Abstract:

We are part of a specific iconic revolution in which the dominancy of the written language expiry and the importance of the visuality increases. Globalization catalyzes the visual language with its universality and internationality to become a world language. The dramatic rise of the role of visual culture has impact on education culture as well. Physiological processes in the brain (myelination process) cause that adolescence and young adults learn typically differently. Therefore to help them better comprehend difficult subjects, visual aids need to be utilized.

These reasons lead us to pay more attention in higher education on visuality. The preferable ration between text and images in the textbooks should be between 30 and 50 % but the question is that what shows the reality. Miguel de Guzmán Spanish mathematician dealt with visuality in mathematics. He distinguished three different types of visualization in mathematics due to the strength of relation between the object and its visual mapping.

Based on the theoretical background some mathematics coursebooks for engineers were investigated that students use currently or used in our or in other universities in Hungary and some comparisons were made from a visual point of view based on Guzmán’s theory and on other visual aspects.

These findings contributed to develop a new mathematics coursebook in our university in which visual elements got more attention. Moreover this coursebook will be used in a VR learning environment from the next year to support the visuality.

Keywords:

University coursebooks, mathematics, visual aids, visuality.