Engineering students' algebra difficulties: an experiment with computer-aided diagnostic assessment

Resumo

Context: Engineering students have difficulties in solving problems involving Differential Calculus, and this is attributed to the epistemological difficulties of Calculus and the lack of mastery of algebraic manipulations. Objectives: The study investigates the problems with the basic mathematics of Engineering students through the analysis of error, making this error an observable object so that, in the self-management of knowledge, students take the necessary actions, if they wish, to develop the mathematical skills necessary to exercise the profession of Engineering. Design: For the study, qualitative research was carried out to investigate the difficulties in potentiation, radication, factorization, simplification, distributive property of multiplication in relation to addition, the order of operations, algebraic fractions, polynomials, and solution of polynomial and non-polynomial equations of a group of students from Engineering courses. Setting and participants: Students regularly enrolled in Engineering courses at Universidade Luterana do Brasil. Data collection and analysis: Data were extracted from the database of the computer-aided diagnostic assessment system (ADAC) after students performed their self-assessment. Results: In general, all students in the group had some difficulty with at least one of the evaluated contents. Even considering that the error can happen due to distraction, the number of students who answered incorrectly to two or more items by evaluated content was high, suggesting that the group has greater mathematical difficulties related to Algebra, in particular: simplifications, potentiation, operations with fractions, with roots and solving non-polynomial equations. Conclusion: For graduates of engineering courses, the use of mathematics to solve engineering problems is one of the skills to be developed during their training. From the results of the research carried out, the mathematical difficulties of most students in the group with some of the evaluated concepts were evident.