended and unintended consequences of such a move".
"We agree that setting prerequisites would send an important and symbolic signal," he said.
The head of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, Nalini Joshi, said the prerequisite "absolutely has to become a national policy".
"We are leaching out the mathematical skills from the majority of the population," she said. "Prerequisites are just the tip of the iceberg".
"Apprentices are becoming bricklayers who don't how many bricks to order and students are becoming nurses who are unable to work out dosages."
Professor Joshi, who is also a professor of science at the University of Sydney, said that universities have long known about "the very concerning level of decline".
University of Sydney professor and Head of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, Nalini Joshi
University of Sydney professor and Head of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, Nalini Joshi Photo: Jayne Ion
"It started 15 years ago when universities and schools became more open to the idea that students did not have to do maths courses that where important and essential."
The move meant that tens of thousands of high-school students opted for the less challenging general mathematics or no maths at all over the next two decades in order to secure a higher university entrance rank (ATAR).
Marine ecology student Sean Douglas said that he did not understand why prerequisites were abandoned in the first place.
"Australia wants to be on the forefront of innovation. We need to pick it up or we are going to be left behind," the 19-year-old said.
Professor Joshi said that the decline had now reached all levels of education.
"We are not just talking about university entry anymore, we are taking about larger portions of the population who would find it difficult to work out something that isn't plugged into a calculator," she said.
Mathematical Association of New South Wales
Survey of 1000 maths teachers in 2013
In 2013, NSW schools produced almost 20 000 calculus students.
49% of Year 12 students in metropolitan Sydney and 24% in NSW regional schools are enrolled in a calculus course.
Only 2% of students in NSW regional schools enrol in Mathematics Extension 2 compared to 11% in Sydney metropolitan schools. For Mathematics Extension 1, the figures are 7% in regional schools and 17% in Sydney metropolitan schools.
Only 15% of students in regional schools study Mathematics (2 Unit), compared with 21% of students in metropolitan Sydney.
The NSW education system produces approximately 3 000 fewer calculus trained students per year than it did in 2001. This represents a drop of 13% over 12 years. The majority of the decline in calculus trained students is in the Mathematics (2 Unit) only cohort
