To promote active learning, lecturers should know how their students learn. With this knowledge, the lecturers can plan lessons that take advantage of the students’ learning preferences or challenge learning approaches that are not particularly beneficial. This study examined what students from Singapore Polytechnic reported about how they learned engineering mathematics. A questionnaire consisting of 57 items was designed to cover activities classified under Conscientious Efforts, Metacognition, Involving Others, and Resources. A group of 235 Year 2 Engineering Mathematics (Maths 2) students rated these activities in terms of frequency of use and helpfulness before and after the Maths 2 module. The findings are interpreted in relation to active learning mentioned in Standard 8 of the 12 CDIO Standards. Lecturers may use similar techniques to better understand how their students learn in order to design lessons that take into consideration these ways of learning.
