Assessing the potency of QSPlot tool in teaching engineering calculus

Abstract

We developed a suite of interactive mathematical courseware named as QSPlot which is aimed at improving students’ understanding on the physical representation of multivariable functions used in Engineering Calculus course. The purpose of this study was to determine the potency of QSPlot, which is a new interactive tool aimed at assisting students’ learning process in the course and evaluate their readiness towards using an interactive teaching and learning tools in classroom. The respondents are 53 students in the fourth semester of an engineering course at a selected local university and several problems involving the physical conceptualization of the mathematical functions were demonstrated using QSPlot. The students were given a set of questionnaire with two parts. The first part was used to investigate the students’ perceptions on the learning tool in visualizing multivariable functions. The guidelines for using the interaction design in the human computer interaction were presented. The second part was used to evaluate the students’ readiness in utilizing QSPlot tool in classroom for solving integral calculus problems. With their high level of computer familiarity, the students have shown a good level of readiness in using QSPlot, although the tool needs a few improvements. This finding allows for an enhancement of teaching method and implementation of the new computer applications in learning Engineering Calculus course. It is expected that this new courseware will underpin a formative evaluation approach to the ongoing design and development of interactive teaching and learning tool.