First Year Math Courses in Canada

About the Repository

The First Year Mathematics Courses Repository is a resource supporting an ongoing national dialogue about teaching first year mathematics at Canadian universities. This shareable dynamic online database contains extensive data collected from mathematics instructors across the country. Data includes course content, resource and technology used, learning outcomes, modes of delivery, connections with other courses, as well as informal descriptions of various practices in teaching these courses.

It is our hope that instructors (i.e., our contacts at all participating universities, or their colleagues) will keep the database up to date, as well as provide missing, and additional information.

The main purpose of the First Year Mathematics Courses Repository is to provide an open, organized and comprehensive resource of information about first-year mathematics courses at Canadian Universities. We hope to enrich the content as we move along.

Forthcoming activities – conferences and meetings:

♦ First Year University Mathematics Across Canada: Repository and Service Courses. 8-10 February 2019, BIRS, Banff.

Registration closed. Meeting information.

♦ First Year University Mathematics Across Canada: Time to Rethink our Curriculum? 3-5 May 2019, University of Alberta in Edmonton.

Conference web page. Program, schedule, registration and other information coming soon.

♦ Canadian Mathematics Society Summer Meeting. 7-10 June 2019, Regina, Sask.

Conference web page.

♦ First Year University Mathematics Across Canada: Theme TBA.

22-24 May 2020, University of Toronto in Mississauga.

Program, schedule, registration and other information to come.

Past events:

♦ First Year University Mathematics Across Canada: Facts, Community and Vision, 27-29 April 2018, Fields Institute, Toronto.

The conference (conference web page) activities are summarized in the two documents, named Snapshot Document (Saturday, 28 April) and Future Directions (Sunday, 29 April).

♦ Canadian Mathematics Society Winter Meeting. 7-10 December 2018, Vancouver, B.C.

Conference web page.

Our Vision

We believe that only by sharing experiences, gathering data, and looking at research-based decisions and strategies, our mathematical teaching community can come up with ideas and initiatives for university faculty and instructors to restructure their programs and to respond to the demands that the realities of today’s living place on us and our students.

It is our belief that the contacts at a national level (such as the Mathematics Education Session at the CMS conference in Waterloo in December 2017, the First Year Conference in April 2018 at the Fields Institute, and the Winter CMS Session in Vancouver in December 2018) will connect, and unite Canadian teaching and research faculty in their efforts to provide the best, and most adequate, post-secondary math education possible, and will provide a forum for all involved to learn about the complexity of issues related to teaching mathematics. We see the national dialogue as an ongoing process that will keep us all connected and strengthen our community.

FAQ

1. Who is the intended audience?

All interested faculty in mathematics and statistics departments in Canada, mathematics and statistics department chairs, college instructors, high school teachers (grade 12 mostly) interested in knowing what’s going on in level 1 mathematics and statistics, as well as education developers and publishers.

2. How will this information be shared?

The information is shared with approved members of the repository. Those who are interested will fill out a questionnaire. After the application information has been verified by the page administrators, and it has been determined it fits with the purpose of the repository, access (login and password) will be granted.

3. How frequently is the data updated?

This would depend on the curators at each institution. As the main purpose of the database is to provide a snapshot of teaching level 1 mathematics and statistics, it would be ideal if the curators visit their part of the database as often as possible, to correct existing data and enter missing data.

4. How do I sign up to access the Repository?

Send an email to Veselin Jungic (vjungic@sfu.ca) or Miroslav Lovric (lovric@mcmaster.ca).

5. Is this done under CMS (Canadian Mathematics Society)?

No. This is a grass roots initiative led by Dr. Lovric and Dr. Jungic, in part supported by the Fields Institute, Simon Fraser University, McMaster University and the EDC Grants for Exchange.

Organizations that have Helped make this Project Possible