Mathematical Competency of Engineers and Engineering Students

Mathematics is considered a fundamental component of engineering education, thus it is important to determine the mathematical competencies (MCs) attained by engineering undergraduate students so that they will be able to use these competencies to support their professional engineering work. The MCs were identified based on Niss's work, namely, thinking mathematically, reasoning, problem posing and solving, modeling, representing, communicating, symbolism and formalism, using aids and tool. This research was done to explore MCs in engineering mathematics curriculum by conducting two studies, a study on engineers' MCs requirements at the workplace and a study on the engineering students' MCs acquirements at the university. In the first phase, 22 engineers from various industries in Malaysia responded to a set of open-ended questionnaires followed by interview session with 10 selected engineers. In the second phase, 41 engineering undergraduate students participated by answering a set of questionnaires with open ended questions The data of the research were analyzed qualitatively using schema coding approach as well as appropriate statistical analysis. The findings from both phases gave indication the MCs required should be the focus of engineering mathematics curriculum. Particularly it highlighted which MCs were actually attained by the undergraduate engineering students as compared to the MCs that were needed based on the demands at the workplace. The results gave suggestion that mathematics curriculum should also focus on MCs as outcomes besides the development of mathematical concepts and skills.