The Role of a Full-time Mathematics Support Tutor

Abstract

In September 2016, Maynooth University appointed a Mathematics Support Centre (MSC) University Tutor on a three-year contract, a unique position for an institution on the island of Ireland. In this paper, we briefly explore the important role of MSCs and their tutors. We describe the University Tutor's activities for the 2016-17 academic year and we discuss the benefits of establishing such a position. We also advocate for the establishment of more contract positions.

Specialist and more-able mathematics students: understanding their engagement with mathematics support

“…Mulligan and Mac an Bhaird [45] comment that 'it may appear, to those not involved in MLS [mathematics learning support], that tutors simply help students when they get stuck', however as we have seen, users have greater expectations of the process than this. They go on to note 'just because someone is good at mathematics or statistics, does not mean they will be a good MSC [mathematics support centre] tutor'.…”

The evolution of mathematics support: a literature review

“…In the early 1990s, when institutional mathematics support was in its infancy, those who delivered mathematics support were typically academic staff from the mathematics department who provided mathematics support as an adjunct to their main roles of teaching and research. As mathematics support has become more embedded across the higher education sector and larger in scale, the staffing of support provision has diversified as revealed in a number of multi-institution surveys and single institution studies (for example, [66,73,82]).…”

“…Several evaluations that demonstrate the impact of mathematics support upon student performance, retention and confidence are cited in [95]; more recent studies continue to reinforce its impact in these areas. Mulligan and Mac an Bhaird comment upon the role of their mathematics support centre in influencing 26 students who had considered dropping out of university due to their mathematical difficulties to remain [66]. Another study not only links the higher retention rates (when compared with national benchmarks) of engineering students to the widespread implementation of mathematics support in the institution, but also reports that there are the associated effects of 'a significant increase in student success for those accessing support…and an increase in student engagement' [106,p.107].…”