The mathematical skills being learned in schools are not enough for students to study science at university, according to a paper presented by two academics at an international conference.
The authors, Dr Joseph N. Grima and Prof. Alfred J. Vella, said efforts to rectify the problem should be undertaken now, as major changes were about to be made in the syllabus and presentation of science subjects in secondary schools.
Otherwise, they warned, the problem could get worse.
Dr Grima and Prof. Vella, from the Department of Chemistry in the university`s Faculty of Science, presented the paper at a conference of the Commonwealth Association of Science, Technology and Mathematics Education, Europe branch, held at the Forum Hotel last week.
They explained that students following B.Sc. (Hons) and Science B.Ed. (Hons) courses were required to choose two principal subject areas from biology, chemistry, computer science, informatics, mathematics, statistics and operations research, and physics, although not all combinations were possible.
Leaving aside the two mathematical principal areas (mathematics and statistics and operations research), they said the entry requirements for the combination chemistry and biology were such that students joined the course with a maximum mathematical qualification at Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) standard, even though the areas of physical and theoretical chemistry were "highly mathematical".
Students taking physics with chemistry, computer science or IT usually joined the course with an intermediate certificate in mathematics, obtained in sixth form. In their case too, "past experience has demonstrated that they experience difficulties in physics related to lack of sufficient mathematical skills".
The authors held that while a SEC level of mathematics may be sufficient to allow students to follow the biological component of a degree course satisfactorily, "it is certainly unacceptable as far as the chemistry component is concerned. At the tertiary level, many courses in chemistry are meant to include theories and models that describe and explain physical and chemical phenomena".
The authors also complained about the recent rise in the popularity of Paper B in the maths SEC examination, calling the trend "very worrying".
It suggested that students now following a degree in the sciences may have then felt that their mathematical knowledge was not of high enough standard to permit them to take the more demanding Paper A. Or they could have been advised to take the "surer path" to a Grade 4 offered by Paper B since that mark is sufficient for entry to higher studies.
"It is clear that students are not being made aware that chemistry and mathematics are inter-related, and that one cannot follow a degree in science unless he/she has the sufficient mathematical background," said Dr Grima and Prof. Vella.
Sixty-two per cent of current first and second year undergraduate students admitted in a survey that they had only recognised the need for appropriate maths skills after they had made their choice of subjects at A-Level.
Another "worrying" factor was that, since they were only required to have a SEC certificate, students in the chemistry and biology streams would not have studied any mathematics for the two years before their university course - "by which time most mathematical knowledge is difficult to retrieve from long-term memory".
Indeed, in a test given to first and second year chemistry undergraduate students, it was found that the average mark obtained by students who had obtained the highest grade at SEC level (Grade 1) was not much different than that obtained by students who had previously obtained Grade 2 and Grade 3.
Students found questions involving algebra particularly difficult, indicating that they were no longer capable of forming and solving simple equations, even if the mathematical principles involved were very basic, the authors said.
They made a number of suggestions as to what changes might be considered in order to improve the current state of affairs:
¤ The introduction of a new subject at secondary school level (e.g. "Further Mathematics"), possibly taught in parallel with the current maths syllabus and offered in the senior years in a modular form, so as to allow students with different inclinations to follow the appropriate modules.
¤ Alternatively, requiring that only sixth form students who obtain a grade 3 or better in their mathematics SEC certificate be allowed to take the science subjects at A-Level, or, to oblige those students with a grade 4 or 5 to take supplementary lessons in mathematics.
¤ Systems of Knowledge should perhaps be replaced by modules aimed at enhancing the students` numeracy and literacy skills.