In South Australia mathematics students typically have had considerable exposure to calculus but little to probability on entering university. The amount of probability in school syllabuses has decreased, and our first year university students often associate the subject with fatuous but intricate examples. Some undertake a first year statistics subject, but many will come to a first course in applied probability/stochastic processes in second year applied mathematics without that background. They are ill at lease with any second year applied mathematics courses not based on calculus (forgetting the effort with which the comfort with calculus was won!) and will often demand evidence of meaningful applicability at an early stage. This creates some challenge and necessitates an examination of one's teaching philosophy.
The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education