Mathematics for first year engineering students - Student performance and attitudes

In all engineering degree courses a level of mathematical ability is required. As the spectrum of qualifications, and indeed their very nature, changes with time it is important to know how people cope with the mathematics content of the first year of an engineering degree. This paper reviews the performance of students in the first year mathematics program of engineering degrees at the University of Warwick. In particular, comparisons are made between students with different mathematics qualifications on entry Whilst there is some correlation between performance and mathematics grade at A-Level and marks in Foundation or Access courses, there is no correlation for BTEC students. The variability of performance is, therefore, likely to be the result of other factors. In an attempt to quantify these other factors we have carried out a questionnaire survey of first year students on their attitudes to and difficulties with mathematics. From this we can see that, based on responses to questions on attitude, students can be grouped into six categories, and that significant differences can then be found across a wide range of other variables for these six groups. These differences are found in the mathematics qualification on entry, the usefulness of the different elements of the mathematics course and the difficulty of the various mathematics topics. From this survey it is possible to determine implications both for admissions policies and course design