PART 4
A SURVEY OF MATHEMATICS USAGE IN INDUSTRY
PART 4
A SURVEY OF MATHEMATICS USAGE IN INDUSTRY
This section includes :
Below is a copy of the survey that was sent to 50
industries in our four county area. It contains a summary of
the responses actually received (23):
A Survey of Mathematics Usage in The Manufacturing Industry
Summary of Responses:
Industry Name____________________________________________________
Name of Person Completing This Survey_______________________________ Title____________________________________________________________
Minimum Education Required for Workers____________________________
Product(s) Manufactured____________________________________________
Address __________________________________________________________
Please check one of the three choices given for each concept
listed, based upon their usefulness to your workers. For example, if trigonometry
is never used at your particular plant, please check "Never". If engineering
drawings are read by the engineering staff and not by the line worker,
check "Sometimes".
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
Question:
In your opinion, what is (are) the most important concept(s) math
teachers should teach students to prepare them for jobs in industry?
Responses:
Question:
Also, if you have any comments about this survey, or any other aspect
of mathematics education, please give them here.
Responses:
Of the 50 surveys mailed to the industries in our four-county area,
23 were returned. Most were completed by the human resource directors,
although some were completed by accounting managers, general managers,
and other supervisors.
General Trends - Always Needed
The most common response in the always needed category was "using measuring devices and gauges" (13), followed by "adding and subtracting fractions" (10), "adding and subtracting decimals" (10) and "reading graphs" (10). Closely following these skills were "comparing fractions and decimals" (9), "tolerances" (9), "multiplying and dividing decimals" (8), "multiplying and dividing fractions" (8), and "finding averages" (8). After these skills, "taking percents" (7), "percent increase and decrease" (7), and "using statistics" (7) follow closely. The metric system rated 6 "always" responses.
There are no surprises here, except possibly for using statistics . The level of statistics required is usually average, mean, media, and mode, and plotting these on an SPC graph.
There possibly could be a bit more emphasis in early mathematics classes for teaching various measuring devices, such as using a yardstick, metric ruler, micrometer, and vernier scales. Many adults find it difficult to determine whether a measurement is to 1/16 or to 1/8, and students especially so. Many do not know how to measure with a ruler that has the English system on one side, and centimeters on the other (as evidenced by our college chemistry classes).
Perhaps some emphasis could be placed upon comparing metric measurements and English measurements. For example, which is larger: a 5 mm socket or a 1/8 inch socket? Or even, which bullet has a larger diameter: a .38 caliber or a 9 mm slug?
The concept of tolerance is usually not covered in traditional mathematics
courses. This concept could easily be introduced when studying significant
figures and uncertainty, or perhaps when studying the metric system. Close
tolerances are crucial to quality control in the industrial world, and
the student needs to at least have an understanding of
this concept.
It must be remembered that many of the jobs surveyed are entry level,
and perhaps this survey does not reflect the instance of higher mathematics
truly needed for higher paying jobs in larger markets.
Sometimes Needed
The skill with the highest level of responses in this category was "conversion between different units of measurement" (16), followed by "geometry/perimeter and circumference" (15), and "creating graphs" (15). On the heels of these skills were "conversion between metric and English units (14), "geometry/finding volumes" (14) "reading engineering drawings and diagrams" (14), "solving simple formulas" (14), and ratio and proportion (14).
Other skills scoring high were some of the same ones found in the "always" category, such as fraction and decimal arithmetic and tolerances, but a surprise emerged as "variation/finding how one variable affects other variables" rated 12 responses. This topic is usually found in algebra textbooks, but there may be a temptation by some to skip this section: please don’t. Besides being helpful in industrial situations, a knowledge of variation is essential in the sciences. Many quality control techniques in solving problems involve studying how one factor affects other factors downstream.
Never Needed
The highest number of responses here came from the "calculus" (13) and "matrices and determinants" (12) categories. The next highest after these two was "trigonometry" (10). It should be noted that it was expected that these subjects would probably not be needed by hourly workers in many industries. Calculus received 7 "sometimes need" responses, and matrices and determinants received 8 "sometimes needed" responses. Some students should feel relieved that there are workplaces where a good living can be earned without knowing calculus and trigonometry, but they should also understand that highly technical jobs, such as engineering and design, require a thorough knowledge of these subjects.
It is interesting to note that "reading graphs", "reading engineering
drawings", "finding averages", "using statistics", and "tolerances" got
no "never needed" responses. So in this case, two no’s make a yes: these
skills should be acquired by those students seeking a job or career in
the manufacturing world.
Respondents to the Survey