On the value of context in engineering mathematics problems: students’ perspectives

Abstract Engineering mathematics students are typically presented with mathematical techniques illustrated by examples set in context in order to motivate them and develop them as engineers. It is perhaps surprising, therefore, that a study by Klymchuk & Spooner (2020, Teach. Math. Appl., 39, 29–37) found engineering students preferred to be taught via problems without context. Following a critique of that study, a survey, focused solely on (non-)context-related problems, is designed to examine engineering students’ preferences and opinions about context in mathematical problems. A total of 170 first-year engineering students from a range of engineering disciplines at one university were presented with examples of equivalent contextual and non-contextual problems and asked questions about solving these. Results suggest students have no strong preference for either contextual or non-contextual problems. Some prefer the relative ease of abstract problem solving without context, while a context provides a welcome link between mathematics and engineering and the ability to visualize a problem. Most students reported finding contextual problems more difficult to solve. Few students reported being motivated by the context, with some confusion related to notation, terminology and units. Students indicated a strong preference for context to align to their chosen engineering discipline over context from a different engineering discipline.