Using short video lectures to enhance mathematics learning - experiences on differential and integral calculus course for engineering students

Abstract

Mathematics' skills and knowledge lay the basis for engineering studies. However, the resources targeted to mathematics' teaching are in many cases very limited. During the past years in our university the reduction of mathematics' contact hours has been significant while at the same time the study groups have grown. However, the mathematical proficiency of incoming students has not increased. Consequently, during the contact hours, the learning of basics requires more time and the need of personalized learning is increasing. In this article a method based on short video lecturing to enhance mathematics' learning is presented. The study explored how the students experienced the mathematics' studying from videos. In addition, it was investigated if the video lectures have an influence on students' motivation towards mathematics' learning. Overall, the results were encouraging and the short video lecturing seems to be worth considering while developing methods for mathematics' learning. This paper summarizes the observations during the examination.