What your engineering students might be learning from their mathematics pre-reqs (Beyond Integrals and Derivatives)

While engineering students are required to complete a number of mathematics courses, some students and practitioners believe that they do not use the mathematics that they learned from their courses in engineering projects. This study investigates engineering students´ use of mathematics through semi-structured interviews. Engineering students from five engineering disciplines (Aeronautics and Astronautics, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering) answered interview questions related to their mathematical backgrounds. More advanced engineers (Mechanical Engineering graduate students) were also interviewed about their mathematical training. The interview responses were analyzed using grounded theory methodology, and the emergent themes were mapped to Schoenfeld´s aspects of mathematical thinking: knowledge base, heuristics, monitoring and control mechanisms, beliefs and affects and practices. The emerging findings suggest that engineering students learn problem solving strategies, develop beliefs and feelings about mathematics and engineering, acquire self-monitoring abilities and develop practices as a result of their experiences in their mathematics courses. The findings from this study provide insights that can help the engineering education community consider how mathematics should be taught to engineering students as well as information helpful to individual faculty members wanting to better understand their students´ experiences outside of the engineering classroom.