College Math Ain't What It Oughtta Be

In today's Pope Center article, Professor Robert Blumenthal of Georgia College and State University argues that the mathematics requirement at most colleges and universities these days is just a rehashing of high school topics. (More evidence for my argument that it's erroneous to assume that just by getting through college a student has necessarily advanced in knowledge and skills!) What schools should do, Blumenthal says, is to create a challenging course for non-majors that will (or at least can) give students a look into the way mathematicians think -- their approach to problems. Taught well, such a course could really be mind-expanding, showing students the beauty of mathematical logic.