University Mathematics-Laden Education, Competencies and the Fighting of Syllabusitis

Syllabusitis is a name for a disease that consists of identifying the mastering of a subject with proficiency related to a syllabus. In this chapter I argue that using a set of mathematical competencies as the hub of mathematics-laden education can be a means to fight syllabusitis. The introduction and thorough exemplification of this idea was the main outcome of the Danish KOM Project. Furthermore, a two-dimensional structuring of the relation between subject specific competencies and subject matter was suggested. As the analytic core of this chapter I argue that such a two-dimensional structure has proven to be a crucial element when attempting to put the competency idea into educational practice, and exemplify how that can be done when it comes to mathematics-laden education at university level