The ECMI Educational Programme in Mathematics for Industry: A Long Term Success Story

Here a description of the history and the main characteristics of the ECMI Educational Programme in Mathematics for Industry is provided. The Programme started in 1987 and evolved in time, according to the increasing new requirments coming both from the industrial and academic world. It is now running since 25 years and the success and brilliant career, both in Industry and Academy, of many students who followed the Programme in these years are the best recognition of the long term success of this educational activit

Joy of mathematical modelling: a forgotten perspective?

We argue the relevance of including an affective perspective in the mathematical modelling education research and emphasise its importance for the teaching and learning of mathematical modelling at all levels, especially at the university. Our argument is supported by a recent survey of mathematics lecturers’ views on mathematical modelling, several follow-up interviews, and a review of literature on mathematical modelling that relates to enjoyment, pleasure, and appreciation. Findings from the survey and the follow-up interviews indicate that there is a group of practitioners who hold strong views on the importance of enjoyment in doing and teaching mathematical modelling

Diretrizes e modelo conceitual de custos para o setor público a partir da experiência no governo federal do Brasil Guidelines and conceptual model of costs for the public sector based on the Brazilian federal government's experience

Este artigo apresenta o Sistema de Informação de Custos do Governo Federal, descrevendo o modelo e suas principais características, desde o conceito até a finalidade e os grupos de usuários, explorando a correspondência entre os conceitos de contabilidade governamental e de custos. O artigo demonstra o relacionamento entre as políticas públicas, recursos, atividades e objetos de custo. Para tanto, remete aos conceitos de sistema de acumulação e método de custeio de custos no setor público, correlacionando-os aos sistemas de informação governamentais. O artigo também apresenta o modelo téorico-conceitual, as diretrizes que sustentaram a sua concepção e a descrição do seu processo de implantação que ainda está em curso. O artigo finalmente olha para o futuro, depois de vencida a etapa de implantação do sistema, e exorta os leitores a se inserirem no debate sobre mensuração de custos. A importância do SIC é enfatizada como elemento de melhoria da qualidade do gasto no setor público<br>This article presents the Cost Information System (CIS) of the Brazilian federal government. It describes the taxonomic model and its main features, from its concepts to its purposes and user groups, and explores the correlation between the concepts of governmental accounting and cost accounting. It demonstrates the relationship between public policies, fund management, activities and cost objects. To this end, it uses the concepts of accumulation system, costing method and costs in the public sector, as well as government information systems. The article also presents the theoretic conceptual model and the guidelines of the design, and describes the implementation process, which is still ongoing. It finally looks into the future after the development stage of the CIS, and urges its readers to dive into the debate about measuring costs. The importance of CIS to improve the quality of spending in the public sector is highlighte