RUM Principle
We are convinced that the materials for efficient and effective mathematics education for science and engineering
students must be carefully chosen
according to the RUM principle. Here, R is for Relevant to both courses and research of students' interest and major;
U is for Useful to not only the courses and research, but also to studetns' future jobs; and M is for Modern,
incorporating recent progresses and tools, especially computers, machine learning/AI, and data science.
Meeting these RUM criteria will require time and commitment to changing the college curricula to better support learning. Progress will be incremental. Mathematics courses and instructors can both evolve to help meet the objectives of students and prepare them for successful careers.
The less relevant context and formulations, not very useful theories and methods, and obsolete skills and tools in the traditional curricula may still be important to a small percentage of students, and can be aggregated into elective courses. Most students will focus on the
RUM materials so that they will gain the skills of storytelling, data analysis and visualization, model development and solutions, and problem solving.
Please read the following paper for more details on the RUM principle:
Page, E., S.S.P. Shen, and R.C.J. Somerville, 2024: Can we do better at teaching mathematics to undergraduate atmospheric science students? Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-22-0245.1
