‘Everyone seems to be agreeing at the minute that face-to-face is the way forward’: practitioners’ perspectives on post-pandemic mathematics and statistics support

Abstract

Mathematics and statistics support (MSS) is now firmly embedded in the learning and teaching infra-structure of most UK universities and in many universities worldwide. In common with other higher education activities, in response to restrictions put in place to reduce the spread of Covid-19, MSS transitioned rapidly to online delivery in spring 2020. This paper reports on thinking within the practitioner community about good practice in the delivery of online MSS. A two-phase approach was used to collect this shared wisdom: an initial questionnaire in May 2020 (just after provision had moved online) and interviews with practitioners in January/February 2021 after colleagues had some experience in online provision and had had the opportunity to reflect on and modify the measures hastily put in place in spring 2020. The focus of the study is not only on what is currently being provided but also on what MSS will look like once all pandemic related restrictions have been ended. The overall feeling of the participants is that face-to-face MSS will return as the dominant form of delivery but that the benefits of online provision are such that a significant minority of provision will remain in this form.

Fostering interaction and engagement in remotely delivered mathematics tutorials in an Irish university

“…The use of Zoom chat in tutorials was viewed by a very high proportion of students who responded as somewhat or very helpful, both as an aid to answering the questions and in facilitating understanding of the content overall. Students' appreciation of the relative anonymity afforded by the use of Zoom chat being of benefit to those who might hesitate to ask questions in a more open setting also reflects the findings of other studies relating to both the online provision of mathematics support (Gilbert et al, 2021;Radmehr & Goodchild, 2023) and to students' experiences of the move to emergency remote teaching (Ní Fhloinn & Fitzmaurice, 2021;Shim & Lee, 2020). Although not highlighted in the current study, students in (Wang et al, 2018) also reflected on how more introverted students could use the chat to present a query privately to another classmate.…”

Challenges and Successes of Emergency Online Teaching in Statistics Courses

“…Additionally, educators introducing new technology may have students focus on learning the technology instead of learning the course material (Lopez et al, 2021). Lastly, educators noted that reviewing students' work on mathematical derivations posed a challenge virtually, especially if students did not have access to pens and tablets (Gilbert et al, 2021).…”

Az online előadás hatékonyságvizsgálata a Gazdasági matematika tárgy példáján

“…Az eredmények azt mutatták, hogy hatékonyabb a hagyományos oktatási mód a játékosító eszközökkel történő tanításban és tanulásban is, mint az online oktatás. Gilbert et al [8] a matematika-és statisztikaoktatás támogatását szolgáló, a brit felsőoktatásba egyre inkább beépülő MSS rendszer posztcovid perspektíváit vizsgálta. A résztvevők általános véleménye szerint az MSS visszatér a dominánsan személyes formába, de az online forma előnyei miatt a szolgáltatás egy jelentős része megmarad ezen a területen.…”