Departmental Mission and Goals

Mission Statement

The mission of the Department of Mathematics is to provide both majors and non-majors with the mathematical knowledge and skills needed to fulfill their potential in their chosen field of endeavor. In addition, it is intended that the student acquire an appreciation of the beauty and cultural importance of the discipline.

Goal

The goal of the Department of Mathematics at Bucknell University is to develop in its students an appreciation of mathematics as a coherent subject with a past, present, and future; to engage students in mathematics in all its diversity- from the routine to the highly creative, from the concrete to the abstract, and from theory to application; and to help students develop those habits of exact thinking, purposeful abstraction, and disciplined creativity implicit in mathematical accomplishment.

Departmental Learning Objectives

Major:

• The mathematics major at Bucknell University is expected to know what a proof is, to understand the necessity of proof, and to demonstrate an ability to effectively communicate mathematical thought by writing a mathematical argument that can be assessed for mathematical accuracy.

• The mathematics major at Bucknell University is expected to exhibit an awareness of the breadth of mathematics by demonstrating a program of study that is both connected and encompassing.

Non-major:

• Students in service courses at Bucknell University are expected to master quantitative tools and logical modes of thinking that will enhance their abilities to analyze and synthesize information in problem solving situations.