Tamil Nadu   

Wanted: a mathematical bridge

K. Ramachandran

Engineering is the application of mathematical theory to solve day-to-day problems

"The past decade has seen a serious decline in students' basic mathematical skills and level of preparation on entry into higher education... many students ... embark on engineering degree programmes without the necessary maths skills required for the course... "

The quote is from the website of the Engineering Subject Centre, a national centre delivering support for learning and teaching in the U.K. higher education community.

If you are a student or teacher of engineering degree programmes or a parent of a B.E/ B.Tech fresher, you will know what it means. For Tamil Nadu, the statement carries a lot of profundity.

The problem of I year B.E / B.Tech students failing in `Engineering Mathematics' seems to be universal. Be it in the United States or the United Kingdom, higher education managers are all seriously concerned over the failure in this crucial applied science area.

The reason for a high failure rate is also universal: learners coming into engineering from diverse backgrounds than was the case in earlier years, lack of proper emphasis in learning the subject by applied or problem-solving methods; and shortage of good mathematics teachers. The proof lies in statistics provided by Anna University's examinations wing.

Take the 2003 batch of B.E/ B.Tech freshers. In the first semester, 43,861 students appeared in the paper Mathematics I, and of them 8,454 failed. In the subsequent semester, 15,123 students out of 36,692 students failed in Math II (nearly 40 per cent).

In the batch that entered B.E/B.Tech in 2004, the first two semesters saw 25-35 per cent failure in engineering mathematics papers (I and II).

But the story does not end there.

It repeats in an equally-tough mathematics based subject, Engineering Mechanics. In the 2003 batch of freshers, 13,658 out of 43,787 candidates failed in EM. The story repeated more or less in the same manner in 2004 too.

Why does this happen?

An engineering mathematics teacher and a former Director of Admissions, Prof. P.V. Navaneethakrishnan says mathematics is perhaps one of the few subjects that keep reminding "a person about the failings and errors on an everyday basis... mistakes stand out profoundly every time you make them... "

Engineering, after all is applied form of mathematics. This subject is applied in every sphere of the engineering curriculum, with few exceptions.

Prof. Navaneethakrishnan says mathematics is not learnt in a few hours or days but requires rigour on a day-to-day basis.

"Just look up the mathematics curriculum for higher education in the Internet. Everyone acknowledges that problem-solving skills are the biggest asset for an engineering student, though the concern about failures is universal too. Anyone failing in engineering maths cannot complete the programme," a university teacher who evaluates students in this subject points out.

Thangam Meghanathan, chairperson, Rajalakshmi Engineering College, agrees that students with lesser mathematical aptitude aspire to become engineers and enter B.E/B.Tech courses. This invariably leads to a high failure rate.

"We have been really concerned about it and our mechanical engineering faculty keep telling me about this... but there is also another reason.

Students complete their Plus-Two mathematics based papers in March and they start engineering courses only in August. It means they waste four months of their prime youth away from serious academic pursuits. We need to do something because this gap blunts their sharp mathematics skills... "

Several foreign universities, principals of colleges and engineering faculty experts say, are introducing diagnostic testing for applied math ability before candidates enter engineering courses, and effective learning support during the engineering course.

However, as Prof. Navaneethakrishnan notes, teacher quality in engineering maths too has to be improved. "Mathematics is not the first choice of a vast majority or high rankers in Plus-Two.

Only those who do not get into engineering courses prefer Physics or Mathematics in UG and PG courses. Even among them, fewer opt for a teaching career. And learning for teaching mathematics is still more rigorous."

Still countries such as the U.K. have pointed solutions: Creating multimedia resources including web-based support that specifically provide interactive content on learning and teaching engineering mathematics.

It is time Anna University looked into these examples and embarked on efforts to stem the rot.

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