The narrative permeating higher education institutions globally is the assimilation of advancing information and communications technology into mainstream Mathematics Education. In this paper we report on a mixed mode case study which explored possible mathematical gaps that created barrier/s when engineering students (n=162) worked with the online diagnostic tests. These engineering students were provided with online tasks on the learner management system (LMS) on factorization, fractions and logarithms. The study was carried out at a University of Technology in South Africa. The data collected from the LMS and written responses of students to quizzes were analysed. Findings emanating from the data analysis indicated that 1) all diagnostic tests logged positive increase in group averages, 2) greater repetition by students invoked better procedural proficiency and 3) better understanding of the basic mathematics leads to greater success in higher mathematics.