EngiMath - Mathematics on-line learning model in Engineering education – addresses the requirement for competitive and innovative education to enrich teaching with various information technology and communication measures. The use of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) in a pedagogically appropriate manner is a growing requirement in higher education in engineering mathematics, hence the aim of the project is to develop, transfer and implement innovative solutions in engineering mathematics. Many challenges exist for the development of mathematical materials because peripherality, language and cultural differences do not always transfer smoothly within on-line environments leading to disengagement and reduced cognitive activities within students. EngiMath involves six countries comprising complementary expertise and competence in teaching mathematics at undergraduate level. TALLINNA TEHNIKAKORGKOOL Estonia, LETTERKENNY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Ireland, INSTITUTO POLITECNICO DO PORTO Portugal, UNIVERSIDAD DEL PAIS VASCO/ EUSKAL HERRIKO UNIBERTSITATEA Spain, UNIVERSITATEA TEHNICA CLUJ-NAPOCA Romania and POLITECHNIKA KOSZALINSKA Poland. The main objective is to utilize the transnational collaboration and cooperation between the higher education institutions to improve, engagement of students, awareness of on-line mathematics resources, address deficiencies in pedagogical design of existing and planned shared programs, and develop a model for on-line engineering mathematics. The participating organizations will analyze, design and develop a pedagogically sound on-line engineering mathematics course for a target group of first year engineering students using authentic materials for enhanced student engagement. The course will be developed initially in English language and then translated to the languages of each of the partners – Estonian, Portuguese, Spanish, Basque, Romanian and Polish to minimize any language or cultural barriers for students. The course will be maintained on a publicly available website for general use. In parallel, a model describing best practice for on-line courses in engineering mathematics will be developed to enable future designers to address issues of integrated pedagogy and TEL. Across six countries, a large number of students will have an opportunity to access the course and provide valuable feedback to improve the sense of engagement and belonging within the domain of engineering mathematics. The expected impact of this program on both students and academics is the enhancement of knowledge and experience of new technologies and applied pedagogy. A competition will be developed within the program to encourage collaborative and cultural exchanges of engineering mathematics knowledge for a sample of students from each country. This knowledge will be channeled back to the existing student cohorts in each partner institution. A minimum of 20 academics will participate in the project, each bringing different skills and competencies in on-line mathematics. This action will increase and improve their intercultural competencies and the understanding of engineering mathematics in each organization to the benefit of their student cohorts. Multiplier events will take place in each partner institution to disseminate the activities, results and achievements of the project at local level and to involve other educational institutions in the respective regions. A student competition to increase student motivation, support possible student exchanges, help to understand links between mathematics and engineering field, and use and fasten the knowledge gained from the on-line course will operate. All students participating in the program will be offered an opportunity to engage with the competition. The best 3 students from each institution (Total 18) will be invited to participate in a final competition in Portugal.
The project Mathematics on-line learning model in engineering education was successfully carried out at the very right moment as in recent two years there has been a significant increase in demand for a 100% online mathematics course with interactive learning materials and large-scale practicing opportunities as well as for a mathematics online assessment model. This has made it possible to increase student support when studying independently and teachers support when planning an online assessment. Greater support for learning and teaching in the education sector gave it a more competitive advantage as it helps to decrease drop-out behavior of students and minimize the workload of teachers. According to the New UNESCO global survey studying the impact of Covid-19 on higher education (2021) the pandemic has had an impact on higher education systems in terms of access and quality of teaching and learning. Covid-19 has caused the suspension and cancellation of teaching activities and its major impact on teaching and learning is the increase in online education. Taking into account the above, this project has successfully developed a high level engineering mathematics online course as a basis for offering output oriented education in engineering mathematics. The following activities were performed during the project: Creating the report of educational needs analysis (IO1) - Needs analysis and data gathering of partner countries and institutions were carried out. - Analysis of mathematical on-line assessment systems for partner countries and institutions were prepared. - Pedagogical analysis for on-line assessment of mathematics was made. Creating a new innovative online course in engineering mathematics in seven languages (IO2) The next activities were performed: - Analysis of subject in partner`s institutions - Development of the online course with some theoretical, practical and assessment tests - Translation of the online course - Conducting the pilot course - Asking for feedback from students - Revising on-line course - Development of the definite online course with theoretical, practical and assessment tests, engineering applications and course guidelines - Training for teachers - Asking for feedback from teachers - Conducting on-line course - Asking for feedback from students - Revising on-line course Creating a mathematics online assessment model (IO3) - Literature review were carried out - Mathematics online assessment model was created In order to achieve project results, partners fields of subjects related to engineering mathematics were studied (IO1). This material enabled the team to build up the online course (IO2) and student competition (C1). In order to guarantee the quality the subject was piloted to students before carrying out the definitive course. The quality of the course was piloted to mathematics teachers (teacher training and ME). Based on the experience gained, the online assessment model in mathematics (IO3) was improved. The high quality of the online course is proven by the fact that we passed the preliminary round of the 7th e-Learning Excellence Awards at ECEL 2021. Partners of this project were 6 highly skilled HE institutions: the TTK UAS from Estonia, the Letterkenny Institute of Technology/LYIT from Ireland, the Polytechnic Institute of Porto/P.PORTO from Portugal, the University of the Basque Country/UPV/EHU from Spain, the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca/UTC from Romania and the Koszalin University of Technology/PK TUK from Poland. During the project unfolding the Spanish partner was replaced with Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya- BarcelonaTECH (UPC). This project involved various target groups, impact and benefits: - students and teachers, who benefit from a new innovative subject, which is added to the subjects of engineering mathematics. The innovative implementation makes the subject more attractive for students in each educational institution that participated in this project. The results are possible to use in other higher education institutions, secondary level schools and vocational schools. - expanding businesses, who will have a better educated workforce provided by educational institutions and by the research done by these institutions. As human resources are one of the most important resources in the company, it is important to provide high-quality education and competent employees to increase the productivity, effectiveness and competitiveness of the companies. Strategic international partnerships in the field of education and training are extremely important in order to increase the quality of education and training, which was one of the goals of this project, and it has become one of the most beneficial short and long-term outputs. The most significant indirect impact of the project was the rise of international cooperation between universities and higher qualification of the workforce of the participating institutions.