professor dick clements, faculty of engineering, university of bristol [email protected]...
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Professor Dick Clements, Faculty of Engineering, University of Bristol
Prior Knowledge of Mechanics Amongst First Year Engineering Students
UNIVERSITY LEARNING AND TEACHING WEEK 2007
9 January 2007
3 Background
• 1960s and 1970s A-level Maths syllabi comprised
'pure mathematics' and 'applied mathematics'
• The 'applied mathematics' was basically classical
mechanics
• In the last 25 years there has been a move to
expose students to a wider range of applications
• Inclusion of additional modules on probability and
statistics, and on 'decision mathematics‘
• Breadth gained but depth lost
4 Background
• These developments have led to teaching
inefficiencies
• Have to start probability and statistics from low
level but some students know material already.
• A similar situation now emerging in mechanics
5 Background
• The 2004 revision of the A-level mathematics
syllabus has reduced still further the study of
mechanics
• New syllabus for Maths A-level– core of 4 modules of pure mathematics– two modules of 'applications' – chosen from six modules, two in each of
statistics, operations research and mechanics
6 Background
• Students may study up to two modules of
mechanics
• But an A-level can be obtained without studying
any mechanics at all
• Probably most students will study at most one
module of mechanics
• A significant proportion will study no mechanics at
all
7 Aim of project
• Aim of project is to develop ways of bringing all
students entering Engineering courses up to a
common level in basic mechanics
• No pre-judgement about the method of achieving
this objective
• May include textbook based self study, CBT, and
conventional lectured course units
• Mix of methods may allow the strengths of all
approaches to be harnessed
8 Initial Survey
• To establish a baseline we surveyed entry
qualifications in mathematics in October 2005
• All first year Engineering students (377) asked to
complete a computer based survey
• Completed during an introductory computer
session during the pre-sessional orientation week
• Response rate to the survey was virtually 100%
• Repeat survey in 2006, results still under analysis
9 Initial Survey
• Data collected anonymously and was aggregated
into 6 categories by Department– Aeronautical Engineering – Civil Engineering – Electrical Engineering – Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mathematics and Engineering
Design– Computer Science and Computer Systems
Engineering
10 Initial Survey
• The first section of the questionnaire established
whether students had taken Mathematics A-levels
or an alternative qualification
• 44 students (11.7%) reported that they had not
taken A-levels in mathematics
• Details of alternative qualifications in printed
version of this paper
• Responses of these 44 not analysed further
11 Survey Findings 1
• The 333 students who had taken A-levels in
Mathematics identified the Board as follows
12 Survey Findings 1
AQA EdExcel OCR other total
Aeronautical 20 27 3 8 58 (17%)
Civil 9 27 17 2 55 (17%)
Electrical 8 18 17 5 48 (14%)
Mechanical 18 30 24 11 83 (25%)
Eng Maths and
Design
15 26 22 2 65 (20%)
Computer
Science and CSE
10 18 12 7 47 (14%)
All 80 (24%) 146 (44%) 95 (29%) 35 (11%) 356 (107%)
13 Survey Findings 2
• Total number of Boards identified by 333
respondents was 356
• Explained by students who took papers from more
than one Board
• Schools, in response to pressures created by
'league tables', are playing different Boards off
against each other
• Entering students for A-levels from more than one
Board in order to obtain the best possible grades
14 Survey Findings 2
3 Boards 2 Boardstotal
Aeronautical0 6 6 (10%)
Civil0 1 1 (2%)
Electrical0 2 2 (4%)
Mechanical1 3 4 (5%)
Eng Maths and
Design6 9 15 (23%)
Computer Science
and CSE0 1 1 (2%)
All7 22 29
15 Survey Findings 3
• The data was analysed firstly by Department
• Overall 89% of students took M1 with percentage
in individual Departments varying from 80% to 96%
• No strong bias by discipline
• 72% of students overall took M2 with a variation
between Departments from 63% to 79%
• Module M3, M4 and M5 were taken by only 23%,
20% and 3% of students overall.
16 Survey Findings 3n
Aeronautical 54 11 20% 43 80% 34 63%
Civil 55 2 4% 53 96% 36 65%
Electrical 47 7 15% 40 85% 35 74%
Mechanical 84 6 7% 78 93% 63 75%
Eng Maths and Design 46 4 9% 42 91% 34 74%
Computer Science and CSE 47 7 15% 40 85% 37 79%
All 333 37 11% 296 89% 239 72%
none M1 M2
n
Aeronautical 54 .. 9 17% 3 6% 1 2%
Civil 55 .. 9 16% 5 9% 1 2%
Electrical 47 .. 10 21% 5 11% 2 4%
Mechanical 84 .. 24 29% 7 8% 3 4%
Eng Maths and Design 46 .. 14 30% 10 22% 3 7%
Computer Science and CSE 47 .. 12 26% 4 9% 1 2%
All 333 .. 78 23% 34 10% 11 3%
M4 M5 +M3
17 Survey Findings 4
• Data was also analysed by exam board
• No significant difference between candidates taking
A-levels from different Boards was found
18 Survey Findings 4
n
AQA 80 5 6% 75 94% 62 78%
EdExcel 146 6 4% 140 96% 114 78%
OCR 95 8 8% 87 92% 68 72%
other 35 15 43% 20 57% 13 37%
All 356 34 10% 322 90% 257 72%
none M1 M2
n
AQA 80 .. 16 20% 10 13% 5 6%
EdExcel 146 .. 34 23% 14 10% 5 3%
OCR 95 .. 28 29% 15 16% 4 4%
other 35 .. 5 14% 0 0% 0 0%
All 356 .. 83 23% 39 11% 14 4%
M4 M5 +M3
19 Findings of Robinson et al
• "Responding to the Changes in the Teaching and
Learning of Mechanics in Schools" [1] by Robinson
et al reports the results of a parallel survey
• Surveys of first year engineering students at
Loughborough, Nottingham and Leicester
Universities
• Across the three universities surveyed, 9% had
studied no mechanics modules and 23% had
studied one module only
20 Conclusion
• This survey provides further, independent
confirmation that the findings of Robinson et al are
widespread
• Universities can no longer assume that entrants to
engineering (and other technical and scientific
degree courses) have the traditional of familiarity
with concepts in basic mechanics
• Courses must be designed or modified to take this
into account
21 Conclusion
• This survey provides further, independent
confirmation that the findings of Robinson et al are
widespread
• Universities can no longer assume that entrants to
engineering (and other technical and scientific
degree courses) have the traditional of familiarity
with concepts in basic mechanics
• Courses must be designed or modified to take this
into account
22 Further Work
• An initial report of the 2005 survey findings
• An executive summary of the project findings,
autumn 2006
• An analysis of the skills required by the questions
in the OCR M1 paper Jan 2005, Jun2005 and Jan
2006.
