This study explores engineering design students’ perceptions of their agency for sustainability in a Danish problem- and project-based learning (PBL) context. A conceptual framework is proposed with three dimensions: personal, action, and contextual. Q methodology was adopted to investigate the subjective views of 24 first-year undergraduate students in a Sustainable Design program regarding the most important contributors in their development of agency for sustainability. The Q factor analysis identified three prevailing opinions, which emphasized: 1) The professional role of engineering designers to act for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); 2) The role of the formal curriculum in building the foundations to act for the SDGs; and 3) Collaboration within and beyond the university. These results indicate the complexity of student agency and highlight PBL's effectiveness for supporting students’ learning for sustainability across all three dimensions of student agency. The results also suggest that institutions and educators should design more formal and informal sustainability-related activities with clear structures and well-defined regulations and strategies for sustainability.

Contribution: This article presents a new look at teaching the Laplace transform for engineering students by emphasizing the obsolescence of the current method of finding the inverse Laplace transform when solving differential equations, and by recognizing the important role of a computer-assisted environment in helping the students understand the main idea behind the Laplace transform, instead of asking the students to repeat computational processes by hand. Background: The Laplace transform is a widely used integral transform that has important applications in many areas of engineering, and therefore, has a central place in the curricula for engineering education. However, according to several research articles, many students experience great difficulties understanding the Laplace transform. Research Question: Is the use of partial fractions and Laplace transform tables necessary for a proper conceptual understanding of the Laplace transform method? Methodology: Using the anthropological theory of the Didactic as an educational platform, the current teaching of the Laplace transform method, is analyzed. A parallel discussion of the teaching of logarithms at the upper secondary school level is drawn, where, previously, this also took place using the tables of logarithms, but now the reliance on calculators is overwhelming. The authors suggest a method of teaching the Laplace transform in a computer-assisted environment. Findings: In the light of the shift in computer hardware and software, the authors conclude by calling for innovation in and revision of engineering education through bridging the gap between procedures and understanding, by using computer software, where it is suitable.

Transfer functions are convenient representations to analyse cause-and-effect relationships of linear time-invariant dynamic systems. Traditionally, transfer functions are introduced using the Laplace transform. In this paper, we argue that the Laplace transform method is not a necessary prerequisite to understanding the topic ‘transfer functions’. We offer an inquiry-based learning method to represent transfer functions without formally using the full machinery of Laplace transforms. The method is used in an introductory engineering course on system modelling and simulation at Aalborg University, Denmark. The paper also presents an initial assessment of the students' understanding of transfer functions without knowledge of Laplace transforms and the experiences gained from implementing inquiry-based learning in the course. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of the impact of CAS tools on mathematics and engineering science teaching and learning.

Existing research shows that students struggle to understand and use the chain rule appropriately. Other research suggests instructors use more contextually rich problems in their teaching to allow the students to experience calculus through meaningful contexts. In response, this concept paper presents four tasks using the chain rule that we anticipate can be compatible with how students discern concepts, and which could enhance the students’ understanding of the chain rule. The setup is that the students learn the chain rule through the multiplication rule, demonstrated through four teaching tasks. Applying Tall’s three worlds of mathematics when designing mathematics tasks makes it possible to blend symbolic and embodied worlds, opening the door to the formal world, which is beneficial for engineering students.

We present a new look at teaching the Laplace transform for engineering students by emphasizing the obsolescence of the traditional method of finding the inverse Laplace transform when solving differential equations, and by recognizing the important role of a CAS-assisted environment in helping the students understand the basic concepts of the Laplace transform, instead of asking the students to repeat computational processes by hand.