An Activity Theory approach in explaining engineering students' difficulties with university mathematics

Abstract

In this paper we explore the difficulties engineering undergraduates encounter with tertiary mathematics. Results from our survey (N = 71)showthatstudentsinoursamplefaceissuesmostlyrelated to the challenging nature of university mathematics, the absence of workedexamplesduringlecturesandthediscontinuityofschooland university mathematics curricula. By using third generation Activity Theory, we were able to interpret the identified difficulties as contradictions emerging between the school and university activity systemsaswellaswithintheuniversityactivitysystem,andweargue that these difficulties can be treated as stemmingfromthestructural characteristics the two activity systems have.