Your First Year

Your Courses and Instructors

Depending on whether you choose to study for a Bachelor of Science degree or a Bachelor of Arts degree, you will have different requirements for your first year, but the core set of Mathematics and Statistics courses are the same for both degrees.

Professor Demers lecturing


Calculus

You will take one calculus course in the Fall semester and one calculus course in the Winter semester. These courses will review and then expand on the calculus you learned in high school and build to more advanced topics such as integration, polar coordinates and calculus in higher dimensions.

You have two options for your first year calculus courses. You can take MATH*1200 and MATH*1210, or for Bachelor of Science students, you can combine your mathematics and physics requirements together and take IPS*1500 and IPS*1510 (Integrated Physical Science).

Note: Students who wish to transfer into the Mathematical Science Major from another program may count MATH*1080 and MATH*2080 as equivalent for admission into second-year mathematics and statistics courses.

MATH*1200/1210

The instructors this year for these courses are Dr. Matt Demers and Dr. Kim Herder. Both Matt and Kim have won teaching awards and have recently been awarded a large grant to improve the student experience and help with the transition from secondary to tertiary mathematics.

IPS*1500/1510

The instructors this year for these courses are Dr. Dan Ashlock (1500/1510). Dan is passionate about teaching this course and working with the instructors in the Department of Physics to show students as soon as possible how mathematical tools can be applied to real-world applications. Dan has a long award-winning career of working hard to ensure student understanding and engagement.

 

Statistics

In your second semester you will take STAT*2040, an introduction to statistics. This year, this course is taught by Dr. Jeremy Balka, recipient of many teaching awards. Jeremy has created a series of videos that are made freely available to students to help supplement their lectures. This course forms the foundation of statistical education in the Mathematical Science program. This course, and the follow-up course STAT*2050 taken in second year, show you how we make decisions from experimental data.


Linear Algebra

In the first semester, you will take MATH*1160, an introduction to Linear Algebra. This year, this course is being taught by Dr. Marcus Garvie. Marcus has a background in mathematics education and dedicates much of his time to making mathematics courses accessible and relevant to his students. He has put a lot of effort into creating well-written workbooks for all his courses, so that his classes are now textbook-independent. He is also excited about making his courses practical and relevant through the inclusion of applications and computer examples. 


Need Help?

If you need help with one of your courses, you are strongly encouraged to visit your professor or visit the Mathematics and Statistics Learning Centre.

If you need help making program choices or want to know about upper year courses or how to include a minor in your degree program, speak to an Academic Advisor.

If you have a personal challenge that is affecting your ability to be effective in your studies, you can make an appointment at Counselling Services.