A survey analysis on teaching purposes and learning perceptions for relations between theories and applications in undergraduate mathematics

Students' and teachers' perspectives in teaching usually differ in education. Especially, during their first year at university, students' lack of awareness regarding the importance of math in their academic and professional life, diminish their motivation in this course. Similarly, teachers cannot find ways to attract students' attention and increase their motivation in densely designed syllabus. This problem occurs heavily in service courses. Mathematics is an integral part of engineering and it is the first step in learning to solve real life engineering problems. Since basic knowledge is taught in the first year of higher education, successful teaching and motivated students help bring up good engineers. In psychology literature, it is widely accepted that student motivation affects learning [1, 2]. Latest studies show that teachers' behavior has effects on students' motivation in learning [3] and similarly teaching conceptions and practices affect course outcomes [4]. Usually students and teachers agree on central factors affecting motivation, but heavy workload on both sides prevents them from considering these factors [2]. While teachers focus on teaching the theory first and then show the applications, most of the students are generally interested in applications only. This problem creates a big gap in teaching purposes and learning perceptions. Authors attempt to conduct a detailed analysis on this issue. They try to figure out students' perceptions and teachers' expectations in service course mathematics. 850 students and 40 lecturers participated in the survey, which was conducted at the end of the term in compulsory Math1 and Math2 courses among all departments in Istanbul Technical University (ITU). This study, which is the continuation of authors' previous study on the comparison of students' and lecturers' answers, authors focused on the questions whose answers were found as statistically different between two groups. The study aims to figure out the logical connections of students' perceptions in mathematics courses and lecturers' intention in teaching mathematics. The tendency and perceptions within each group are analyzed by examining the answers to the survey questions.