“We need more engineers, and we need them now! And we will always need more. For those aspiring students with an interest in engineering, do not give up if someone tells you that you are not good in math, or you will not succeed in engineering. If there is a will, there is a way! The right attitude is always key to success”. ~Sardar Asif Khan, P.Eng.
On February 14th, 2018, Asif Khan, Professional Engineers Ontario chapter chair, collaborated with Let’s Talk Cogeco TV, to organize a discussion on the topics of math and engineering. The first segment of the show concentrated on deficiencies in the Ontario educational system, specifically on the mathematics program offered to the elementary and secondary school students. The second segment focused further on mathematics taught in high school, considering its effect on enrollment in engineering type programs at the university and college levels, as well as the preparedness of incoming students for these programs. The diversity in experiences of the speakers and audience in these discussions drove the conversation, offering perspectives from a unique combination of backgrounds including education, mathematics, engineering, and students in elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels. While two 30 minute discussion segments on these topics cannot capture all the related complexities of these multi-level problems, many important aspects were brought to the table.
Noteworthy was the fact that both segments highlighted differences in rigor of the Ontario educational system, in comparison to systems in other areas of the world, related to mathematics and the influence of familiar figures like parents, teachers, guidance counselors, etc., on how students perceive mathematics. The second segment highlighted that many incoming university and college students do not understand what engineering is all about, and they appear to only associate it to being purely math-based. Typically, this has influenced students on their decision to enter engineering-type programs. It was also emphasized that students often struggled entering university and college engineering programs, not necessarily due to their lack in mathematical skills, but more so with adjusting to the more independent learning atmosphere, while finding a harmonic relationship between the academic and social environments.