Conceptual Maps: A Tool for Assessing the Meaningful Learning of Engineering Students in a Pre-Calculus Course

Context: The difficulty that students of Differential and Integral Calculus, in Engineering programs, show when dealing with the concept of function, one of the fundamental concepts of higher Mathematics, with countless applications in courses of the aforementioned programs. Objectives: To evaluate the contribution of a potentially meaningful teaching unit to promote learning of first-degree polynomial, exponential and logarithmic functions, and to evaluate Engineering students’ learning, through conceptual maps. Design: A potentially meaningful teaching unit of concepts related to first-degree polynomial, exponential and logarithmic functions was applied. The research is based on the Meaningful Learning theory. Scenario and participants: Five Pre-calculus students from Engineering programs at a community university in Rio Grande do Sul. Data collection and analysis: Data collection took place through initial and final assessment instruments, in addition to questionnaires and conceptual maps, during the students' participation in an extracurricular activity, with analysis of the conceptual maps based on an adaptation of Cañas and co-workers’ Topological Taxonomy. Results: The results showed that the adopted methodology has the potential to promote meaningful learning in the context of Engineering Education and that conceptual maps are reliable tools for assessing learning. Conclusion: it is possible to claim, that the first-degree polynomial, exponential and logarithmic functions, once worked in a contextualized way, help in the understanding of different concepts and contribute to the occurrence of a meaningful learning, whenever there are learning conditions for such, which requires considering the students' prior knowledge, in addition to their interest in learning.