STUDY ON ENGINEERING STUDENTS EXPERIENCE IN MATHEMATICS LEARNING IN CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Nowadays the education systems are developing in accordance with the national and international strategies targeting the sustainable development, by providing competencies needed for sustainable socioeconomical and environmental development. A particular attention should be paid to mathematics as an instrument for sustainable development. To improve the studies of mathematics according to sustainable development trends, it is necessary to reflect the views of the students on the issues of mathematics learning experience and mathematics teaching at the university. The survey results, which was carried out at the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (LLC) and at the Riga Technical University (RTU), are analysed in this article. The questionnaire form includes six diagnostic blocks. In this article the results are analysed from three diagnostic blocks: "Mathematics learning experience" (N = 2), "Self-assessment of mathematics" (N = 2) and "Mathematics teaching at university" (N = 5). Students from two universities had to assess the statements by expressing their approval or disapproval on a 4-stage Likert scale: strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree. The total sample of the research included 699 cases. The study data were analysed by the respondents' professional field and self-assessment of competence in mathematics as well as by university. The key element of successful mathematics teaching and learning is the real-life contexts of mathematics studies, usage in a particular specialty, thus creating interest in students as well as motivating them to succeed in mathematics and developing competence.