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The evolution of mathematics support: a literature review

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journal contribution
posted on 2019-08-29, 14:10 authored by Duncan Lawson, Michael Grove, Tony Croft
Mathematics support, the provision of additional learning opportunities to, primarily, non- mathematics specialist undergraduates has grown significantly since the early 1990s, particularly in the UK, Ireland and Australia. Alongside the growth in volume of provision, there has been a marked increase in the amount of research and scholarship relating to mathematics support that has been carried out and disseminated. This paper reviews this literature and in doing so identifies areas in which mathematics support has evolved. This evolution has taken place in response to a range of crucial changes in the external policy and general environment and, in particular, in response to the changing nature of the so-called ‘Mathematics Problem’. Key themes that emerge from the literature review, which are explored in detail, are the characteristics of students who engage with mathematics support and reasons why others do not; the role of the mathematics support tutor, who undertakes the tutoring task and how they are trained; the positioning of mathematics support within higher education structures; and the evaluation of the effectiveness of mathematics support.

History

School

  • Science

Department

  • Mathematics Education Centre

Published in

International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology

Volume

51

Issue

8

Pages

1224 - 1254

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Rights holder

© Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Publisher statement

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology on 22 September 2019, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/0020739X.2019.1662120.

Acceptance date

2019-08-28

Publication date

2019-09-22

Copyright date

2019

ISSN

0020-739X

eISSN

1464-5211

Language

  • en

Depositor

Prof Tony Croft

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