Mathematics and its value for engineering students: what are the implications for teaching?

Abstract

Mathematics has long been known to be problematic for university engineering students and their teachers, for example Scanlan [1]. This paper presents recent data gathered from interviews with engineering students who experienced problems with mathematics and their lecturers during their transition through the first year in different programme contexts. Our interviews with the students reveal how they understand the relation between engineering and mathematics and we draw on the concept of 'use-and exchange-value' to explore this relationship more fully. This paper challenges both the pedagogical practice of teaching non-contextualized mathematics and also the lack of transparency regarding the significance of mathematics to engineering. We conclude that the value of mathematics in engineering remains a central problem, and argue that mathematics should be a fundamental concern in the design and practice of first year engineering.

“Lost in transition”: Alienation and drop out during the transition to mathematically-demanding subjects at university

“…That is why the concept of alienation as used here becomes important in showing the dialectic process of negotiation that occurred, in particular between a practical engineering identity and the academic practices of university mathematics. It is claimed elsewhere (Harris et al 2015) that for many engineering students it is important to perceive the use-value of mathematics in their engineering courses and, therefore, the cases of Alex and James are not unique in this sense. Solomon and Croft (2015 this issue) argue about the close relationship that exists between understanding (in the case of their data, about mathematical proof), alienation and what these authors posit as its opposite, ownership.…”

Influence of Education on Improved Competitiveness of Employees in the Labour Market

“…Мор-Шрёдер посвящены вопросам мотивации обуча-емых [21]; исследования Р. Рут-Верн-стейна связаны с развитием одаренных студентов и ученых [22]. Сравнительный анализ работ отечественных и зарубеж-ных ученых показал, что в настоящее время в рамках анализируемой нами проблемы преобладают исследования методологического характера: они свя-заны с поиском новых стратегий взаи-модействия обучающего и обучаемого [23][24][25][26]. На основе анализа россий-ских и зарубежных источников нами были определены стратегические осно-вы повышения эффективности учебно-методического взаимодействия 4 .…”

“…Они утверждают, что математика должна быть фундаментальной пробле-мой при разработке курсов, точнее их содержания. В связи с этим математика должна быть интегрирована с преподава-емыми инженерными дисциплинами [25].…”

“…Математика широко исполь-зуется в технических науках и для этого достаточно обратиться с этой целью к общетехническим или специальным дисциплинам. Однако использование заданий с неформальным содержанием даже в простых случаях может вызвать дополнительные сложности [25].…”

“…Day notes that Western scholars who developed their writing before the 1970s also "learned only to imitate the prose and style of the authors before them -with all their attendant defects -thus establishing a system of error in perpetuity" [25].…”