Improving the Teaching of Engineering Mathematics using Action Research

Our experience showed that students will struggle with new concepts in Engineering Mathematics and faced difficulties with the need to use various mathematical techniques to solve problems. Thus, we embarked on a study to improve our teaching and students’ learning. We designed teaching strategies to support students’ development of mathematical knowledge and problem solving as well as communication and team working skills. We used an action research perspective as various methods within this stance can ensure flexibility in responding to the dynamics of interaction between the teachers and the students. This paper will present an account of our study and highlight various issues in the use of action research.