Brief History of the Department of Mathematics/Statistics
As an integral part of the university, the evolutionary trajectory of the Department of Mathematics/Statistics, as it is now known, is synonymous with the three-stage metamorphosis of the Institution. It started as the Department of Mathematics when the Institution was established as the
Advanced Teacher Training College (T.T.C) in 1970. The Department took off with 17 students and 4 lecturers. In 1975 the name of the Institution was changed to Rivers State College of Education. By this change, the status and structure of the Institution also changed. By Edict NO.1 of 25th February, 1975, Rivers state College of Education was statutorily empowered to award the Nigeria Certificate in Education (N.C.E) to graduating students.
Being one of the Departments in the then School of Natural and Applied Sciences, the Department of Mathematics prepared students for the award of the N.C.E. in affiliation with the University of Ibadan. Thus, the Department fielded 12 graduating students at the first graduation ceremony of Rivers State College of Education held in 1977, which covered four graduating sets (1977).
In 1984, the Department was considered competent to prepare students for the award of the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) in Mathematics. One student started this programme in 1984.
The third stage of the metamorphosis of the Institution happened in 2009. In that year, the Institution was elevated to university status. The name then changed first from Rivers State College of Education first to Rivers Stare University of Education and later to Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. The change also brought about structural changes. In consonance with the new status, the Department also metamorphosed from the Department of Mathematics to the Department of Mathematics/Statistics in the Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences. Since 1984 when the B.Ed. Programme started, the Department has been training and graduating students, some coming out with First Class. In Fact, the best graduating student in the whole university in 2014 came from the Department of Mathematics/Statistics. Furthermore, the Department has a vibrant National Association of Mathematics Students (NAMS) which has won laurels to the department in inter-departmental and inter-faculty competitions.
A Peep into the Future It is the fervent desire of the department to make the Statistics curriculum option of the department fully operational in order to give students wider latitude of areas of specialization. The basic structures are being put in place to achieve this dream.
Furthermore, conscious of the dearth of Mathematics teachers in the upper echelon of the education system, it is the resolve of the department to work assiduously to commence post graduate programmes in Mathematics and Statistics in the near future. On the whole, the department of Mathematics/Statistics of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt, being blessed with competent hands, requisite working materials and conducive atmosphere, is poised to contribute its quota of well trained teachers in Mathematics and Statistics for the well- deserved but as yet elusive scientific and technological development of Rivers State in particular and the nation in general.
The
Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (lAUE) Department of
Mathematics/Statistics curriculum option of Bachelor of Science in Education
(Mathematics) and Bachelor of Science in Education (Statistics) are designed
and run with the philosophically sound intention to prepare a new breed of
exquisite professional graduate teachers of Mathematics (pure or applied) and
Statistics (pure or applied) at the levels of basic education, comprehensive
senior secondary education, the college of education NCE programmes and the
polytechnic diploma programmes. It is reasonably expected then that in the
contexts of NCE, ND or HND programmes, graduates of the IAUE B.Sc. Ed.
(Mathematics) and B.Sc. Ed. (Statistics) curriculum options will always be
found
worthy of their initial teaching appointments and still found capable of
readily availing themselves of the employing institution's staff development
programmes leading on to higher degrees In Mathematics Education, Statistics
Education, Mathematics (pure or applied) or Statistics (pure or applied) as the
job context may require in particular cases.
Vision of the Department
The Department of Mathematics/Statistics of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education envisions itself as the specific establishment of the university's Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences which is directly responsible for classroom teaching, research training and due graduation of top flight Mathematics/Statistics teachers for the Basic and the Senior Secondary levels of the total Nigerian Education system. The department views its responsibilities as stretching over and beyond the initial graduation of its Mathematics/Statistics undergraduate students to their in-service mentorship based professional career advancement in their post-graduation work life.
Mission
The mission of the lAUE Department of Mathematics/Statistics is to provide an atmosphere conducive for undergraduate student maximal learning benefits by instruction, theoretical discipline, laboratory/field research training and practice teaching exposures for flourishing graduate professional teaching careers in Mathematics/Statistics at the Basic and the Senior Secondary levels of Education. It is also intended by the typical student's learning gains in the department to fit him/her for curriculum innovation and field supervision of school Mathematics/Statistics instruction as well as for personal advancement to higher degrees in these teaching subjects.
OBJECTIVES
Hence, the following six salient curriculum objectives of the IAUE B.Sc. Ed. (Mathematics) and the B.Sc. Ed. (Statistics) content options are being vigorously pursued in the Department of Mathematics/Statistics: