Undergraduate Curriculum Guide for the Mathematical Sciences

Mathematical Association Of America, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

Through MAA's Committee on the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics (CUPM), the MAA has released a Curriculum Guide approximately once every decade. The last such Guide was released in 2004. CUPM is now developing the next generation of guidelines and recommendations to help mathematical sciences departments effectively meet the challenges they face in educating the next generation of STEM leaders. Students interested in STEM careers have many more choices than they did twenty years ago. The array of possibilities in course offerings, standards, and requirements has left many mathematics departments asking for assistance in designing and innovating mathematical sciences majors for the 21st century. To develop the next Guide, CUPM has formed groups of faculty from diverse institutions to focus on specific courses and program areas. Focus groups have been convened at national meetings to help shape CUPM's efforts. Panel discussions at national meetings are being used to solicit further input. Draft guidelines will be circulated broadly in advance of the formal release, targeted for early 2015, in order to ensure that the Guide meets the needs of the mathematical sciences, and broader STEM, communities. In addition, MAA will organize sessions at national and regional meetings, both during the development of the Guide and after its release, to provide guidance to faculty and departments for using the recommendations to improve their undergraduate mathematics program. NSF's Division of Mathematical Sciences is providing co-funding, reflecting its interest in improving undergraduate education in the mathematical sciences.