Memorandum submitted by Heads of Departments
of Mathematical Sciences in the UK (HoDoMS)
HoDoMS was represented on the Council for the
Mathematical Sciences (CMS) working group which produced the report
The Bologna Process and Master's Courses in the Mathematical
Sciences in October 2006, available from various places including
http://www.mis.coventry.ac.uk/HODOMS/
HoDoMS endorses the report and the submission
to the select committee from the CMS. In this brief submission
I shall just emphasize four key points. Note that Mathematical
Sciences encompasses mathematics, statistics, operational
research, and often mathematical or theoretical physics, and HoDoMS
represents university departments throughout the UK.
1. Mathematics is an international discipline.
We therefore welcome cooperation with our colleagues abroad, including
Europe, and we welcome mobility of staff and students. We also
note that the Bologna Process extends well beyond the European
Union.
2. We hope that the agenda in London will
include:
(i) resolution of the conflicts that exist
between ECTS, study hours and CATS; and
(ii) clarification of the position on Learning
Outcomes.
We support the move to Learning Outcomes,
but emphasize that these must be appropriate to the discipline
and that this can only be guaranteed by consultation with experts
within that discipline. In general terms, we support the Dublin
Descriptors as realistic expectations for the Second Cycle.
3. We see a central issue for Second Cycle
qualifications as one of funding. The present Integrated Master's
degrees (MMath etc) serve a very useful purpose, and receive the
same "support" from the DfES as normal undergraduate
honours degrees. At present other Second Cycle qualifications
(MSc etc), which are also crucial to the UK's science base, are
almost all self-funded. This raises concerns about equal opportunities
for Second Cycle qualifications in the UK, especially if for any
reason Integrated Master's degrees cannot be accommodated within
the Bologna Process in the longer term. (For example, we see no
prospect of increasing the number of credits in the final year
of an Integrated Master's degree without significant additional
funding for students and universities.)
4. The UK's imbalance between outgoing and
incoming European students (roughly one to two) will only be redressed
if there is more, and more effective, language training for students
at school. University students can benefit from learning mathematics
at a European university, but only if their language skills are
adequate. This need not require joint degrees in the language
and mathematics.
December 2006
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