Skip Navigation


Teaching Mathematics and its Applications Advance Access originally published online on July 14, 2008
Teaching Mathematics and its Applications 2008 27(3):140-149; doi:10.1093/teamat/hrn011
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
27/3/140    most recent
hrn011v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Symonds, R.
Right arrow Articles by Robinson, C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Promoting student engagement with mathematics support

Ria Symonds, Duncan Lawson and Carol Robinson

Addresses for correspondence: Ria Symonds, Mathematics Education Centre, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU. Tel: 01509 228212, Fax: 01509 228211.
Duncan Lawso, Sigma (A centre for Excellence in Mathematics and Statistical Support), Conventry University, Conventry, CVI 5FB. Tel: 02476 888971.
Carol Robinson, Mathematics Education Centre, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU. Tel: 01509 228252, Fax: 01509 228211.

Submitted May 2008; accepted June 2008

This article reports the findings of qualitative research undertaken to seek to identify the key reasons why some students are not engaging with mathematics support provided by Loughborough University. The research involved a number of focus groups and ‘on the spot’ interviews with ‘non-users’ from across the campus. Barriers identified include a lack of awareness of the location of support and a fear of embarrassment. Further interviews were conducted with regular users of the support in an attempt to understand how some of these barriers to usage might be overcome. The article will discuss actions that may be taken to improve student engagement with mathematics support and the issue of how student motivation may affect such action.

Ria Symonds graduated from Loughborough University with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. She is now based in the Mathematics Education Centre at Loughborough University and is in the final year of her postgraduate research. This research is investigating the effectiveness of mathematics support mechanisms in Higher Education.

Duncan Lawson is Associate Dean in the Faculty of Engineering and Computing at Coventry University. He is the Coventry Director of Sigma, a HEFCE-designated Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL). In 2005 Duncan was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship, in the Experienced Teaching category, by the Higher Education Academy.

Carol Robinson is the Mathematics Support Coordinator at the Mathematics Education Centre, Loughborough University and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the MLSC. She has worked in Higher Education for over 20 years, which has primarily involved the teaching of mathematics to Engineering students.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.