So far, the overall student response to MATH 51’s restructuring has been positive. Topics such as Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors, row reduction and determinants were either moved to Math 52 or 53 or removed entirely. In addition to replacing the course textbooks, the math department changed MATH 51’s pacing. “It was much easier to follow than the Colley and Levandoski books that they used last time,” said the student, who requested to not be named in this article. “I think the book is easier for students to access, it’s an easier read, it’s easier for them to find information and people were very positively responsive to that,” Mazzeo said.Ī student who took MATH 51 in spring 2018 and retook it in autumn said the new textbook was “much more clear” because it was “written much more specifically for the course.” By writing their own book, the faculty could emphasize how different concepts interact with each other. “This is something that was difficult to convey in the earlier incarnation of the course because the texts that were used never addressed real-world applications of higher-dimensional linear algebra.”Ĭonrad noted that the new textbook includes information about how topics connect to various fields in order to encourage students to understand the importance of what they learn in the course. “One goal of the wide array of real-world contexts discussed in the new book is to convey to students how n-dimensional considerations with n much bigger than three are extremely relevant to many contemporary applications,” Conrad said. One major change in the new textbook is the inclusion of more references to the material’s real-world applications. And we’re going to keep it easily updatable, because things change.” “We want it to be freely accessible to students. “We have no intention of publishing this ,” Mazzeo said. Then the department worked together to fill in the chapters, finally finishing the full text and exercises in summer 2018. One faculty member took a quarter off from teaching MATH 51 to write a skeletal version of the text. The math department decided not to reveal the textbook’s writers so that the book can be seen as a departmental effort with room for potential future revisions. “And that’s one of the reasons there’s no off-the-shelf book that we could really use.”Īccording to mathematics professor Rafe Mazzeo, one of the faculty involved in the creation of the new textbook and syllabus, updating the course material involved communication with people across 15 different departments to determine what was most important for students to learn. “There’s pretty much no other pure institution … which teaches a kind of general audience multivariable calculus that incorporates linear algebra right from the start,” he said. Previously, the course used two different textbooks, but there were issues with adapting the textbooks to the material.Īccording to professor Brian Conrad, the Director of Undergraduate Studies in Mathematics, MATH 51 required two textbooks in the past because its curriculum, which integrates multivariable calculus and linear algebra, is unique to Stanford. The math department responded to such concerns in a June letter to the editor, in which they discussed the anticipated course overall.ĭuring the past four years, professors from the mathematics department have been working on a new textbook to accompany MATH 51. Students have claimed that there is a disconnect between the material taught and the material tested, that there is too much material being crammed into too little time and that students must teach themselves the material. Though the course has gradually changed since its founding in 1996, the fall 2018 redesign was one of the most drastic. Around 300 students take the course each quarter, the majority of whom are freshmen. MATH 51 is a core requirement for many majors at Stanford. On the second midterm, the mean was 68 percent in spring and 87 percent in fall. In spring 2018, the mean on the first midterm was 77 percent in fall, the mean was 92 percent. Students’ median grades on MATH 51: “Linear Algebra, Multivariable Calculus, and Modern Applications” exams rose at least 15 percent between spring and fall 2018 after a new textbook and syllabus were introduced with the aim of making the course slower-paced, more engaging and more applicable.
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