Enlivening the Mathematics Curriculum with Maple

Abstract

We describe the use of Maple in the undergraduate mathematics curriculum at a large Australian University, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). Maple has been integrated into (a) the firstyear programme of a specialized Mathematics Degree Course for mathematics majors and (b) some higheryear service mathematics subjects for Engineering and Applied Science students. Maple sessions are supported by high-quality teaching materials published as part of the RMIT Lecture Notes in Mathematics Series. We believe the introduction of Maple has enlivened the teaching and learning of mathematics at RMIT. Some discussion is given of the changes in both teaching methods and subject content brought about by the use of Maple. The results of a student questionnaire and an analysis of student performance in one of the higher-year engineering mathematics subjects are also presented.