6/22/2023 0 Comments Mathstudio login![]() The agency also recommends incorporating teaching on “sustainable development”, which the QAA defines as “an aspirational ongoing process of addressing social, environmental and economic concerns to create a better world”. In the latest QAA guidance for degree subjects, universities have been told to incorporate EDI into courses in maths, economics, engineering, business and management, biosciences, languages, law and politics, and international relations. They noted that the QAA did not recommend teaching “the universality of mathematical truth, the use of statistics to disprove historical racial theories or about the Jewish mathematicians persecuted by Nazis”. Maths professors said that the agency wanted to teach “a skewed view of the history of mathematics”. The QAA guidance suggests that professors should note that “some early ideas in statistics were motivated by their proposers’ support for eugenics, some astronomical data were collected on plantations by enslaved people, and, historically, some mathematicians have recorded racist or fascist views or connections to groups such as the Nazis”. The academics have warned that the QAA does not identify which of the many contested interpretations of EDI should permeate the curriculum. Prominent signatories include Prof Geoffrey Grimmett of the University of Cambridge, who is widely known for his work in probability theory and statistical mechanics, and Prof Johannes Ruf, an expert in mathematical finance at the London School of Economics. “Students should be able to study mathematics without also being required to pay for their own political indoctrination.” ‘A skewed view of the history’ Academics should teach from a perspective informed by their academic experience, not from a political perspective determined by the QAA. “We believe the only thing that should permeate the mathematics curriculum is mathematics. In an open letter, the mathematicians write: “We reject the QAA’s insistence on politicising the mathematical curriculum. The guidance was published in March by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), an independent body that receives membership fees from more than 300 UK higher education providers and distributes advice on courses. More than 50 of Britain’s leading mathematicians have accused standards bosses of politicising the curriculum with new diversity guidance.Īcademics at top UK universities have signed an open letter criticising guidance on academic standards that states that values of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) “should permeate the curriculum and every aspect of the learning experience”. ![]()
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