`We had predicted low scores, but we did not expect them to be this bad,' admits Brigitte Geveling, one of the initiators of the exam. The students will get `math rescue course' to survive without the graphical calculator and formula sheet they got used to in high school.
Teachers have been saying it for a while: freshmen are having problems with the mathematics at the UT, not because they are stupid, but because their high school education has made them dependant on tools, according to Geveling, a math professor at EEMCS. `Research shows that even students feel they are let off the hook too easily in high school. Even the final exams are done with a graphical calculator and formula sheet, while the university expects student to do without them.'
The UT was not the only university to test its students: the technological universities of Delft and Eindhoven held similar exams. About 44 and 35 percent of their students passed, significantly better than at the UT. Geveling: `Their exams were multiple choice, which always gives better results. We opted for open questions, because they better show the bottlenecks. Furthermore, our standards were higher. UT students needed a score of 20 out of 29 to pass, compared to 13 out of 22 in Delft and Eindhoven.
Is the UT expecting too much of students or is their mathematical baggage really too light? `We considered changing the standard,' Geveling admits, `but a technological program requires a certain level of mathematics. Apparently, high school education no longer provides that. Students do have the ability, as most of them pick up over the course of the year, but they have not had enough practice.'
The exam shows the problem to be larger than anticipated. High school professors were surprised with the low scores of their former students. A solution is being worked on, according to Geveling. In the short term, students will get the help of `math rescue courses': classes that will teach them the mathematics skills they require for their technological program. A second exam, shortly before the exams, should show whether these measures have helped. For future students Geveling can do little more than denounce the problem: `The three TUs will send an urgent letter to the Minister of Education. We will also try to inform high school professors about the problem through an article in Euclides, the magazine for math professors.'
Trans. Jeroen Latour
