Mechanics in School and University

Extract

Mechanics is a branch of applied mathematics taught in both school and university. From the mathematical standpoint, the subject is learned in schools primarily by the method of solving examples. Theoretically, this procedure is supposed to help the pupil to grasp the fundamental principles and obtain for him a good examination result. That these seem to be nothing like as successful as they could be is one reason which prompts me to write this article. Others, including the pupil’s lack of appreciation of the subject, will be apparent in the points I shall make. These points have arisen from some years’ experience of lecturing to first year undergraduates and from marking advanced level scripts in applied mathematics. The efforts met with in both instances have led me to believe that there is a case for comparing the knowledge and understanding of the average sixth form pupil with that normally required of a freshman about to read applied mathematics for a general degree. On the one side is the ex-pupil, drilled in the method of solving examples and often lacking the understanding of the background principles involved; on the other is the undergraduate needing to draw upon an understanding and a background wider than he usually possesses. I feel sure that the disparity so defined exists not so much because of a lack of bulk material taught in the schools, but rather because the presentation is misguided and the emphasis misplaced.