Board 129: Algebra-Related Misconceptions Identified in a First-Year Engineering Reasoning Course

Abstract

is a Teaching Associate Professor for the Fundamentals of Engineering Program in the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and has postdoctoral training in neural tissue engineering and molecular neurosciences. She teaches freshman engineering courses and supports the outreach and recruiting activities of the college. Her research interests include neural tissue engineering, stem cell research, absorption of air pollutants in human upper airways, attrition and university retention, increasing student awareness and interest in research and engineering, critical thinking, STEM education, and recruitment and retention of women and minorities.

Understanding the Educational Path of Non-Calculus-Ready Students in Engineering

“…Students' misconceptions and the inability to solve word problems have been found to be main contributors for students' failures in math and engineering courses [4][5][6]. Without an appropriate remedial intervention, the path of these students in engineering is infeasible.…”

“…Students fail in those remedial math courses and continue to struggle in upper level math courses. Remedial courses should be modified to consider the fact that these students bring misconceptions and are unable to solve word problems [4][5][6]. At our institution, we are currently working with these non-calculus ready students to improve their problem solving skills and to address their misconceptions.…”