The mathematical background of mathematics graduates and undergraduates

Abstract

After the publication of the Mathematical Association’s booklet on sixth-form work in pure mathematics in 1967, P. R. Buckland published the results of a short multiple-choice test, given to graduates training to teach mathematics, in the Gazette in 1969. He discovered what he called “alarming gaps” in students’ mathematical backgrounds. Is the situation any different 15 years later? In an attempt to obtain an answer, Buckland’s test (with a few changes and a new ‘historical’ section) was given to a group of graduates and undergraduates.