MathExplorer: exploring maths for engineering students

This article describes an approach currently being carried out at the University of Manchester where engineering students are encouraged to explore maths as a complement to traditional lectures. First- and second-year electrical and electronic engineering students use a set of notebooks, developed using MuPAD, in order to explore relevant mathematical topics, working faster than can be done when every calculation is performed by hand. This allows learners to analyse more examples and hence gain an appreciation of the wider concepts surrounding the topics and how they fit into the electrical and electronic engineering syllabus. The notebooks were designed to be used both to motivate discussion in lectures and/or individual study.