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Morten Brekke
Department of Engineering, MatRIC University of Agder, Norway
The aim of this report is to show students’ working methods and performance following the introduction of new teaching approaches and integrating mathematics within the programme for engineering students in electronics. In 2014 we started a project to strengthen students' achievement of learning outcomes of the bachelor programme in electronics through integration of mathematics within the study’s technical subjects. The intention is that this will contribute to a better learning process and increased understanding of mathematics.
Previous mathematics was taught in one course for all engineering fields. In this way mathematics was taught in general with few examples from each field. Topics taught in the first semester may not be relevant at all or will not appear until maybe the fourth or fifth semester. This can demotivate students since they struggle to see the relevance of the mathematics they study.
The first cohort of this new programme started in the autumn of 2015. The new programme differs from the previous with the following significant changes for the mathematics component:
Mathematics 1 runs over two semesters (previously only the first).
Mathematics 2 is taught in the third semester (previously in the second).
New textbook with many examples taken from electronics.
No lectures, students watch prerecorded videos, and meet the teacher 4 hours weekly for seminars.
Grading through digital assessment throughout the courses and digital exams.
Six digital tests set throughout the course, midterm exam and final exam contribute to the grade (used to be final written exam).
The results so far show that students enjoy this way of teaching. By having seminars instead of ordinary lectures the teacher talks with the students and not only to them. There is time for discussion and it is believed there now is more opportunity for understanding of mathematics. They are allowed to take each test on two occasions. They get the same type of problems on their second try but with different values. This is done deliberately to make them work with their errors. The way students work together and help each other to understand their errors after each test really helps them improve their scores. At the midterm evaluation students provide lots of positive feedback. For the first time in many years of experience as a teacher, students say that the mathematics course is relevant to them. And the result of the midterm exam shows grades far better than previous years.