| Abstract: | Case studies have long been used to support the mathematics education of undergraduate engineers. Changes in the mathematical ability of entrants to engineering programmes and, indeed, the changing nature of many of the programmes themselves indicate the need to make the students' mathematical experiences more 'user friendly'. We describe here an approach which uses case studies, not as illustrations of applications of mathematics after a mathematical topic has been discussed, but in a fully integrated central role as vehicles for whole group discussion from which the students 'discover' the necessary mathematics which is taught subsequently. Not only is the 'carrot' of the application then central to their learning, but the need for the mathematics being taught is also clearly demonstrated. This approach has been tried with a group of 50 first year engineers. The effects on student motivation, ability and knowledge retention are discussed together with an indication of the Integrated Case Studies which were used. |
