Senior Engineering Students' Views on Mathematics Courses in Engineering.
The aim of the study was to investigate senior engineering students' opinions on how the delivery of mathematics courses can be improved. A survey designed by the researcher was conducted on 605 (119 female, 486 male) prospective engineers to obtain feedback on how the mathematics courses they had taken in the engineering departments could have been improved. Data thus obtained were categorized according to themes, using qualitative analysis methods. The findings indicate that the senior engineering students' opinions can be categorized in 5 main and 16 sub themes. The main themes are: the content of the mathematics courses, the teaching style, the lecturer, the assessment process and the physical conditions of the classrooms. According to the results of this research, it is advisable that a commission consisting of faculty from engineering and mathematics departments collaborate on course content and in providing examples and problems that depict engineering applications of the mathematics taught. Use of such examples would solidify the need for mathematics in each specific area of engineering, while increasing the interest and motivation of engineering students towards the field. Keywords: Engineering mathematics education, engineering mathematics curriculum, engineering education, engineering students, mathematics for engineers. Introduction In recent years, many modifications have been made to engineering education in parallel with the advancements in the fields of technology and education; and new applications have been put in place (Baille & More, 2004; Crawley, Malmqvist, Ostlund, & Brodeur, 2007). Moreover, the specific problems of engineering education have also been addressed and how the quality of education can be improved was discussed in research studies (Bhattacharya, 2004; Burton, 1998; Clark & Andrews, 2010; Pomales-Garcia & Liu, 2007). Various engineering and mathematics organizations conducted studies and prepared reports on the kind of reforms needed in the mathematics education given to engineering candidates (Broadbridge & Henderson, 2008; Engineering Council, 2000; Kent & Noss, 2003). Research studies on how, how much and by whom mathematics should be taught to engineering students, paved the way for reviewing and revising the mathematics curricula in universities, as well as creating new mathematics courses. For instance, Booth (2008) proposes teaching mathematics in engineering courses when the engineering aspect dictates such a need, rather than teaching these courses separately. Wright State University revised mathematics courses, for the freshman year. Mathematics topics, required by engineering courses were taught through engineering applications, with additional time for problem solving and laboratory work. At the end of this project, students who took the reformed mathematics courses were found to be more motivated and successful (Klingbeil, Mercer, Rattan, Raymon, & Reynolds, 2005). Pomales-Garcia and Liu (2007) researched undergraduate engineering students' perspective on engineering education. Their study indicated that students preferred spending more time on real world applications, examples and less time on lectures. This research also showed that students favored smaller classes with increased interaction in lectures, and use of visual aids. Other studies found that among the most important criteria cited as good teaching in engineering and effective mathematics education came the lecturer's knowledge of the subject area, clarity and lucidity of presentation, and ability to stimulate student interest (Battacharya, 2004; Botha, 2000). The content of mathematics taught in engineering departments is one of the most important subjects that are frequently discussed. While engineers demand a focus on mathematics subjects that are necessary for the engineering curriculum, mathematicians argue that omitting some topics from mathematics courses damage the integrity of the subject. …