Facilitating Engineering Mathematics Education By Multidisciplinary Projects

Abstract

, and acquired industry experience as development engineer at Siemens Corporation. Currently he teaches engineering mathematics in the Department of Automotive Engineering, Joanneum University of Applied Sciences, and conducts research in automotive engineering and materials sciences.

Teaching Service Modelling to a Mixed Class: An Integrated Approach

“…Another interesting idea that is worthy of consideration is a "by projects" approach (Bischof et al, 2007), which might help more self-motivated students identify the gaps in their mathematical skill sets and become self-motivated to learn more and bridge those gaps. In this context, optional projects can be explored, for example, by employing CAS.…”

“…More broadly, the teaching of engineering mathematics in general is a recurring topic in the literature. Various techniques have been proposed, including the use of CAS (Rielly, 2005), animations (Kidron and Zehavi, 2002), and multi-discipline projects (Bischof et al, 2007). Lyons and Beilock (2012) carried out an interesting psychological study on mathematics anxiety, revealing that it is the anticipation of doing mathematics (rather than the process of working on mathematics) that produces anxiety related pains.…”

Lessons Learned from the NSF IGERT Program: Cultivating Student Motivation in the Interdisciplinary and International Contexts

“…One of the written responses from IGERT participants, when asked what aspect was most valuable, also provides evidence to Bischof's conclusion [22]:…”

“…Perhaps because the majority of current interdisciplinary programs and project/problem-based learning cases aim to bring real-world challenges into the classroom, an overlapped region clearly exists between the two research fields [18]- [22]. For example, Kuo et al [19] proposed the concept of Interdisciplinary Project-Based Learning (IPBL): Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire which was used to evaluate the participant's perception of learning motivation via three subscales: self-efficacy, the joyfulness of learning, and valuing the significance of learning on future career development.…”

“…Within the time frame of 18 weeks, guided by design thinking, the IPBL approach was reported to have significant impacts on student's learning motivation. Bischof et al [22] argued that project-based learning employed in mathematics courses would be especially useful to engineering students because it is crucial to have engineering students understand how mathematics can help them with their future studies and professional careers. The selected problems all included at least one section needed to be solved with mathematics knowledge that was slightly beyond their current abilities.…”