Engineering students’ performance in mathematical courses: The case study of Faculty of Engineering & Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Abstract

Mathematics is a key topic supporting a large number of engineering courses and consequently, it is important for engineering students to hold a strong mathematics knowledge that can keep their motivation for reasonable progress of their engineering programs. Engineering programs in Faculty of Engineering & Built Environment (FKAB), UKM are divided accordingly to four engineering departments, which are Department of Civil & Structural Engineering (JKAS), Department of Electrical, Electronic & System Engineering (JKEES), Department of Chemical & Process Engineering (KKKP) and Department of Mechanical & Material Engineering (JKMB), and to prepare for courses in their specific programs, these students take common core of mathematics courses such as Engineering Mathematics 1 (Linear Algebra), Engineering Mathematics 2 (Vector Calculus) and Engineering Mathematics 3 (Differential Equation). In this paper, engineering students’ performance and the factors influencing the performance in these mathematics courses at FKAB, UKM since the intake of academic session 20082009 are investigated. The performance is measured by their grade at the end of each semester and as the student progress from year 1 to year 3, their performances are analyzed. The students’ Pre-Test and mathematics engineering courses are used as factors variables in this study. Findings show that these variables might be a predictor or indicator to the students’ performance in mathematics courses. Consequently, the factors influencing the students performance is going be determined. Thus, review and improvement in the teaching and learning process for these courses are needed.