I was thinking of mathematics degree courses as a whole, rather than specific lecture courses, and in particular of the British system. The mechanics of calculus is taught at A-level in the UK, and here I’d definitely agree that following a standard recipe is most of what’s required. But the key feature of a good university maths course is that it develops certain ways of thinking that enable you to tackle problems unlike any you’ve seen before, and this is the experience that I hope would be shared by all students of mathematics. This is a genuine hope though, not an expectation.
What do you mean by “most”? It seems to work pretty well all the way up through calc 1, imho.
Correction: I was wrong; there are some basic cases which knuth-bendix can’t handle. It looks like it wouldn’t be sufficient up to calc 1 after all.
I was thinking of mathematics degree courses as a whole, rather than specific lecture courses, and in particular of the British system. The mechanics of calculus is taught at A-level in the UK, and here I’d definitely agree that following a standard recipe is most of what’s required. But the key feature of a good university maths course is that it develops certain ways of thinking that enable you to tackle problems unlike any you’ve seen before, and this is the experience that I hope would be shared by all students of mathematics. This is a genuine hope though, not an expectation.
I liked your original post by the way.