Mathematics Education Seminar: Proving tailored support to improve mathematical understanding

Speaker: Mark Hodds (Coventry University)

Title: Proving tailored support to improve mathematical understanding

Summary: 

Many students come to university underprepared for the mathematics on their courses, and some are even unaware that there is mathematics on their course. To address this, mathematics and statistics support centres were set up in the UK, providing support to students initially on “at risk” courses such as engineering (Lawson, 2003). More recently, these centres have offered support to all students, regardless of course, with centres becoming successful social learning spaces. However, this is often not enough and a more tailored approach is needed. In this talk, research into various approaches to mathematics support will be discussed, including the use of self-explanation training (e.g. Hodds, Alcock, and Inglis, 2014), diagnostic testing (e.g. Lawson, 2003), and the use of “Numbas”, showing how effective these can be when tailored in the right way (Hodds, 2020). There will also be a discussion on the future of mathematics support, drawing from lessons learned during the pandemic.