.

is

S.97-22

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

OFFICE OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT, ACADEMIC

?

MEMORANDUM

To:

?

Senate

From: ?

D.

Senate

Gagan,

Committee

Chair ?

on Academic

k'

Planning

--

Subject: ?

Grade 12 courses for University admission

Date: ?

January 14, 1997

SCUS Reference: SCUS 96-61

SCAP Reference: SCAP 97-6

Action undertaken by the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies and the Senate

Committee on Academic Planning gives rise to the following motion:

Motion:

"that Senate approve, as set forth in S.97-22, the following

changes:

i)

that the revised courses English 11 and 12 are acceptable

for purposes of admission to Simon Fraser University

ii)

that the Principles of Mathematics 11 and 12 are acceptable

for purposes of admission to Simon Fraser University"

Note: ?

Applicants may not count both Principles of Mathematics 12 and

Mathematics 12 towards the admission GPA.

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SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

0

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

8 November 1996

BURNAB\, BRITISH COLUMBIA

CANADA V5A 1S6

IR ?

Telephone: (604) 291-3136

Fax: (604) 291-5737

To: Nick Heath, Director of Admissions

From: Carole Gerson, Associate Chair, English Department

Re: English Language Arts. 11 and 12, Integrated Resource Package, 1996

Although the cover of this lengthy and elaborate Integrated Resource Package refers only

to English 11 and English 12, the document in fact pertains to three courses: English 11,

English 12, and Technical and Professional Communications 12 (TPC 12).

English 11 and English 12 are updates of the two courses currently offered under those

names, whereas TPC 12 will eventually replace the old Communications 12. (There is no

mention of other related courses, such as Writing 12, English Literature 12 and Drama 12.)

The revised versions of English 11 and English 12 are as acceptable for university

. admission as their predecessor have been, with the added benefit that the IRP presents their aims,

instructional strategies, content, and assessment strategies substantially more clearly than is the

case with the earlier documentation I have been able to obtain for comparison.'

More contentious is the Ministry's request that TPC 12, unlike its predecessor,

Communications 12, be accepted as the equivalent of English 12 as a qualification for university

entrance. When boiled down to its essentials, the course does not present adequate prepartion for

university-level work, but appears rather to be old-style business education reclothed in current

language. The modes of scholarly discourse required at university, such as research papers and

lab reports, are more likely to be properly taught and understood when presented within the

contexts of the disciplines that require these methods of presentation, such as History 12,

Chemistry 12, and so on. Much of the description of TPC 12 elaborates rather elementary

practices of practical description, response, and presentation that could easily be incorporated into

(and indeed frequently resemble aspects of) the overall English curriculum throughout high

school, a point reinforced by the rather meagre list of "Learning Resources" for TPC 12 (20

books or handbooks, 7 video packages and 4 software packages), none of which probe theoretical

'Ministry of Education, Language Arts English, Primary - Graduation. Curriculum Guide

(Victoria, 1990); Ministry of Education, Language Arts English, Primary - Graduation: The

Research Base: Research About Teaching and Learning (Victoria 1990); Ministry of Education,

Language Art, English. Learning through Reading: Teaching Strategies Resource Book (Victoria

1990).

1.

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-2-

aspects of Communication Studies. While there is considerable emphasis on electronic modes

of presentation, there is no assurance that schools across the province will be able to acquire the

necessary hardware, software, technological support, and constant updating that electronic media

require. Moreover, there is no explanation of how this course can he provincially examined (as

English 12 is currently provincially examined). Finally, We need to recognize that

Communications 12, which is not accepted in lieu of English 12 for entrance to SFU, currently

serves a specific and necessary role by giving students Unable to handle English 12 a course that

permits them to graduate from high school, whereas university-bound students enroll in English

12. When TPC 12 replaces Communications 12, it will more than likely replicate this role.

The colleges which currently accept Communications 12 for entrance will be able to

accept TPC 12, as they already employ various in-house means of assessing students' reading

skills and writing abilities and placing them in an appropriate range of remedial or regular

English courses. SFU, however, has no such assessment and offers no remedial instruction in

writing. The Senate Admissions Committee at UBC has recommended that the UBC Senate not

accept TPC 12 as an alternate to English 12; I recommend that We do the same.

Aie ?

7c&9 ?

S

/ov

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1

MEMO

. ?

FROM:N.R.Reilly, Chair,

Department of Mathematics and Statistics,

Undergraduate Studies Cttee.

TO: J.L.Berggren, Chair,

Department of Mathematics and Statistics.

SUBJECT: New High School Mathematics Courses

DATE: 30th October, 1996.

The B.C. Ministry of Education is considering the introduction of the

following new mathematics courses into the high school curriculum:

Introduction to Mathematics 11.

Applications of Mathematics 11

Applications of Mathematics 12

Principles of Mathematics 11

Principles of Mathematics 12.

We understand that these courses will replace the following current courses,

although the fate of Mathematics IlA is unclear at the present time:

• Introductio

Mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics

a to Mathematics 11

hA

12 (Survey)

11

12.

The courses Introduction to Mathematics 11, Principles of Mathematics 11 and

Principles of Mathematics 12 differ little from the existing courses

Introduction to Mathematics 11, Mathematics 11 and Mathematics 12. The major

revision concerns the replacement of Mathematics hA (?) and Mathematics

12(Survey) by Applications of Mathematics 11 and 12.

We have been asked to recommend on the possibility of these courses being

accepted in lieu of current requirements for admission to the University or

to any of our courses or programmes.

Current University Requirements include the following:

General Admission to SFIJ:

Mathematics 11

Admission to the Faculty of Science:

Mathematics 12

?

Admission to Engineering Science:

S

Mathematics 12

Admission to Kinesiology:

Mathematics 12

1

C C t'J .A

?

-

.

c1

- r 4 -

..

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Prerequisites for specific Mathematics courses citing high school courses:

Mathematics 100, 110, 113 and 190:

Mathematics 11

Math 144, 151, 154, 157:

Mathematics 12 (with appropriate grade) or Math 100 or Math 110.

Stat 101, 203:

Mathematics 11

The syllabi for Applications of Mathematics 11 and 12 represent a bold

departure from more traditional syllabi and include many interesting and

important topics such as linear algebra, linear programming, probability,

fractals, etc. We believe that the courses are innovative and have the

potential, if taught properly and to good standards, to be exciting and

challenging. We see some merit in a course designed for students planning to

enter the Arts and Humanities as well as various non-academic career paths

for whom a broader range of topics could have considerable appeal.

However the Committee has some major concerns.

(1)

No text books are yet available and it is not clear from the sample

examples provided how well each topic will be covered. Will the treatment be

superficial, or will the coverage have some real depth to it?

(2)

No sample examinations for these courses are yet available and so it is

not yet possible to be confident of the standards that will be expected.

(3)

In order to graduate from

high

school,

students

are required to pass a

grade 11 math (or accounting) course. The present Math hA is designed to be

available to students who have rather poor mathematics skills. It enables

them to graduate from high school but it has never been accepted for

admission to

.

the University or to any of our Math courses. From the

Information that we have available, it is not clear whether the present Math

1A will continue. If it does not, then where will the students that Math

hA used to cater to now go? If they purse the Applications of Math stream,

then the standards in that stream will

probably

be set at a level similar to

that of the old Math 11A course in which case it

would

appear to be

in

a ppropriate

to change any of our requirements.

(4)

Applications of Mathematics 11 and 12

will

not represent a good

prep4ration for university level studies if the coverage of the various

2 ?

//

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topics is too superficial or if the math skills that are acquired are simply

• ?

too weak. Mathematics is not a spectator sport, it is not sufficient to

display pretty and interesting things; involvement and practice are essential

to the acquisition of basic skills. Of major concern is the possibility that

the courses will provide insufficient reparation-in-Algebra even for

students who wish to take our pre-calculus courses, never mind our calculus

courses. One of the declared objectives of these new courses is to prepare

students for more "applied" areas. However, most applied areas at Simon

Fraser University (such as Business, Computing, Economics, Kinesiology as

well as the Sciences and Applied Sciences) require their students to acquire

a knowledge of the calculus. Many students change their goals after they

come to the University and students would be ill-advised to pursue courses

that would make it difficult for them to join the pre-calculus stream. Far

from opening options to students, we fear that these courses may lead

students into a dead end.

Consequently, until such time as we receive further information on the depth

of the coverage and the standards to be set in the Applications of

Mathematics stream, as well as some clarification as to what will replace the

old Math hA, the Undergraduate Studies Cttee recommends that the

requirements for admission to the University and to various Mathematics

courses remain the same, subject to appropriate name changes: for instance,

that

Principles of Mathematics 11 replace Mathematics 11

Principles of Mathematics 12 ?

replace Mathematics 12.

.

3 ?

J^-

---

Fri Nov

1 20:05:42 1996

?

1

From Len_Berggrensfu.ca Fri Oct 11 17:36:00 1996

From: LënBerggren@sfu . ca

Sender: been@fU.dá

Date- Fri; 11 Oct 16 17:35:55 -0800

Ta: neilly@c.sfu.ca

Subjedt: New BC curriUlà in Math and English

Cc: nheathsu.cá

onteñt-Lengh: 2781

?

-

)-Linés 82

Heath

Noma±i

?

s

e

letter

the material

below that

± put

isn't

in

yoU±-

quite

mail

the

boxtoday

±ush I had

ybu

thouqht,

can see from

so

Nick

if

your committee could have its espohsé

b

me by Nov. 7 that would give me

time to read it and add any coirdnents and still meet Nick's deadline.

Thanks,

Len

>X-tJIDL: 845074553.016

>Sender: nheath@sfu.ca

>Date

?

'ri; 11 Oct 1996 l2:3138 -0700

>To: leh.berggren, cärol_gerson

>From Nlck_Heath@sfu ca

>Subjéct: New BC curricula in Math and English

>Cc: alison watt

>Content-Tpe: text

>Content-Léngth: 1962

>

>Gréètjns; Carole and Len!

>

>Finally, the Ministry has áskëd

us

to review the new courses in Math and

Eriglish and respond formally to the following five questions:

>

>a)

uitabilty for general admission

>b)

suitabilty fbr use ii the calculated entrance average

>c)

use as a pre-requisite for any of our programs or courses

>d)

doe8 it give advanced

g

tandin or Placements in any program?

>e)

dan it be used fo entry to prorath or dept.

>± think questions a) and c) are the most important.

>

>Since your two deparmehEs are thost bibsely cohnected with these

>disiciplines, I ask thai you réspbnd with your respective recommendations

>(on behalf the wholetJniOrsit) by 15 Nbvembèr for discussion at SCUS;

>followed by SCA and Senate.

?

1ease address your response to Alison Watt,

>

>Secretar, SCUS, ih the Office of the egistrar. (I think e-mail is OK).

>The new coürës are: For bept of Enlish to review

>English 11 (replaces current En1ish 11)

En1ish 12 (replaces cUrrent En1ish 12)

>T ?

echhica

i.

and Professional Communications 12 (new course they

say,

but I

>

>ässume that they Plan to drop Cothrnunjcation 12 when this is starts?)

>Fo Dept of Math & Stats to reviet

>Thtro Math 11(replace cUrrent Ihtro fah 11)

>Principles of Math 11 (replaces currei-it Math iii

>Prinbip1es ofMath 12 (relCcè cUrreht Math 12)

>Applicátjons of Math 11 (new bousej

>Appiicatjons of Math 12 (iéw bourse).

>The letter sent by David Williams to the Uhiveriy states that your

>departthent alread has received copies of the 'Intergated Resource

>á

>Packaes'

aper cOpy,

for these

if you

new

need

courses.

ore. Let

These

me know

are also

if I

available

can help

on

in any

wwt4

way.

and I have

>(Sorry I can't helcnUch i-ñtranslating the educational jargon ihto

>English.,)

?

-

---

Fri Nov 1 20:05:42 1996 ?

2

>

.

>Good luck!

>

>Nick Heath

>Director of Admissions

>Simon Fraser University

>Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6

>Canada

>(604)291-3995 ?

FAX

(604)291-4969

>Internet: nick_heath@sfu.ca