Piloting a problem solving module for undergraduate mathematics students

We report on a new problem solving module for second-year undergraduate mathematics students first piloted during the 2016-17 academic year at Cardiff University. This module was introduced in response to the concern that for many students, traditional teaching and assessment practices do not offer sufficient opportunities for developing problem-solving and mathematical thinking skills, and more generally, to address the recognised need to incorporate transferrable skills into our undergraduate programmes. We discuss the pedagogic and practical considerations involved in the design and delivery of this module, and in particular, the question of how to construct open-ended problems and assessment activities that promote mathematical thinking, and reward genuinely original and independent mathematical work.