What Colors do Undergraduates Associate with Training Courses? Student Evaluations of the Applied Mathematics Educational Program through the Color Selection Method

Abstract

Abstract It is no doubt that today the role of mathematics is increasing and mathematical education requires constant attention. Nevertheless, there are not so many studies devoted to the problems of teaching university students who have chosen mathematics as their profession. The purpose of this article is to research the attitude of undergraduates towards the courses that make up the Applied Mathematics educational program, implemented in one of the technical universities in Russia. The survey was conducted using the Color Selection Method, based on Max Lüscher ideas. Students have associated each course with one of the eight proposed colors. The outcomes of the survey were investigated through correlation and cluster analysis and compared with the results of another survey conducted by a verbal evaluation tool. This research has revealed that the student's assessments obtained through two methods (verbal and imaginative) do not contradict each other. The use of the Color Selection Method helps identifying the problems that arise in the educational process and allows to outline ways of improving teaching quality.