Developing Maths Skills for Degree Entry

1. Developing Maths Skills for Degree Entry Fred Maillardet and Les Mustoe Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

2. Mathematics and Engineering - uneasy bedfellows • Necessary evil or essential bedrock? • Who should teach the mathematics? • Too dangerous to leave to the mathematicians in universities • Too dangerous to leave to engineers • Shared responsibility is the key Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

3. What to teach and how? • Who determines the syllabus? • How much rigour? • To embed or not to embed • Confidence and competence • Mathematics must be developed coherently Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

4. Origin of EPC Maths Working Group • EPC concern over falling maths standards from the early 1990s • Others have shared our concerns: “The maths problem” (IMA in 1995) and “Crisis in maths” (UCAS in 2002)…… • EPC specific concerns: algebraic manipulation, basic geometry and trigonometry, and general fluency in handling number concepts Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

5. Maths Working Group • MWG formed in 2001: “To improve the general standard of mathematics of entrants to university engineering degree courses” • Initial membership: EPC, IMA, LMS, HoDoMS, HEA ESC, IoP, Deans of Science, UCAS Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

6. The New Engineering Diploma Level Three • EPC expressed general support for the need to reduce the academic-vocational divide • However, now confused by the reference to “AcademicDiplomas” ! • Diplomas designed to lead to work or apprenticeships or further study…..EPC focusing on the latter Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

7. Initial concerns • EPC was concerned when the details were first published in 2007 re: The maths content Teachers’ ability to deliver The level of real industrial support Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

8. Maths Content: Principal Learning • Mathematical Techniques and Applications for Engineers is only 60 glh covering: • Algebra • Geometry and Trigonometry • Calculus • Statistics Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

9. Maths Task Group • EPC and ESC formed a special Maths Task Group to try to address these issues • MWG membership increased to include RAEng, NCETM, MEI, EDDP and QCA • The Task Group quickly reached a consensus on what was required Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

10. Unit proposed • An additional unit based on the Loughborough University Foundation Course • This course was designed for students without ‘A’ level maths who wish to progress to study engineering at degree level • The subsequent degree performance of students taking this course has often exceeded ‘A’ level entrants Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

11. Unit length and coverage • Unit is 180 glh (in addition to the Principal Learning Mathematics of 60 glh) • ‘Applied Specialist Learning’ – i.e. optional for those wishing to progress to study engineering at degree level • Coverage broadly similar to ‘A’ level Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

12. Topics • Mathematical Models in Engineering • Models of Growth and Decay • Models of Oscillations • Functions • Geometry • Differentiation • Integration • Linear Algebra • Statistics and Probability • Algebraic Processes Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

13. Applications orientation • Teaching maths in the context of applications is seen as critical • “Exemplars” are being developed for each maths topic to illustrate real engineering applications • Each exemplar is supported by a relevant industrial company – e.g. JCB, Rolls Royce, Thales, NPower…. Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

14. ..\My Documents\EPC Maths WG\JCB_Dieselmax_Power_D5.doc Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

15. Exemplars • ‘Real problems’ are more challenging for students (and teachers!) compared to traditional maths questions • ….but solving real problems gives a sense of achievement leading to increased enthusiasm • Could help overcome the ‘can’t do’ attitude all too prevalent in students (and parents!) www.raeng.org.uk/education/diploma/maths/default.htm Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

16. Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

17. Exam Structure • Part 1: 2 hours • 8 – 10 compulsory questions • Part 2: 1.5 hours • Context is pre-released • 4 questions testing applications ability Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

18. Exam Pilot trial 1 • 17 students from 5 universities studying Foundation Years sat the pilot examination • Students more comfortable with ‘substitution’ problems and thus found Part 1 easier • Part 2 confirmed students’ unease with real problems despite the pre-release. Excess of info’ found to be as confusing as lack of info’! Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

19. Exam Pilot Trial 2 • Use of technical language challenging: e.g. ‘rate of change’ for ‘differentiate’ ‘sketch the relationship between’ for ‘plot the graph of’…… ‘Time elapsed’, ‘Datum’…… • MEI Further Maths Network could provide the support needed for both students and teachers Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

20. Conclusions • Real engineering applications could make maths more attractive to a wider audience • More support is needed for teachers if this change is to succeed • The New Engineering Diploma offers an opportunity to widen participation Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

21. Final conclusion • The development of the ASL unit in the Advanced Diploma has shown how cooperation between mathematicians sympathetic to the needs of engineers and engineers sympathetic to mathematics can yield a good result. Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education

22. Developing Maths Skills for Degree Entry Thank you for listening f.j.maillardet@brighton.ac.uk l.r.mustoe@lboro.ac.uk www.epc.ac.uk Promoting Excellence in Engineering Higher Education