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The aim of this research is to study the relationship between the performance of engineering students in different math courses and their performance in specific engineering courses. The considered courses are taken mainly by engineering students during the first two years of their major. Several factors are being studied, such as gender and final grades in the math and specific engineering courses. Participants of this study comprised a sample of more than thousands of engineering students at Lebanese University during their tertiary academic years. A significant relationship tends to appear between these factors and the performance of students in engineering courses. Moreover, female students appear to outperform their male counterparts in both the math and engineering courses, and a high correlation was found between their grades in math courses and their grades in specific engineering courses. The results and implications of the study were being discussed., {"references":["Borba, R. (2005). Math Failure Rate High. The Collegian, October 3, 2005. California State University, Fresno. Retrieved December 3, 2009, from http://www.csufresno.edu/Collegian/archive/2005/10/03/news/math.shtml.","Brandell, G., Leder, G., & Nyström, P. (2007). Gender and Mathematics – Recent Development from a Swedish Perspective. ZDM, 39.","Douglas, R.G. (1998). Today's Calculus Course is Too Watered Down and Outdated to Capture the Interest of Students. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 34, B1-B3.","Gallagher, A. M., & Kaufman, J. C. (2005). Gender Differences in Mathematics: An Integrative Psychological Approach. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.","Garton, B. L., Dyer, J. E., King, B. O., & Ball, A. L. (2000). Predicting College Agriculture Students' Academic Performance and Retention: A Trend Study. ERIC. ED462292.","Gurian, M., Henley, P., & Trueman, T. (2001). Boys and Girls Learn Differently! United States of America: Wiley.","Gynnild, V., Tyssedal, J., & Lorentzen, L. (2005). Approaches to Study and the Quality of Learning. Some Empirical Evidence from Engineering Education. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 3, 587-607.","Gynnild, V., Tyssedal, J., & Lorentzen, L. (2005). Approaches to Study and the Quality of Learning. Some Empirical Evidence from Engineering Education. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 3, 587-607.","Hailikari, T., Nevgi, A., & Lindblom-Ylänne, S. (2007). Exploring Alternative Ways of Assessing Prior Knowledge, its Components and Their Relation to Student Achievement: Mathematics Based Case Study. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 33, 320–337.\n[10]\tKaiser, G. (2003). Feminist Frameworks for Researching Mathematics Education. In: N. Pateman, B. Dougherty, & J. Zilliox (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2003 Joint Meeting of PME and PMENA, 1, 157–160. Honolulu University of Hawaii.\n[11]\tLax, P. D. (1990). Calculus Reform: A Modest Proposal. Undergraduate Mathematics Education Trend, 2(2), 1.\n[12]\tLi, Q. (2004). Beliefs and Gender Differences: A New Model for Research in Mathematics Education. Interchange, 35(4), 423–445.\n[13]\tMendick, H. (2006) Masculinities in Mathematics. Maidenhead, Open University Press: Mendick discusses how the alignment of mathematics with masculinity creates tensions for girls and women doing the subject. She illuminates what choosing mathematics means for students drawing on interviews with young people studying mathematics in England.\n[14]\tMurtaugh, P. A., Burns, L. D., & Schuster, J. (1999). Predicting the Retention of University Students. Research in Higher Education, 40(3), 355– 371.\n[15]\tSazhin, S. S. (1998). International Journal of Engineering Education, 14, 145-152.\n[16]\tTsui, M. (2007). Gender and Mathematics Achievement in China and the United States. Gender Issues, 24, 1– 11.\n[17]\tWalkerdine, V. (1998) Counting Girls Out (second edition). London, Falmer: \n[18]\tWedege, T. (2007). Gender Perspectives in Mathematics Education: Intentions of Research in Denmark and Norway. ZDM Mathematics Education, 39, 251– 260.\n[19]\tWiersma, W. (1995). Research methods in education: An introduction (6th ed). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.\n[20]\tYudariah M. Y., & Roselainy A. R. (1997). An Assessment of the Modular Approach in Teaching and Learning First Year Calculus at UTM. Conference on Science and Technology Education, Kuala Lumpur, 15– 6 December.\n[21]\tYudariah M. Y., & Roselainy A. R. (1997). An Assessment of the Modular Approach in Teaching and Learning First Year Calculus at UTM. Conference on Science and Technology Education, Kuala Lumpur, 15– 6 December."]}

We introduce a subspace-based algorithm for the blind identification of time-dispersive channels in pulse shaping OFDM systems based on offset quadrature amplitude modulation (OFDM/OQAM). Our approach exploits cyclostationarity induced by the use of overlapping pulse shaping filters and uses second-order statistics only. The proposed method is similar in spirit to modulation-induced cyclostationarity. Our algorithm assumes symbol-rate sampling in the receiver and does not require knowledge of the channel order. We provide simulation results demonstrating the performance of the new method.

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a promising technique for high data-rate transmission over wireless channels. In general, wireless channels are time-frequency dispersive. The performance of wireless OFDM therefore depends critically on the time-frequency localization of the pulse shaping filter used. It has been pointed out in Haas (1996) that OFDM systems based on offset QAM (OFDM/OQAM) bypass a major disadvantage of OFDM schemes based on ordinary QAM, namely the fact that well-localized pulse shaping filters are prohibited in the case of a critical time-frequency grid where spectral efficiency is maximal. In this paper, we derive general orthogonality conditions for OFDM/OQAM systems and we propose efficient (FFT-based) design procedures for time-frequency well-localized OFDM/OQAM pulse shaping filters with arbitrary length and arbitrary overlapping factors. Finally, we present design examples.

Pulse shaping OFDM systems based on offset QAM (OFDM/OQAM) are particularly attractive for wireless high-data-rate applications. Since OFDM/OQAM schemes do not employ a cyclic prefix, equalization has to be performed. In this paper, we introduce an algorithm for blind channel identification in pulse shaping OFDM/OQAM systems. Our approach assumes that the receiver knows the transmitter pulse shaping filter. Exploiting cyclostationarity of the received OFDM signal blind channel identification is accomplished using second-order statistics only. The proposed method exhibits low noise sensitivity, is computationally efficient, and does not require knowledge of the channel order. Finally, we provide simulation results demonstrating the performance of the new algorithm.

Orthogonal frequency division multiplex (ODFM) is an attractive way of transmitting signals, by turning a wide-band signal into several narrow band ones. Orthogonal transmultiplexers are the basic tools required for emitting these signals and recovering them at the receiver side. It is well known that the only DFT modulated transmultiplexers are based on a rectangular window as a prototype, if one sticks to critically sampled systems. This paper investigates the possibilities brought by using oversampled FIR transmultiplexers instead of the critically sampled ones.

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