Engineering self-efficacy in upper level mathematics

A special section of MATH 3350 - Higher Math for Scientists and Engineers (more commonly known as Differential Equations) was developed for Electrical Engineering students to obtain the necessary requisite mathematics for their future courses. The Department of Mathematics and the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department agreed upon a curriculum for the special section of MATH 3350 that left much of the content the same, but gave more attention to the skills needed by the Electrical Engineering students. The researchers wanted to assess what benefit, if any, could be measured and attributed to this special section. Since self-efficacy is a good measure of one’s capabilities, has links with personal competence and determination, and can be derived from seeing peers succeed, it was decided to explore the possibility that enhanced student self-efficacy could be attributed to the special section of MATH 3350. According to the data collected in this study there are no statistically significant differences in terms of self-efficacy between the special section and the regular sections. This report concludes with some notable observations based on the data collected, possible reasons for the lack of difference, and suggested items for further study in the subject.