Abstract

The computer revolution has had a strong impact on service mathematics. Mathematical needs of many science and engineering based students, even in traditional areas, have been subject to serious changes. New computer-related engineering specializations need mathematical abilities very unusual for many mathematics educators. Changes in economics led to a large increase in students who are not naturally inclined to study mathematics but need it for professional activities. To make the mathematics courses relevant to these people these courses should be tailored with a typical student in mind (Khait, 2003 a). The aim of this brief is to develop and identify the mathematical needs of such students. We focus on the preparation of computer science and engineering students, in the latter case comparing that of traditional branches which existed before the computer age with the new computer- related engineering specializations, for example, courses such as Computer Systems Engineering or Software Engineering.