Álgebra linear nos cursos de engenharia: uma proposta metodológica de ensino e aprendizagem

Abstract

While the initial course in linear algebra plays a decisive role in an engineer’s basic education, it is often marked by high rates of student failure and dropout. Identifying the major difficulties faced by students in this course and indicating possible educational solutions for teaching linear algebra have attracted the attention of many researchers. In the core of this study lies a new methodology proposal developed with the purpose of enhancing the teaching and learning processes of linear algebra in engineering curriculum. The classical teaching method Peer Instruction combined to seminar strategy, and supported by the Didactical Engineering methodology, has proven to foster a powerful educational tool which contributes effectively in the abstract concepts’ learning process, encourages research and creativity in the problem solving process, and explores practical applications of the learning concepts. This methodological teaching proposal was implemented during the semester 2014.2 in the linear algebra course in the undergraduate Chemical Engineering program at Federal University of Ceará, Brazil. The development of the proposal involved rewriting: materials for study, reading assignments, conceptual questions, quizzes, and a diagnostic test; a relevant educational product that enriches the existing bibliography on the subject. The Students' Evaluation of Educational Quality (SEEQ) questionnaire was administered at the end of the class. To assess the methodology effectiveness and its contribution to the teaching and learning process, we reviewed the students’ performance and evaluation of the teaching quality. Additionally, to investigate if this new teaching approach leads to better learning results than the traditional method, a comparison between control and experimental groups was performed. The results demonstrate indeed that the teaching method, suggested by the study, promotes an improvement on students’ understanding of abstract concepts and the relationship between theory and practice, and also promotes better interaction between student-teacher and student-student. In brief, the methodological teaching proposal has been proven to be a valuable educational approach that produces a student more reflective, motivated and critical in a meaningful and collaborative learning environment, with direct impact on the students’ retention in the classroom and in their final academic performance.