The general opinion of university lecturers is that standards in mathematics have fallen substantially over recent years. There is, however, very little empirical evidence in support of this allegation. A national survey was carried out to determine the extent and scope of attitudes within universities concerned with teaching engineering degree courses and the perceptions of undergraduate students. Anecdotal evidence, gained from interviews with university engineering lecturers, supports the theory that the problem originates from the National Curriculum. This in turn adversely affects the starting level of mathematics A levels and engineering degree courses. The overriding opinion therefore assumes that it is not the students who are failing the system but rather it is the system which is failing the students. The survey also illustrated the lack of communication between educational institutions. A level, BTEC/GNVQ, foundation and degree courses are all independently written and moderated. The resultant curriculum material is, however, not always freely available. Even in cases where syllabuses are widely publicized the information does not appear to be employed in the enhancement of the continuity of engineering students’ education. As a consequence students experience a very disjointed mathematical education.
Engineering degree students are deficient in mathematical expertise—why?
Reprints and Corporate Permissions
Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?
To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:
Academic Permissions
Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?
Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:
If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.
Related Research Data
Related research
People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.
Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.
Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.