The Importance of Mathematical Pre-University in First Year Engineering Students

AbstractEngineering Mathematics is a key area of all engineering degree courses and the changes to the pre-university mathematics syllabus mean that many departments and institutions are developing strategies to support their students with their mathematics. As for UKM, students are required to take four basic mathematics subjects i.e. algebra, vector calculus, statistic and complex number before they can continue with their respective engineering courses. The study involved the details learning outcomes of mathematics courses at Pre-University which include matriculation and STPM and the details learning outcomes of all mathematics courses at FKAB, UKM. In order to study their weaknesses of mathematical foundation, they were given a set of mathematics questions aimed at assessing their conceptual understanding of mathematics. Students were tested based on elementary mathematical concepts such as functions and graphs, differentiation integration, vectors and etc. Data were analyzed over four departments, representing Department of Civil and Structural Engineering (JKAS), Department of Mechanical and Material Engineering (JKMB), Department of Chemical and Process Engineering (JKKP), and Department of Electric, Electronic and System Engineering (JKEES)