Dear Mr Peter Bedewell

This information complements our RBAP 1997/98 for JEP-11202-96 and gives

our answers to your questions.

First the question about new the M.Sc-degree. The objective of the project

is and has been a new curriculum in applied mathematics. To fulfil this

objective the first outcome in RBAP 97/98 is entitled "New Curriculum" and

the following measures have/will be taken during 1997/1998

… From each university a person has been selected with the special

responsibility of curriculum development at their home universities.

… A meeting at TUT has been held in December, where the actual structure of

the M.Sc- curriculum has been decided and preliminary decisions on getting

the new curriculum accepted on the correct institutional level have been

done.

… The Estonian system of education is changing and main principles for the

new M.Sc-degrees will be decided on the national level during 1997/1998. We

need this information to be able to finalise the structure of our

M.Sc-degree during the project summer meeting 1998.

The courseware produced, actually the first two modules, is being taught at

least partly in existing M.Sc-degrees. The module on Discrete Simulation

has been taught at Sunderland University, where eight Estonian students

took part in the course with good success. This gave us feedback on the

suitability of the courseware developed.

Certain parts of the course on Applications of Linear Algebra have been

taught at Tallinn Technical University as well as a part of the course on

Harmonic Analysis as part of an existing curriculum. These theoretical

parts will be complemented with the integration of mathematical software

into the course.

For the very beginning of the project we have decided to open the new

curriculum at the end of the project. The first reason is that it takes

some time until the Estonian teachers become acquainted with the new

teaching methods, and second, the computer classes and software that will

be bought during three years, are needed in the teaching the new modules.

Concerning your question on hypermedia laboratory, we recognise that the

centre to which you refer is an integral part of our project and it has

always been our intention to establish such a centre especially with the

healthy state of Industry in Estonia. However, for such a centre to be

successful it must give a good impression from the very beginning. The

purpose of this centre is to provide a link between the universities and

the outside world. It must have a room that is not hidden in some obscure

part of the university, it must have good communication links with all

the partners and it must have some material to demonstrate. We are not yet

ready on any of these accounts.

At the moment we are following the following four point plan

We are negotiating with the University to provide a suitable room. I.e.

one that is adequately furnished and good access to the outside.

We are interviewing the Estonian Staff to find the most suitable manager

for the centre. This is essential as the centre will either stand or fall

on the quality and enthusiasm of the manager.

We a re trying and testing various forms of Internet connections between

western and Estonian partners including bulletin boards, chatlines, an

Intranet, videoconferencing, and commercial database access.

We are developing and will have ready four modules by the summer meeting in

July. We are designing dissemination material about the centre

It is then our intention to

1. Send the manager for a period of observation in UK and/or Finland to a

working centre

2. Test all the communication links and database links

3. Publish and distribute the dissemination material

4. Open the Laboratory spring 1999

I hope that this satisfies your enquiry.

Sincerely,

Seppo Pohjolainen

Associate Professor

Contractor for RBAP 1997/98 for JEP-11202-96

seppo.pohjolainen@cc.tut.fi