Preparatory Mathematics Course for Non-Traditional Engineering Students

This paper reports the concept of a preparatory mathematics course for non-traditional students in electrical engineering, and its evaluation. The blended-learning course is part of the initial study phase smoothing the transition to learning at university level. The instructional design of the preparatory course is aligned with that of the Bachelor’s study program. However, it takes place prior to the beginning of the first semester. The initial phase additionally encompasses the whole first semester with different courses meant to help students getting ready for studying. Prospective students indicated that they needed to refresh their knowledge in mathematics. Thus, a preparatory mathematics course was given priority. This course serves several purposes: Students get an impression of the requirements in mathematics necessary for the study program; they refresh their basic knowledge; they make themselves familiar with self-organized learning and the blended-learning concept of the program. Design and implementation were evaluated with a questionnaire at the end of the course and after the first semester. The results show that the course is an appropriate instrument prior to engineering studies in order to prepare and support non-traditional students. In the conclusions potential for improvement is identified.

Strategies to Remove Barriers and Increase Motivation to Use the Tablet PC in Formative Assessment

The Tablet PC has been employed to provide feedback through formative assessment to students in preparatory mathematics courses at Central Queensland University for close to a decade. A study conducted in 2011 on formative assessment and feedback given via the Tablet PC within these courses conveyed extremely positive outcomes (Adams, Dekkers, & Elliott, 2012). Approximately 90% of the 140 students surveyed found the feedback beneficial to their learning and that assessment was returned, on average, within two to four days. These findings would indicate that these methods should be adopted into mainstream higher education courses (Adams, et al., 2012). Building on the research and experiences of staff involved in the use of the Tablet PC to provide feedback on formative assessment in preparatory mathematics courses, strategies to implement and improve these practices in undergraduate engineering courses are investigated in this chapter.

Sharing Teaching Ideas: Angle Limit: A Paper Folding Investigation

In an interesting investigation in the 1997 College Preparatory Mathematics (CPM) Educational Program, students investigate the limit of angle measures formed by repeatedly folding a strip of paper. The idea originally came from Build Your Own Polyhedra (Hilton and Pederson 1994). What makes the investigation interesting is its blending of geometry, algebra, and limits. The activity works best as a discovery lesson in which students work in pairs to follow the steps, measure the angles, and make a table of their observations. They then analyze their results and try to make a conjecture as to what is happening.