What Colors do Undergraduates Associate with Training Courses? Student Evaluations of the Applied Mathematics Educational Program through the Color Selection Method

Abstract

It is no doubt that today the role of mathematics is increasing and mathematical education requires constant attention. Nevertheless, there are not so many studies devoted to the problems of teaching university students who have chosen mathematics as their profession. The purpose of this article is to research the attitude of undergraduates towards the courses that make up the Applied Mathematics educational program, implemented in one of the technical universities in Russia. The survey was conducted using the Color Selection Method, based on Max Lüscher ideas. Students have associated each course with one of the eight proposed colors. The outcomes of the survey were investigated through correlation and cluster analysis and compared with the results of another survey conducted by a verbal evaluation tool. This research has revealed that the student's assessments obtained through two methods (verbal and imaginative) do not contradict each other. The use of the Color Selection Method helps identifying the problems that arise in the educational process and allows to outline ways of improving teaching quality.

The Role Of Mathematics And Its Teaching For Sustainable Development

“…Due to the complexity and intricacy of understanding the concept of sustainable development, the search for ways to include sustainable development goals into education should be based on a multidimensional approach to learning through the unity of social, psychological, and educational aspects (Kuznetsova & Matytcina, 2018). Within this approach's framework, we considered some issues reflecting the psychological aspects of the professional training of applied mathematicians and their educational motivation features (Kuznetsova 2019(Kuznetsova , 2020. For the successful professional training of bachelors in applied mathematics, we should orient to the future.…”

“…As a result, traffic becomes stable and safe, and air pollution from exhaust gases is reduced. Through mathematical modeling, Kuznetsova (2019Kuznetsova ( , 2020 explores the features of university students' academic motivation, making it possible to implement student-centered education principles in the teaching process. Studies by Galkin et al (2020), Oreshina and Dabas (2020), Sedykh and Istomin (2020), Zhbanova et al (2015) demonstrate the capabilities of mathematics in improving production processes at a ferrous metallurgy enterprise.…”