Meta Goals for Students

We call any goals not directly related to content goals: meta goals.
The following sample list shows the meta-goals that Prof. Christine von Renesse includes on her syllabus for her calculus classes:

Upon successful completion of this course students will:

  • Recognize and challenge their own beliefs and feelings about mathematics.
  • Work well with other students.
  • Find work partners that have similar speed, curiosity and learning edge.
  • Gain social competence in negotiating different ways of thinking.
  • Persevere when it gets difficult and frustrating.
  • Be ok making mistakes and learning from them.
  • Be more confident in doing mathematics.
  • Admit not knowing and ask questions to learn.
  • Be prepared and ready to try/learn when coming to class.
  • Realize that mathematics is more about creating and deep thinking than memorizing procedures.
  • Be curious about mathematics.
  • Recognize how they learn best and put a plan into action.
  • Enjoy the challenge of reasoning.
  • Only accept mathematics that makes sense to them.
  • Communicate mathematical ideals in writing and orally.

On our goals page you can also find student meta goals that are more targeted toward mathematics for liberal arts courses.