The philosophical dimensions of mathematics in engineering education

Abstract

Philosophical dimensions of mathematics education have drawn the attention of engineering educators and professionals in the 21st century, as it is perceived as a significant aspect in engineering education. Thus, engineering education has not witnessed critical changes with respect to mathematics as a lot of concerns such as staff capacity building and development, poor funding, and obsolete curriculum has become impediments in understanding the conceptual interpretation of mathematical philosophy in engineering education, hence the crux of this paper. This paper was guided by Social Constructivism Theory, which looks at how mathematics speciality forms its own epistemic knowledge-based domain that enhances and improves engineering education and contributes immensely to building potential engineering scholars. This paper addresses problems by filling the gaps in motivating the core investigation of unifying conjectures that are related to different areas of mathematics. This paper takes a broad look at the philosophical dimensions of mathematics in engineering education, while examining how mathematics as a body of knowledge is accounted as a means of enquiry in engineering education. The paper assesses the social philosophy and ethical dimensions of mathematics and its associated benefits; as well as its implications for engineering education (EE) in the 21st century. Thus, to address these gaps, recommendations on restructuring engineering education in areas such as curriculum revision, faculty capacity building and development as well as university funding in equipping students with contemporary mathematics textbooks were suggested.