Helping Mathematically Under-Prepared Students Understand the Actual Trigonometric Functions

Making engineering education accessible to mathematically under-prepared students entering college is difficult due to the demanding mathematical requirements the major demands.One area of difficulty is understanding the trigonometric functions.Part of the problem is that the trigonometric functions seem mysterious because they are only seen as keys on a calculator.show students that a formula can be used and this takes the mystery out of the trigonometric functions. Future Survey Data CollectionAt this point I have had considerable positive feedback on this method through verbal conversations with my students over the past 4 years.To quantify this positive verbal feedback the actual effectiveness will be measured in upcoming trigonometric classes with a student questionnaire.The questionnaire will be given at the end of the course.