Weber Educational Research & Instructional Studies

ISSN: 2449-1608
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Research Article Volume 1-5(2015)

An Application Based Approach to Teach Mathematics to Undergraduate Students Especially Engineers

Dr. Wasiq Hussain

Department of Mathematics, Forman Christian College (A Chartered University), Lahore, Pakistan

Accepted 21th September, 2015

Abstract other disciplines. When the material taught in such courses

is not application-based then the students (from other
It is a common belief among engineering educators that the disciplines), who may have sound mathematical skills, are
engineering undergraduates could be more effectively prepared in unable to analyze real-life phenomenon mathematically.
mathematics when taking courses related to their respective
engineering fields. Engineering being a practitioner's discipline As engineering has become an increasingly technology
requires creative application of mathematical concepts to solve
oriented profession, therefore a solid background in
engineering problems. However, engineering students taking
courses in mathematics are seldom exposed to a broad spectrum application-based mathematics is needed. Bearing this in
of engineering applications. This manuscript focuses on the mind if an effort is made to teach students how mathematics
development of an instructional approach to effectively teach is interlinked with the engineering by explaining the
mathematics to undergraduate engineering students. Integration mathematical concepts and their practical applications, it is
of engineering applications into mathematics courses can enhance likely that the engineering students will be motivated to
the conceptual understanding of mathematics. This instructional study mathematics.
approach is in line with the increasing emphasis of Application-
Based Engineering teaching on the design and computational Sohail Anwar and Shamsa Anwar [3] described the
abilities of undergraduate engineering students. The above-
usefulness of the integrated learning modules to teach
mentioned instructional approach helps in understanding the
mathematical concepts and their engineering applications. This engineering technology students. They conducted the
approach enhances students' interest in mathematics; it becomes students’ survey showing popularity of these modules;
clear to the engineering students that mathematics is not just the Klingbeil, Mercer, Rattan, Raymer, and Reynolds [2] worked
manipulation of formulae but is a useful tool applied to different on a model to increase student retention, and success in
physical phenomenon. Understanding the logic behind the formula engineering through Mathematics instruction which proved
will convince the students that engineering and mathematics are to be very successful as well.
interconnected. Examples are provided in the manuscript to explain
how this instructional strategy aids engineering students in Application Based Teaching approach enhances students’
understanding the use of mathematics in solving engineering
understanding regarding the usefulness of mathematics in
problems.
real-world engineering problems. If this approach becomes
Keywords: Critical thinking, Survey, Applications part of the curriculum then it develops active learning by
engaging students in higher-order thinking related to real-
Introduction life situations.

In most of the engineering programs around the globe, the Development of Application-Based Teaching
required mathematical tools are taught separately from the
engineering point of view and the students are rarely shown In every technology everybody needs to have strong abilities
the applications of the mathematical courses. This isolation to understand and implement the results in mathematical
of mathematics and engineering has led to a pre-conceived form. Application-based teaching helps in understanding the
notion amongst the students that mathematics is useless mathematical proofs and to relate the formulae with the
from the perspective of engineering. physical applications.

Sometimes elegance explanations offered in the classroom Consider the following comments of a student taken from a
are too brief to clear the mathematical concepts. This gives course evaluation:
an undeserved sense of intellect to students. As long as a
student is getting good grades, he/she does not feel anything “Vector Projections were being covered in Calculus II and
wrong but when he/she enters into practical life then he/she Linear Algebra simultaneously and I happened to have both
realizes what he/she has missed. courses. In Calculus II several questions were done in the
class but none of the students manage to follow. The same
In many universities the courses offered by the mathematics thing was covered in Linear Algebra and instructor spent a
departments are not just for the engineers specifically but fraction of the class on the topic and majority of the students
also cater for the students of economics, social science and quickly absorbed the basic idea.

Corresponding Author: Dr. Wasiq Hussain

Department of Mathematics, Forman Christian College (A Chartered University), Lahore, Pakistan
E-mail:[email protected]
Weber Educational Research & Instructional Studies (ISSN: 2449-1608) page 2

He connected the concept with a practical phenomenon by sink (where fluid vanishes) and if positive then it is a source
saying if an Aero-plane takes off then considers its path as (where fluid emerges).
the resultant vector and the path followed by its shadow on
the ground as the horizontal projection of the resultant In addition it is also observed that by using colorful
vector”. slides/multimedia one can draw diagrams (difficult to do on
board) by which explaining the concepts becomes easier.
In the above comment a very easy example is given to For example, in FIGURE NO. 1, it is explained that there are
explain projections practically but it is a common experience 8 Octants in 3 dimensions (which is bit complicated in
that the simple topics are taught without creating any insight comparison with the concept of 4 quadrants in 2
among students for example curl of a vector, and divergence dimensions). Making colorful presentations involves a lot of
of a vector are taught in such a way so that students know efforts but students understand and concentrate very well.
that curl is only a cross product and divergence is a dot
product in which one vector is ordinary and other one is in Even if we take a difficult topic for example TENSORS, then
differential form. by using colorful slides one can motivate students that
TENSORS are introduced for simplification but not to make
Instructor must spent time in proving that curl is related to mathematics difficult.
rotation and if curl of a vector field is zero then field is
irrotational otherwise curl would point upward or downward By relating to a physical phenomenon for example stresses
provided rotation is counterclockwise or clockwise. This acting on three faces of a rectangular box in first octant one
could be further related to an example of a Tornado. can easily explain that instead of introducing three vectors
Similarly divergence could be made more interesting by we can construct one tensor with matrix representation given
explaining that if it is negative at a point then that point is a by

é 11 1 2 1 3 ù
[ ] = êê 2 1 22 2 3
ú,
ú
êë 3 1 3 2 33
úû

which gives all the 9 forces (components of a tensor), Briefly it is most important to relate the mathematical
ij , i , j Î {1, 2,3}, where i indicates the face with normal
concepts with daily life situations in order to prove the
significance of mathematics.
Vector ei , and j is indicating the direction. SEE FIGURE 2

Fig 1: Three co-ordinate planes divide space into EIGHT OCTANTS.

How to Cite this Article: Dr. Wasiq Hussain "An Application Based Approach to Teach Mathematics to Undergraduate Students Especially Engineers" Weber
Educational Research & Instruction Studies(ISSN:2449-1608), Vol. 1 (5) 2015, Article ID weris_147, 301-306
page 3 Weber Educational Research & Instructional Studies (ISSN: 2449-1608)

Fig 2: 9 components of the stress tensor acting in the positive directions of the coordinate axes

Use of Method This survey is taken not only from the engineering students
but students from other disciplines e.g. Economics etc. as
A survey questionnaire (TABLE A1) was conducted in the well, but majority of the senior engineering students
beginning of the semester to assess the effectiveness of enrolled responded to the survey.
application-based teaching.
A total of forty-eight students filled out the questionnaire.
There are mathematics courses, which are really important Table A2 shows the number and the percentage of
for the engineering students e.g. Multivariate Calculus, respondents corresponding to each of the rating for the
Complex Analysis, Linear Algebra and Differential questionnaire items except the last item in which the
equations. But in addition to the engineering majors, surveyors had to give their response regarding the topics
students from other disciplines take these courses as well. they had found useful.

TAble A1: Questionnaire for the assessment of the Application based teaching modules.
Ratings used are as follows:
A = strongly disagree
B = disagree
C = neutral
D = agree
E = strongly agree

To asses the application based teaching methods; following 4. Problem solving skills were developed
questions were asked from the Senior Level students after
completing the stream of Mathematics courses: 5. Understanding the logic (proofs) of the formulae
developed the insight into different types of applications
1. Applications of the topics into daily life were discussed
6. Application based mathematics courses were helpful in
2. Use of Multimedia/color slides improved the learning making the concepts clearer in comparison with the
process non-application based.

3. Weekly quizzes and assignments helped in 7. The pace of the courses was appropriate (neither too
understanding the course material fast nor too slow)

How to Cite this Article: Dr. Wasiq Hussain "An Application Based Approach to Teach Mathematics to Undergraduate Students Especially Engineers" Weber
Educational Research & Instruction Studies(ISSN:2449-1608), Vol. 1 (5) 2015, Article ID weris_147, 301-306
Weber Educational Research & Instructional Studies (ISSN: 2449-1608) Page 4

8. Class strength must be reasonable so that the interaction 10. Without Mathematical insight reasonable progress in
with the students make the atmosphere more conducive the engineering/anticipated career is difficult
to learning
11. Which topics did you find useful for your future studies?
9. The class time (early morning/afternoon/late evening) Please write down a few sentences.
affected the learning process

Table A2: Number and percentage of respondents corresponding to each of the ten items in the survey

Questionnaire item 1 Ratings

A B C D E
0 3 7 24 14
Applications of the topics into daily life were discussed
(0%) (6%) (15%) (50%) (29%)
Questionnaire item 2 Ratings
Use of Multimedia/color slides improved the learning process A B C D E
3 0 0 16 29
(6%) (0%) (0%) (34%) (60%)
Questionnaire item 3 Ratings
Weekly un-announced quizzes and assignments helped in
A B C D E
understanding the course material
0 1 5 21 21
(0%) (2%) (11%) (43.5%) (43.5%)
Questionnaire item 4 Ratings
Problem solving skills were developed A B C D E
0 1 7 14 26
(0%) (2%) (15%) (29%) (54%)
Questionnaire item 5 Ratings
Understanding the logic (proofs) of the formulae developed the
A B C D E
insight towards different types of applications
1 0 4 25 18
(2%) (0%) (8%) (52%) (38%)
Questionnaire item 6 Ratings
Application based mathematics courses were helpful in making
the concepts clearer in comparison with the non-application A B C D E
based.
0 4 4 26 14
(0%) (8%) (8%) (54%) (30%)
Questionnaire item 7 Ratings
The pace of the courses was appropriate (neither too fast nor too
A B C D E
slow)
0 6 14 12 16
(0%) (12%) (30%) (25%) (33%)
Questionnaire item 8 Ratings
Class strength must be reasonable so that the interaction with A B C D E
the students makes the atmosphere more conducive to learning
0 8 10 14 16
(0%) (16%) (21%) (30%) (33%)
Questionnaire item 9 Ratings
The class time (early morning/afternoon/late evening) affected A B C D E
the learning process
18 11 10 5 4
(38%) (23%) (21%) (10%) (8%)
Questionnaire item 10 Ratings
Without mathematical insight reasonable progress in the YES NO
engineering/anticipated career is difficult
47 1
(98%) (2%)

How to Cite this Article: Dr. Wasiq Hussain "An Application Based Approach to Teach Mathematics to Undergraduate Students Especially Engineers" Weber
Educational Research & Instruction Studies(ISSN:2449-1608), Vol. 1 (5) 2015, Article ID weris_147, 301-306
page 5 Weber Educational Research & Instructional Studies (ISSN: 2449-1608)

Questionnaire item 11
Which mathematics topics did you find useful for your future studies? Please write down a few sentences. More
explanation and selected students' responses (Table A3) are given after the analysis of this table's statistics

Table A2 shows that a total of 79% of the students either pace of the courses was appropriate (neither too fast nor too
agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that the slow). About 30% of the students had a neutral response to
applications of the topics into daily life were discussed. this statement and about 12% disagreed.
About 15% of the students had a neutral response to this
statement and about 6% disagreed. A total of 63% of the students either agreed or strongly
agreed with the statement that the class strength must be
A total of 94% of the students either agreed or strongly reasonable so that the interaction with the students make
agreed with the statement that the use of Multimedia/color the atmosphere more conducive to learning. About 21% of
slides improved the learning process. About 6% of the the students had a neutral response to this statement and
students strongly disagreed with this statement. about 16% disagreed.

A total of 87% of the students either agreed or strongly A total of 61% students either disagreed or strongly
agreed with the statement that the weekly quizzes and disagreed with the statement that the class time (early
assignments helped them in understanding the course morning/afternoon/late evening) affected the learning
material. About 11% of the students had a neutral response process. About 21% had a neutral response to this
to this statement and about 2% disagreed. statement. About 18% of the students either agreed or
strongly agreed with this statement.
A total of 83% of the students agreed or strongly agreed with
the statement that their problem solving skills were A total of 98% of the students had a cumulative response to
developed. About 15% of the students had a neutral the statement that without mathematical insight reasonable
response to this statement and about 2% disagreed. progress in the engineering/anticipated career is difficult
and about 2% disagreed.
A total of 90% of the students either agreed or strongly
agreed with the statement that understanding the logic Item 11 is further to item 10 and designed to know whether
(proofs) of the formulae developed the insight towards students study mathematics courses for fulfilling their
different types of applications. About 8% of the students had degree requirements or are they convinced that
a neutral response to this statement and about 2% strongly mathematics is interconnected with the other disciplines?
disagreed. For example the theory of Cartesian Tensors is important to
solve Non-Linear Elasticity problems.
A total of 84% of the students either agreed or strongly
agreed with the statement that the application based Differential equations play an important role to tackle
mathematics courses were helpful in making the concepts courses like network analysis etc. But this is only possible if
clearer in comparison with the non-application based. About instructor teaches Cartesian Tensors and applies this theory
8% of the students had a neutral response to this statement to Elasticity problems in the same course and adopts the
and about 8% disagreed. A total of 58% of the students similar application-based techniques while teaching other
either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that the mathematics courses.

Table A3: containing responses from the students regarding item 11.

Serial No. Selected Students' Responses

Cartesian Tensors is an important and interesting topic for understanding the practical
1
theory of Continuum Mechanics, and Computational Fluid Dynamics.
Generalized Tensors and Inner product spaces would be helpful when studying Relativity,
2
and Quantum Physics.
One cannot even think of entering into the Engineering without a solid background in
3
Applied Mathematics especially Calculus problem solving techniques.
Linear Algebra concepts are used in Computer Graphics, like rotation matrices. Courses
4 like Analog Digital Communication, neural networks are impossible without strong
mathematical background.
Matrices, Complex Numbers, Vectors, Trigonometric functions, Contour Integration,
Euler's formula, Eigen vectors, and Differential Equations are extensively used in circuit
5
solving, electronics, signal and systems, Data Mining Algorithms and Wavelet
Transformations.

How to Cite this Article: Dr. Wasiq Hussain "An Application Based Approach to Teach Mathematics to Undergraduate Students Especially Engineers" Weber
Educational Research & Instruction Studies(ISSN:2449-1608), Vol. 1 (5) 2015, Article ID weris_147, 301-306
Weber Educational Research & Instructional Studies (ISSN: 2449-1608) Page 6

Conclusions 2. N. Klingbeil, R. Mercer, K. Rattan, M. Raymer, D. Reynolds

(2005), 'Work in progress - The WSU model for engineering
This paper describes the use of Application-based teaching mathematics education. 35th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in
Education Conference, Indianapolis, IN.
of Mathematics, which illustrates an instructional approach
for developing insight into mathematical rules and how 3. Sohail Anwar and Shamsa S. Anwar, Use of integrated learning
much mathematics plays role into real life. modules to teach engineering technology students. Journal of
the Pennsylvania Academy of Sciences 78(1): 34-37, 2004
Use of multimedia and colorful slides makes easier to grasp
concepts, shows dedication and efforts to ensure that every 4. Mohammad Valipour (2014), Handbook of Drainage
student is following the class. In addition at undergraduate Engineering Problems, Publisher: OMICS Group International.
level students must be encouraged towards proof writing
5. Mohammad Valipour (2014), Handbook of Irrigation
and to solve exams without the unnecessary aids like open
Engineering Problems, Publisher: OMICS Group International.
book/notes.
6. Mohammad Valipour (2014), Handbook of Hydraulic
Not doing the proofs and using open book/notes methods Engineering Problems, Publisher: OMICS Group International
in exams leads to accept mathematical results without any
logic and insight. They might solve a lot of questions for 7. Mohammad Valipour (2014), Handbook of Water Engineering
example on Integration but no idea what Integration is Problems Publisher: OMICS Group International. .
according to geometrical point of view and what are its
applications. Application-based teaching proves that
Mathematics is not just about learning the formulas (as some
people believe) but understanding the concepts and
applications.

Students realize that Mathematics can be taught without

learning concepts by heart and leads to a better
understanding of physical phenomenon. This gives a good
knowledge of things, which students assumed to be true.
This results in maximum learning in the class (criteria for a
good teacher).

Students felt that how much instructor is concerned about

student's development and value-addition. It explains
difficult and abstract topics with such adeptness that they
would become crystal clear. It improves instructor's ability
to know how to pick up a new topic in class and to make the
flow of thoughts connected to some physical situation in
daily life and make it understandable. The problem lies in
the strategy of instructing. If a student is shown the practical
implementation of a theory right from the class, student may
think out of the classroom scenario and will relate the
formulae of the text with real life objects. Instructor should
discuss how the theory relates with real time inventions and
how it was intercepted previously.

Learning the concept is more important than getting the

answers right. Explaining the theory, deriving the
expression, this ensures that students remember the stuff
and understand it practically. An application based teaching
course encourages students to step towards real learning
and discourages the culture of grade-consciousness, rote
learning and false practices.

Mathematics plays an important role as a computational tool

applicable in natural science, social science and engineering
problems. For example see references [4, 5, 6, 7]. Giving
examples from daily life makes different topics interesting
to understand mathematics like [1].

References

1. Dr. Wasiq Hussain (2015)"Daily Life Examples for

Understanding Mathematics" Weber Mathematics & Computer
Science, Vol. 1 (1) 2015, Article ID wmcs_109, 56-58.

How to Cite this Article: Dr. Wasiq Hussain "An Application Based Approach to Teach Mathematics to Undergraduate Students Especially Engineers" Weber
Educational Research & Instruction Studies(ISSN:2449-1608), Vol. 1 (5) 2015, Article ID weris_147, 301-306