THE CHANGING UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCE - A CASE-STUDY OF SINGLE HONORSMATHEMATICS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

The shift from an elite to a mass system of higher education can be ex pected to have led to adjustments in the content of degree programmes. This study points to three main areas of change that have taken place in the content of single honours undergraduate mathematics degrees in England and Wales between 1989 and 1996. The range of mathematics cov ered has been broadened in favour of 'new' applications of mathematics , a smaller amount of advanced content is now included, and assessment methods place more emphasis on interim examinations. These factors ta ken together suggest a shift in emphasis away from the rigour and abst raction characteristic of mathematics honours studies. It is argued th at further change should increasingly take into account the need to de velop students' interests and abilities in ways that allow a greater r econciliation of the tension between the needs of students following b roader study and those following more specialised study.