Abstract:
The engineering student needs to grasp basic principles of mathematics in order to
learn engineering subjects. It is common knowledge that the students struggle in
the mathematical component of their engineering degree courses. In this research we
explored the main mathematical problems faced both by students and the teachers. There
is a belief among some academics that the mathematical knowledge of the engineering
students deteriorate during their four year stay at the university. Aim of this research was
to ascertain the validity of this belief and to find the role of mathematics in engineering
practice. For the purpose of this study a random sample of 50 final year engineering students
of the faculty of engineering, University of Ruhuna were selected. All these students had
taken the advanced level examination in 2008. Research consisted of two components,
quantitative and qualitative. For the quantitative component, a question paper consisting
of five questions were prepared. The level of these questions were set in such a way that a
student would got a grade similar to what they received at the advanced level examination.
The second component was an informal interview to get the students opinion about the
mathematics they were taught over the past four years. This also included interviews
with some recent graduates who are working in the industry, to asses the usefulness of
mathematics they learned at the engineering faculty. The quantitative survey revealed that
the knowledge of mathematics go down during their stay at Faculty of Engineering. The
qualitative survey revealed that the students found that the mathematics taught were too
theoretical and preferred more applications to problems in engineering. Among others
the major recommendation was to prepare the syllabus and curriculum with the help of
staff in the Faculty of Engineering.