A survey of high school mathematical knowledge and skills needed for engineering education

Abstract

The focus of the study is to explore if there is a difference among the engineering departments based on the topics and skills that students are expected to gain in high school, by investigating importance levels of the topics and skills. For the purpose of identifying importance levels mathematical topics and skills, university staffs with different academic ranks from different universities were asked with a questionnaire including Likert scale items to express their opinions about topics and skills in high school mathematics curricula of both National Curriculum and International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP). The main conclusion drawn from present study were that packaged curricula for specific engineering departments in university can be designed for high schools and the core topics required for engineering departments should be included in earlier grade levels. Besides, some topics from IBDP should be considered to be added to Ministry of National Education (MoNE) curriculum.