Qualitative study of the role of reflection on mathematical problem solving among engineering students

Aim of the present research is to investigate the role of metacognitive reflection in solving mathematic problems of engineering students. Samples of this research (12 students) are selected for interview among the students of civil engineering, mechanic, and electronics who were educating in Bahonar Kerman University in 2014-2015 using targeted sampling. In this paper examined metacognitive reflection on problem solving of engineering students has been examined from two aspects of knowledge and metacognition monitoring. The results of the research showed that “reflection” could increase the problem solving capability of the engineering students and could make them able to control and evaluate correctly in problem solving conditions. This research shows that problem solving is something more than finding small solutions for today`s problems and applying them to solve available problems also; it can encourage engineering students to use their engineering knowledge to solve real world problems. This is because solving the real problems makes learners justify to judge the problems in higher levels and also find new ideas.