Welcome to the exciting world of mathematics. Often called the "Queen and Servant of the Sciences," mathematics has a long history of developing new frontiers and enriching the sciences and engineering. Most recently, mathematics has become increasingly important in such diverse areas as economics, psychology, linguistics, biology, management science and agriculture. Thus, the mathematics major and minor provide a strong and flexible background for a variety of careers.
Students majoring in mathematics must take a core of required courses, while other courses are selected with regard to career goals. Majors who plan to work in business or industry after graduation choose their electives from applied mathematics courses such as differential equations and numerical analysis. Mathematics majors planning to work as an actuary or toward an advanced degree in statistics should include junior-senior level probability and statistics courses among their mathematics electives.
For mathematics majors, many career opportunities are available in teaching, applied mathematics, statistics, computer science, actuarial science and others. Many UW-Platteville alumni with mathematics majors are pursuing careers as secondary school teachers, college teachers, actuaries with insurance companies and financial institutions, statisticians in both government and industry and as computer programmers and software engineers.
The purpose of the mathematics curriculum is to provide all students with quantitative skills to function proficiently in a societal and professional capacity. In addition to offering majors and minors in mathematics, the Department of Mathematics offers courses to support both the general education requirements of the university and the major and minor programs of other departments. Within this mission, the Department of Mathematics strives to furnish an open, enlightened environment, with frequent student/faculty interaction, resulting in a high quality undergraduate education that will develop and enhance students’ computational and reasoning skills.
The goals of the mathematics major at UW-Platteville are to:
Upon graduation, mathematics majors at UW-Platteville should be able to:
Initial placement of students in mathematics courses will be determined by the Department of Mathematics on the basis of all available records, test results and scores on the UW-System Mathematics Placement Test. Advanced placement credit for Calculus and Analytic Geometry is awarded only to students who satisfactorily complete the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) Advanced Placement Examination in Calculus. Upon request students will receive: 1) 4 credits for MATH 2640 if they receive a score of 4 or 5 on the CEEB Advanced Placement Calculus AB examination; 2) 3 credits for Math 2630 if they receive a score of 3 on the CEEB Advanced Placement Calculus AB examination; 3) 8 credits for MATH 2640 and 2740 if they receive a score of 4 or 5 on the CEEB Advanced Placement Calculus BC examination; or 4) 4 credits for Math 2640 if they receive a score of 3 on the CEEB Advanced Placement Calculus BC examination. Credit for MATH 1830 (Elementary Statistics) is awarded to students having received a score of 3, 4 or 5 on the CEEB Advanced Placement Statistics examination.
Students taking sequential courses in mathematics must attain a grade of "C" or better before taking the succeeding course.
A grade of "C" or better is required in all mathematics courses counted toward degree requirements.
Mathematics majors or mathematics majors in secondary education are required to complete all of the following:
(For Mathematics Majors Only)
Mathematics majors are required to complete a more thorough study of a particular area of mathematics. This requirement may be satisfied by one of the following courses: MATH 3830 Differential Equations II, MATH 4040 Statistics and Probability, or MATH 4530 Complex Variables.
(For Mathematics Majors in Secondary Education Only)
Students seeking teaching certification in mathematics are required to complete MATH 3130 College Geometry and MATH 3020 Teaching of Mathematics in the Middle and Secondary School. MATH 3020 does not count in the 36 credit hour requirement for the major.
In addition to the requirements described above, all mathematics majors or mathematics majors in secondary education must complete at least 8 additional credits in mathematics. Courses numbered below 2640 or between 3000 and 3100 may not be counted toward this requirement. Students who are also majoring in one of the engineering areas may count up to 6 credits of selected engineering courses (CIVILENG 3100, CIVILENG 3300, ELECTENG 3140, ELECTENG 4310, ENGRPHYS 3240, ENGRPHYS 3640, INDSTEND 3530, MECHNCHL 3030, MECHNCHL 3300 and MECHNCHL 3640) as mathematics electives.
All mathematics majors or mathematics majors in secondary education are required to demonstrate proficiency in a high level computer language such as FORTRAN, Pascal, C or C++. Students who complete COMPUTER 1130 Introduction to Programming or COMPUTER 1430 Programming in C++ will have satisfied this requirement.
All mathematics majors or mathematics majors in secondary education must successfully complete one of the following courses in chemistry or physics:
Students completing this emphasis must complete all the requirements for the 36 credit mathematics major, including MATH 4040 Probability and Statistics, and the following other requirements.
In addition to these required courses, students majoring in this emphasis should consider the following courses:
Students completing this emphasis must complete all the requirements for the 36 credit mathematics major, including MATH 4040 Probability and Statistics, and the following other requirements.
In addition to these required courses, students majoring in this emphasis should consider the following courses:
Mathematics minors must earn a minimum of 24 credits in mathematics subject to the restrictions outlined below. Credit for courses numbered below 2640 or between 3000 and 3100 may not be included in this total. The courses selected to satisfy this requirement must include:
In addition to these requirements, all mathematics minors must successfully complete COMPUTER 1130 Introduction to Programming, or COMPUTER 1430 Programming in C++ (or equivalent) and either CHEMSTRY 1140 or CHEMSTRY 1450 General Chemistry or PHYSICS 2510/PHYSICS 2530 General Physics I.
Mathematics minors in secondary education must earn a minimum of 24 credits in mathematics subject to the restrictions outlined below:
In addition to these requirements, all mathematics minors in secondary education must successfully complete MATH 3020 Teaching of Mathematics in the Middle and Secondary School, either COMPUTER 1130 Introduction to Programming or COMPUTER 1430 Programming in C++ (or equivalent), and either CHEMSTRY 1140 (or CHEMISTRY 1450) General Chemistry or PHYSICS 2510/2530 General Physics I.
(Intended for students who are majoring in elementary and middle level education. Other students should contact the Mathematics Department for details.)
Students may substitute MATH 1530 College Algebra and MATH 2530 Trigonometry and Analytic Geometry for MATH 2450 Precalculus. Students may substitute MATH 2640 Calculus and Analytic Geometry I for MATH 2630 Calculus with Applications.