Project Overview

1. MathGeAr Project Overview
Sergey Sosnovsky
Saarland University

2. Key Challenges in Modern Engineering
Education
Responding to
the changes in
global context
Improving
perception of
engineering
Retention of
engineering
students

3. Ch1: Changes in global context
• Engineering knowledge and competencies evolve with increasing
speed
– Cycle of innovation is going faster
– New competencies emerge; old – dissolve
– Current engineering students will have professions that do not exist yet
• The problems that have driven engineering are changing, as
technology penetrates more of society.
– Systems become more coupled
– Engineering involves complex interrelationships encompassing also
human and environmental factors
• The global environment require changes in engineering education
– Markets, companies, and supply chains have become much more
international
– Engineering services are often sourced to the countries that can provide
the best value
– Basic engineering skills have become commodities that can be provided
by lower cost engineers in many countries

4. Ch2: Perception of engineering
• Engineering is not attracting enough people to
the field, and often is not attracting the
diversity of backgrounds and talents needed.
• Engineering is considered neither a money
making profession nor contributing to a
greater good
• Engineering is often perceived as difficult and
boring

5. Ch3: Student retention
• Attrition is substantial in engineering, particularly
in the first year of college
– In US, almost 40% of students who enter engineering
studies do not finish them
– In EU, the drop-out rates in STEM disciplines also vary
from 15 to 40%
• Engineering students often develop little identity
as engineers in their first 2 years of college
because they take math and science courses and
have little exposure to engineering practice
– The restrictive and formal nature of initial curricula in
engineering disciplines

6. Chextra: Deterioration of engineering
education in post-soviet independent states
• Lack of funding during the crisis of 1990s
• Inherited fragmented education systems

7. Problems of Math Education for
Engineering
• Math is the key subject for all engineering disciplines
• Lack of engineering students and demand for more
engineering graduates forces universities to lower
entrance math standards
• Students tend to underestimate the volume of
mathematics in engineering studies
• There is a considerable difference between school and
university requirements to math
• Study after study show that the level of Math
knowledge is the primary factor for success/failure in
University engineering education

8. Is an Intelligent educational technology
the solution?
• Intelligent Tutoring Systems are known to
increase:
– speed of learning
– test scores and knowledge retention
– knowledge transfer
• Adaptive Hypermedia Systems and Open
Student Modeling are known to improve:
– student motivation
– self-regulated learning
– navigation within learning material

9. US/EU investments in modern
educational technologies
• From 2007 to 2012, within FP7 invested 211 mil. only
directly through TEL-related calls + programs of EACEA
agency (Tempus, LLLP, etc.) + national funding
• US only in 2012 invested $830 mil. in new technologies
for Education and Human Resources. Special focus is
paid to STEM education.
– Joint NSF / NIH program Cyberinfrastructure Framework
for 21st Century Science, Engineering, and Education
($155)
– CMU’s Simon Initiative on Exploring Human Learning with
Technology

10. Math-Bridge: Web-platform for
learning math
•
•
•
• Overall ~10 mil. In EU and DE funding

11. Math-Bridge: intelligent Web-platform
for learning math
• Tracks student progress
• Models student competencies
• Implements a range of adaptive techniques to
optimize learning of each individual student
– Problem solving support
– Adaptive navigation support
– Personalized course generation

12. Math-Bridge: practical intelligent Web-
platform for learning math
• Bookmarks
• Tests and Exams
• Advanced Search
• Questionnaires
• Instructional videos

13. Math-Bridge: practical intelligent Web-
platform for learning and teaching math
• Authoring of individual learning objects
• Assembly of courses, tests and exams
• Class management
• Student management
• Advanced reporting tool
• Largest in EU collection of university-level math
learning objects in seven languages
– 10K learning objects
– 5K interactive exercises

14. Project Profile
• Full name: Modernization of Mathematics curricula for Engineering and
Natural Sciences studies in South Caucasian Universities by introducing
modern educational technologies
• Funded under Tempus IV program (6th call)
• Overall budget: 1,078,292.50 €
• 14 partners:
- 4 from EU (FI, FR, DE)
- 6 from Georgia
- 4 from Armenia
• Start: 01/12/2013
• Finish: 30/11/2016
- 9 Universities
- 2 Research Institutes
- 2 Government Agencies
- 1 NGO

15. Project Objectives
• Implement a comparative analysis of the national math
curricula and best teaching practices for STEM disciplines
• Modernize math and statistics curricula for a selected set
of engineering and sciences studies
• Localize the European e-Learning platform Math-Bridge
and introduce it as a part of partner university courses
• Build a capacity in local universities to effectively maintain
and use Math-Bridge.
• Conduct a pilot evaluation of the impact the the new
curricula enhanced with Math-Bridge has on the quality of
studies in math and statistics, as well as on quality of
engineering and sciences education in general.
• Disseminate the results of the project.

16. Project Structure
Phase1: Best
practice exchange
and pedagogical
preparations
Phase2: Curricula
reforms and
capacity building
Phase3: Pilot
implementation
and evaluation

17. Phase 1: Best practice exchange and
pedagogical preparations
• Define a methodology for Math curricula
comparison
• Conduct a series of case studies between EU and
partner Universities on the compatibility of their
STEP curricula
• Define recommendations for structural curricula
improvements in line with the Bologna principles
• Identify the areas most suitable for the
introduction of TEL tools.

18. Phase 2: Curricula reforms and
capacity building
• Each partner University will select 2 STEM
curricula and develop updated versions
• Special attention will be paid to the
introduction of TEL methods and tools
• eLearning math content and appropriate
assessment material will be selected
• Math-Bridge platform will be localized and
teachers will be trained to use it

19. Phase 3: Pilot implementation and
evaluation
• Updated courses will be implemented within
Math-Bridge
• Large-scale evaluation studies will be designed
and conducted in order to verify the impact of
the updated, Math-Bridge-enhanced curricula
• The results will be analyzed and disseminated

20. MathGeAr Consortium Structure
Consortium
Management
Coordinator
Project Coordination
Board
ANQA NCEQE
Quality Control and
Accreditation
GEAR
TUT
UCBL
SEUA GTU
ASPU UG
ATSU
BSU
Pedagogical
Expertise
EU
AR GE
DFKI
IIAP GRENA
Technical
Expertise
EU
AR GE

21. Pedagogical Partners
• WP1: Contribute to the use case methodology
development and evaluation; provide their courses for
comparative course analysis
• WP2: Analyze and modernize two math courses
• WP3: Build the local capacity in terms of teachers and
equipment, contribute to Math-Bridge localization
• WP4: Evaluate new, enhanced math curricula with their
own students
• WP5: Participation in dissemination
• WP6: Participate in project management and quality
control

22. Technical Partners
• WP1&2: oversee technical aspects of ICT
application in the selected case studies
• WP3: coordinate the efforts of Math-Bridge
localization teams; lead the technical testing and
debugging; provide Math-Bridge training
• WP4: ensure effective communication between
all partners for the evaluation experiment;
monitor technical aspects during the evaluation
• WP5: Participation in dissemination
• WP6: Participate in project management and
quality control

23. Quality Control and Accreditation Partners
• WP1: contribute to the case studies overseeing quality
aspects
• WP2: monitor quality assurance issues in all curricula
modernization efforts; ensure that all curricula reforms
are in line with the Bologna principles, national
educational standards and other regulatory
frameworks
• WP4: contribute to the knowledge assessment aspects
during the evaluation design
• WP5: facilitate accreditation of the modernized
curricula and nation-wide dissemination
• WP6: contribute to management

24. Website, Twitter
• www.mathgear.eu
• https://twitter.com/MathGeAr

25. Links and References
• National Science Foundation FY14 Budget
Summary
• SCOPUS FP7 Calls & budget
• NSF Report (2007). Moving forward to improve
engineering education #NSB-07-122
Questions?