The first chapter contains five papers with ideas, approaches, and applications that range over several different areas. The articles by Nadine Myers of Hamline University and Agnes Rash of St. Joseph’s University show how oral presentations, projects, readings, and writing can be used creatively to enhance student learning and interest in courses like Discrete Mathematics, Linear Algebra, Modern Algebra, Number Theory, Probability, and Statistics. Both articles emphasize student cooperation and participation and both contain extensive information on implementation and mentoring.

Mathematics is used extensively in other disciplines and the article by Michael Huber and Joseph Myers of the United States...

The second chapter contains five papers that describe approaches to core courses in the undergraduate major that excite student interest while delivering solid mathematics courses. In the first paper, Jason Douma of the University of Sioux Falls discusses how an abstract algebra course can be organized around an open-ended research project. The project is not an application of material presented in class but rather serves to motivate and generate the course content. In the same vein, Jill Dietz of St. Olaf’s College used a guided discovery approach to generate student input and ideas that eventually lead to a course in...

The third chapter relates undergraduate mathematics to areas which were not an object of study just a few years ago. The paper by Timothy O’Brien of Loyola University Chicago discusses biostatistics courses that enroll both mathematics and biology majors. These courses use student projects to evaluate or limit the results of research papers in the biological sciences that use statistics as a tool. The paper by Janet Andersen of Hope College describes a team-taught sophomore level course in Biology and Mathematics. This course analyzes research papers that use matrices or differential equations in their development. In both cases there is...