ENGINEERING STUDENTS’ RETENTION AND TRANSFER OF LEARNING FROM TRIGONOMETRY TO ELECTRIC CIRCUITS

Abstract

This research article explored engineering students' retention and transfer of learning from Trigonometry to Electric Circuit courses. The study used a descriptive quantitative and qualitative research designs.  It utilized both written exams and semi-structured interviews to investigate the retention and transfer of learning. Results indicated that students retained their knowledge of the Trigonometry concept before entering an Electric Circuits course but encountered difficulties in transferring retained knowledge in a new context due to difficulty in deciding when to activate appropriate Trigonometry concepts. Likewise, they just follow the formulas given in the electric circuits lecture and did not take into consideration the underlying trigonometric principles used in deriving the formula. Thus, students often resorted to pattern matching while approaching their problems. This study has implications for the instruction of both engineering and mathematics education.