Science Degree Plan
Mathematics Science Degree Plan 2025/26
The objective of the Scientific Degree Plan is to promote the orientation of high school students toward scientific degree programmes and the in-service education of high school teachers, with the aim of establishing best practices and testing new initiatives that further strengthen the relationship between Schools and Universities, and between Universities and the world of work.
Regarding Orientation, the main objectives are:
- offer to high school students in their final years opportunities to learn about topics, problems, and procedures characteristic of (scientific) knowledge, also in relation to the fields of work and professions, in order to identify specific interests and aptitudes and make informed choices regarding their personal project;
- enable high school students in their final years to evaluate themselves, verify and consolidate their knowledge regarding the preparation required for various (scientific) degree courses, as indicated in art. 6 of Ministerial Decree no. 270/2004 and art. 2 of Legislative Decree no. 21/2008.
A few words about “workshops”:
A workshop refers to an activity based on a educational objective and a project designed by the teachers, in which students:
- use and test the knowledge and tools at their available, to describe and represent situations and phenomena, to solve problems, and to develop an event or an object;
- discuss and work in teams with other students and teachers;
- make decisions, plan, and act to achieve established objectives;
- evaluate the results obtained;
- acquire concepts and practical skills and consciously connect them to theoretical frameworks.
In many cases, the workshops require specific tools and environments, but it is important to remember that the presence of such tools does not in itself guarantee that the activity being carried out is a workshop in the sense specified above. In particular, an activity in which students limit themselves exclusively to listening to and observing lectures or even experimental demonstrations is not a workshop.
Remember that the “workshops” are aimed at full classes and must be scheduled at the start of each academic year as they usually require approval from the School Board (or the teaching staff of one or more classes) who agree to participate in the workshop in question. Individual participation is generally not possible unless at least a full class is enrolled in the workshop; in any case, such participation must be agreed upon with the teachers involved. The workshops involve both meetings with our tutors and experts and classroom activities led by the participating teachers; therefore, they must be scheduled quite in advance, and the workshop itself is usually held over several weeks.
Here are the workshops we offered in 2025/26 (anyone interested in workshops held in the past-such as Mathematics and Medicine-may contact the coordinator, Prof. Kuhn).
Workshop: Graphs, Origami and the Web
Graphs, Origami and the Web is a new workshop “adaptable” to different needs depending on the level of mathematical detail covered, which naturally depends on the background of the participating class(es). The “basic” level lasts approximately 8 hours and consists of a short introductory lesson on graphs and a practical session involving the construction of an origami model.
After covering some basic concepts on graphs, the students, together with their teachers, are invited to construct and colour an origami under the guidance of a tutor who, at the end, will explain that it is possible to associate a graph with the origami they have made. From the properties of this graph, it is possible to deduce properties of the origami. Teachers are provided with a summary of the activities carried out, along with suggestions for constructing another origami model, which can be used for further study of the concepts covered. The “advanced” level, comprising another 8 hours following the basic level, focuses on matrix calculus (row-column products, eigenvectors and eigenvalues). Using a stochastic matrix, a web network is simulated as a dynamic system in which the matrix plays a key role. For this second phase, coordination with the relevant teachers is essential in order to schedule some activities as part of the curriculum and others as extracurricular. The level of detail can vary depending on the programmes and the time dedicated. The leaders are primarily the school teachers involved, followed by an expert tutor (a master’s student from Bicocca) and a lecturer from Bicocca.
Workshop coordinator: mariagabriella.kuhn@unimib.it
Workshop: GAMES AND CHANCE
This workshop was very popular in the past, particularly during the pandemic, as the full programme could be delivered on-line.
The Project is aimed at students and teachers in the third and fourth years of high school, as it requires knowledge of combinatorics. One objective is to provide a scientific approach to a problem that is usually, at least in the collective imagination, considered the monopoly of “luck”.
We believe that gambling is an excellent example of a situation where it is possible to start from practice and experimentation to arrive at a synthesis of the results and then, as a subsequent step, at a mathematical model and, ultimately, at a scientific approach to the problem.
The workshop is structured in several phases: it includes both theoretical lessons and experimentation with gambling games, as well as computer simulations, for a total of approximately 22 hours.
We also highlight the possibility of a "transversal" approach involving other disciplines, such as the legal aspect: what are the laws regulating gambling? Whom do they “protect’”? What profit margins are permitted? Finally, we must not underestimate the social problem of gambling addiction: this workshop has been included in the programme of work to combat gambling addiction promoted by ATS Valpadana (provinces of Cremona and Mantova).
Workshop coordinator: mariagabriella.kuhn@unimib.it, giulia.comi92@gmail.com
Other PLS activities:
Orientation activities held together with the University’s other PLSs:
E-learning:
Please note that educational resources created as part of the National Science Degree Plan are available online at https://wims.matapp.unimib.it/precorsi.php, with the aim of helping students assess their basic mathematical knowledge.
Access to the site is free for all users, but registration is required.
Workshop: Applications of Mathematics to Medicine
The aim is to show students the applications of mathematical models, and in particular probability theory, in the medical field. Firstly, with the help and collaboration of a tutor and their own teachers, the students will obtain data (from “reliable” websites such as https://statistichecoronavirus.it/coronavirus-italia/coronavirus-lombardia/) about the first months of the pandemic. This is followed by an initial meeting with the students at the University of Milano-Bicocca where, using Excel with the help of their teachers and our tutors, they try to estimate the R_0 index as suggested by the SIR model (susceptible, infected, removed) Subsequently, the mathematical model is presented to them, after the teachers have delivered a programme in class agreed with us. The mathematical tools involved can range from simple geometric sequences to differential equations, ensuring that, from an educational perspective, the work harmonises well with various curriculum programmes.
Workshop: GAMES AND CHANCE
This workshop was very popular in the past, particularly during the pandemic, as the full programme could be delivered on-line.
The Project is aimed at students and teachers in the third and fourth years of high school, as it requires knowledge of combinatorics. One objective is to provide a scientific approach to a problem that is usually, at least in the collective imagination, considered the monopoly of “luck”.
We believe that gambling is an excellent example of a situation where it is possible to start from practice and experimentation to arrive at a synthesis of the results and then, as a subsequent step, at a mathematical model and, ultimately, at a scientific approach to the problem.
The workshop is structured in several phases: it includes both theoretical lessons and experimentation with gambling games, as well as computer simulations.
Workshop “Basic Knowledge”:
It is part of the Orientation/Self-Assessment activities:
together with the teachers, our coordinators identify a number of core topics to be presented to the students for self-assessment: the programme includes e-learning activities and classroom tutoring, following which an online test will be conducted; the results will then be analysed together with the teaching staff.