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Lena Zetterqvist
Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Lund University, Sweden
All engineering students at Lund Institute of Technology have a compulsory course in basic probability and statistics. For some students, including those on programmes for mechanical, civil, chemical and environmental engineering, it is their single course on the subject. Several authors have reported problems on these service courses: students may lack motivation, find the theory difficult or boring, others see no applications for the results. To remedy these problems we have, for our service courses, developed course material and a learning environment where students work actively. Two important components in this setting are applied problems and use of technology in various ways.
Beliving that motivated students are better learners than unmotivated, we have during several years developed applied exercises and projects in order to show the students how their knowledge in probabilty and statistical reasoning can be used in other courses, in every day situations or in a future worklife. Furthermore, there is a large number of exercises specific for each student programme; for examples, exercises suitable for environmental engineers, exercises suitable for mechanical engineers and so on.
Mathematical softwares have been used for decades in probability and statistics education in order to analyze and visualize data and for simulations of distributions. In our courses we use Matlab in this traditional way, the amount of computer used at exercises ranging from 15% (most courses) to 100% (the course for future environmental engineers). But nowdays, our courses also include several other uses of technology, for example video clips presenting theory and solutions to exercises, web- based exercises as a complement to ordinary exercises, and web-based tests. We have also developed ’’applets’’, using Matlab scripts, where the students are able to interactively explore the theory.
Our experiences are that active work with applied exercises and projects give a more positive attitude towards the subject. An investigation also showed that the introduction of web-based test increased the result on the final exam and also resulted in a better conceptual understanding.