Mathematical maturity for engineering students

This dissertation presents four studies on the mathematical education of engineering students. The first study is a qualitative analysis of the beliefs of engineering faculty at a single institution regarding what constitutes “mathematical maturity” for engineering students. Faculty emphasized the need for mathematical modeling skills, fluent symbolic representation skills, and a combination of effortless algebraic fluency and ability to use computational tools. The second study is an analysis of the beliefs of engineering faculty at a variety of institutions. These faculty also emphasized modeling, representation, and computation, corroborating the results of the first study. The third study is an analysis of the mathematical content of engineering circuits and statics homework problems. Just 8% of statics problems and 20% of circuits problems use calculus, and in a much more limited way than what is taught in calculus. The fourth study presents a quantitative survey of engineering sophomores’ perceptions of the relevance of mathematics to their engineering studies. The students have somewhat favorable views of the relevance of mathematics, but some high-performing students view mathematics as irrelevant

Creative Learning in Digital and Virtual Environments During COVID-19 and Beyond

In this final chapter, authors engage in a conversation specifically about digital and virtual environments and use some of the findings reported in this book, results from their previous research, as well as their general expertise, to shed a new light on this complex topic. The conversation format, we believe, adds a dialogical and emerging element to what is nowadays a highly debated topic. In this way, we offer in what follows an overview of the main topics covered in this book and add to them, conceptually and practically. The focus is twofold: on the one hand, on theoretical notions that help us understand the current situation created by the pandemic and, on the other, on practical advice that can guide those interested in technology-enhanced learning and creativity, now and in the future