JURJ

Dilemma of Undergraduate Students Studying Mathematics: Metrics or Matrices

Author: Sunny Seth and Sanjive Saxena

Abstract: In today's scenario, students are perplexed about the usage and applications of metrics and matrices in real life scenario. Their dilemma continues as to what constitutes metrics and matrices and how they are related to the context in question. The research paper is designed to seek answers to the following research questions (a) for a student, what constitutes matrices when it comes to practical applications in real world scenario? And (b) for a student, what metrics are needed for supplementing the matrices?. In seeking answers to these research questions, the development of the paper follows a structured methodology. Commencing with the process of formulation of the topic backed up with reasons as to freezing of the topic formulation. It then gradually moves to the process of development of questionnaire, followed by purposive sampling for data collection. The sample size is 181 after validations and verifications checks. The findings are depicted in the form of matrices and metrics so as to drive the basic concepts. Ms excel software is used to demonstrate the real life applications. Findings indicate that metrics are dependent on the context and matrices are used appropriately to provide information pertaining to the context. The limitation is the small sample size. The contribution to the study is the linking of theory with the practical applications.