Abstract:

The paper considers e-courses implemented to encourage student’s self-study and describes the case study of National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, where e-courses are intensively used to teach mathematics.

Currently, there is a special focus on innovation advancement in engineering education. Today’s engineering education needs continuous improvement due to technological, economic and social changes, internationalization of education, economic globalization.

Mathematical disciplines play an important role in engineering education, and mathematical tools used for topical issues’ research ensure the development of global science.

Today’s students face challenges in studying mathematical disciplines, which causes poor academic progress, high percentage of expelling and transferring to other educational programs (economics, law, humanities – up to 40%). This issue is also topical beyond the Russian Federation: in the USA about 40% of engineering students fail to complete their studies or change the professional field, while in Europe this number ranges between 15–40%.

Moreover, new educational standards and two-cycle degree system of higher education lead to the reduction in the number of academic hours for mathematics. As a result, student’s self-study becomes even more important.

To ensure the high quality of mathematics training, it is necessary to focus on teaching and learning methods. It is urgent to use innovative approaches to teaching mathematics. The ordinary teaching methods fail to be efficient, and one needs to implement new “unconventional” educational tools, i.e. active teaching and learning methods.

One of the most efficient methods of teaching fundamental disciplines is introduction of e-courses.

E-course advantages for students:
• Individual learning path
• Time choice: learning materials are available at any time and place.
• On-line feedback for students.

Research on E-Learning Implementation at Tomsk Polytechnic University:
In 2015, the Department of Higher Mathematics, National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, researched the impact of mathematics e-courses on students’ learning outcomes.

The research implied splitting students into two groups, with the first one being trained within the “conventional” program framework, and the second being delivered a modernized course. To assess the students’ skills in elementary mathematics and basis of analysis, an entry test was conducted before the training course started. The input level of students’ knowledge was the same in both groups.

A post-test at the end of the term was conducted to evaluate the learning outcomes of “Mathematics” course, 1 term (skills in linear algebra, analytical geometry, and introduction to analysis).

As the study showed, the number of students coping with the basic level tasks is approximately the same in both groups, while the percentage of those who performed the advanced-level tasks successfully differs significantly.

The research outcomes, summarized and systemized, proved the efficiency of the approaches suggested: students acquire profound knowledge of mathematics and are interested in the subject, while the teacher has an opportunity to monitor the knowledge obtained.

Keywords:

e-learning, teaching and learning methods, mathematics, distance learning.