THE SERVICE COURSES OF THE DEPARTMENT

Many students taking our undergrduate courses in mathematics and statistics are not our majors. We offer coursework in all branches of the mathematics and statistics for majors in any field that has a quantitative component, and that includes just about everything except some of the humanitites. We also offer general education courses that do not fall into any of these categories. Specifically, we have the following constituencies:

Elementary education

All elementary education majors must take MTE 210 and STA 225. Those "majoring" or "minoring" in mathematics must take additional courses, including MTH 141, MTE 211, and MTE 410. To be fully prepared to teach even K-5 math, MTE 211 is strongly to be encouraged.

Business administration

All majors in SBA take MTH 121-122, a sequence dealing with mathematics relevant to business administration, including linear programming and calculus. Students who have already taken MTH 141 are allowed to substitute that course for MTH 121 (note that MTH 141 is a harder course than MTH 121; the two overlap somewhat).

The sciences

All chemistry and physics majors take several mathematics courses, including calculus. Biology majors usually take the easier calculus course (MTH 122) and/or statistics (STA 225 or STA 226), after completing MTH 141 if necessary.

Health sciences

Majors in the School of Health Sciences take mathematics courses that vary by specialty.

Engineering and computer science

All students in SECS take a wide range of courses in the mathematical sciences, such as calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, and discrete mathematics.

General education courses

MTH 118 and STA 225 are courses with little or no prerequisite mathematical knowledge, suitable for all university students. They satisfy the general education requirement in the Math/Logic/Computer Science category of the old General Education requirement (Formal Reasoning for the new requirement), and give students a good feeling for the many uses of the mathematical sciences in contemporary society. (MTH 121, 122, and 154, and STA 226 also meet the MLCS or Formal Reasoning general education requirement.)
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Last updated: August 24, 2006. Send comments or corrections to Professor Grossman