Safety in numbers: mathematics support centres and their derivatives as social learning spaces

Understanding undergraduate disengagement from mathematics: Addressing alienation

“…On a related theme, relationships with peers and with tutors can be a critical factor in whether or not students express positive attitudes to university study (Solomon, Lawson & Croft, 2011). While Mathematics Support Centres were primarily introduced to provide support for learning in terms of content, Solomon, Croft & Lawson (2010) reported that the spaces that such centres provided had the potential to generate a collaborative ethos which went beyond emotional support to incorporate perceptions of mathematics as a constructive and participative endeavour. This focus on developments in students' understanding of the nature and practice of mathematics (as opposed to just its content) is also suggested in dispositional accounts such as Daskalogianni and Simpson's (2002) study of mismatch between students' school-based beliefs about mathematics and their experiences of university mathematics.…”

Reshaping understandings of teaching–learning relationships in undergraduate mathematics: An activity theory analysis of the role and impact of student internships

“…Prior to the internship, the postgraduate researcher carried out in-depth interviews with the two module leaders; the interviews explored their expectations about how they would work with the interns, what barriers they foresaw, their expectations for the outcome of the project, and their own experience of being a university mathematician. Six other academics in the department were closely involved with the project and the underlying issues which had led to its development, and these individuals were also asked to respond to an email survey asking for free- experience of university mathematics indicating that male and female students have different experiences (Solomon, 2007;Solomon et al, 2010), one group comprised only male and one only female students. The two remaining mixed gender groups included an international student and a student who could be described as disengaged.…”

Student’s Self-Regulation in Managing Their Capstone Senior Design Projects

“…12,13 Working in a team is not just about working together with peers sharing the same space and tasks to work on, but also balancing power and responsibility as they seek to control the path their team takes to meet its mission. Numerous studies have suggested that group learning offers a basis for social comparison and social learning, 14 and that teamwork quality and team diversity impact the effectiveness and quality of task completion. 15 In the context of engineering senior design projects, the project mission is accomplished as students manage the demands of tasks and assignments from clients (someone who inspires or supports the design project), the instructor and each other.…”