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Tutorial action prior to the enrollment
of mathematical subjects in Technical
Engineering
Teresa Sancho Vinuesa, Maria Antònia Huertas, César
Córcoles, Ángel Alejandro Juan, Antoni Pérez
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
tsancho@uoc.edu, mhuertass@uoc.edu
JEM 2008 1
Barcelona, 31 January 2008
Outline
• Introduction
• Tutorial Action
• Experience in Telecommunication Engineering
• Experience in Technical Engineering for Information Systems
and Technical Engineering for Information Management
• Conclusions and Future lines of action
JEM 2008 2
Barcelona, 31 January 2008
Introduction
• Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (www.uoc.edu)
on-line Higher Education through Virtual Campus
• Engineering student profile
adults, professional experience, not much availability, prior
knowledge is often insufficient, low level of motivation to study
mathematics
• Low academic results in subjects of mathematics
PreviousTutorial Action
JEM 2008 3
Barcelona, 31 January 2008
Tutorial Action
• Mathematical background level: high school or equivalent
• Aim: help students self-assess their mathematical background
level, before they register for a mathematics course in
engineering studies.
Tutorial action
• MODEL
Student
Educational action
JEM 2008 4
Barcelona, 31 January 2008
Experience in Telecommunication Engineering
TUTOR STUDENT
• sends a set of exercises • uses books and their own notes
with the help of a brief when taking these tests
guide • sees if they have managed to
• provides a summary of solve them correctly and sees the
the concepts and basic procedure for the correct answer
processes in each topic • evaluates their results with the
• gives the solutions to the help of the tutor
exercises • can decide whether to register for
• sends guidelines for the subjects in the first semester
interpreting the results or if it would be advisable to revise
before doing so
JEM 2008 5
Barcelona, 31 January 2008
Experience in Telecommunication Engineering (II)
• Keys for the interpretation of the results:
1. they have not solved at least two of the problems correctly (out of seven),
If
it is essential that they enroll in the subject Introduction to mathematics for
engineers.
2. If they have done four of the seven correctly, but they are not capable of
understanding and explaining the solution to the other three, it is advisable
that they enroll for the introductory course.
3. Otherwise, they can enroll directly in the subject of
Mathematics I.
• Communication between students and tutors is low.
• Communication between teaching staff and tutor is low.
• student takes the last decision.
The
• The majority of the students who do the test are enrolled in
Introduction to mathematics for engineering. Those that follow
that course are satisfied.
JEM 2008 6
Barcelona, 31 January 2008
Experience in Technical Engineering for Information
Systems and Information Management
TUTOR STUDENT
• send a diagnostic test (30 test • uses their own notes and any
questions with 4 options) other material when taking
• the test is recommended for students these tests
that have not studied mathematics • sees which questions he/she
equivalent to high school level for the has managed to answer
last two years correctly
• Netquest: a tool for on-line surveys. It • evaluates their results alone
gives on-line feedback of the results with the help of the tutor
to the teaching staff • can decide whether to enroll
• consulting material like that of the for the subjects in the first
online Proyecto Descartes is allowed semester or whether to follow
• sends the key of answers for the self- an introductory math course
assessment of the
student
JEM 2008 7
Barcelona, 31 January 2008
Experience in Technical Engineering for Information
Systems and Information Management (II)
• Keys for the interpretation of the results:
if there are 10 or more incorrect answers (of a total of 30), we recommend the
students to enroll in the subject Introductory course of mathematics for
engineers that the UOC offers.
• Communication between students and tutors is low.
• Communication between teaching staff and tutor is low.
• The teaching staff knows directly the results of the test.
• The student takes the last decision.
• The teaching staff do not know the student’s decision
• It is not known how many students who enrolled in Introductory
course to mathematics for engineering have done the test.
Those that follow it remain satisfied.
JEM 2008 8
Barcelona, 31 January 2008
Experience in Technical Engineering for Information
Systems and Information Management (III)
• Some results of the direct feedback from the automatic tool of
the teacher questionnaires (anonymous data):
Errors Years
16.7% 8
16.7% 10
20.0% 3
26.7% 2
46.7% 6
50.0% 8
56.7% 20
Mean Mean
33.3% 8.14
JEM 2008 9
Barcelona, 31 January 2008
Conclusions and Future lines of action
• Tutorial action before students enrol for a mathematics course is
absolutely necessary.
• An Introduction to Mathematics for Engineers Course is good to
prepare students to follow engineering courses with the required
mathematical knowledge and skills.
• Evaluation of the results of the current tutorial action (communication
among the different agents, efficiency, level of satisfaction of the
different actors) and the designing of a plan of improvement in relation
to the fixed goals are necessary.
• It is necessary to check the current diagnostic system and to describe
a plan to improve it, taking into account the UOC educational model.
We expect to be able to present the new model on
the portal of the JEM to you very soon !
JEM 2008 10
Barcelona, 31 January 2008
Teresa Sancho
tsancho@.uoc.edu
M. Antònia Huertas
mhuertass@uoc.edu
JEM 2008 11
Barcelona, 31 January 2008
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