Abstract
A student survey undertaken by the Irish Mathematics Learning Support Network (IMLSN) in 2014 found that students reported a positive impact from mathematics support upon student retention. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent university campus closures, engagement with mathematics support reduced greatly. To ascertain whether students still perceive that positive impact from mathematics support, an anonymous student survey was carried out with Dublin City University, with a total of 492 responses received. Of these, 164 students had used the services of the Maths Learning Centre. These students were asked about whether they had considered dropping out of their programme due to mathematical difficulties. Just under a third of students stated that they had thought about this, but two-third of these students credited the Maths Learning Centre with influencing their decision not to drop out. In this short paper, we give voice to their words in relation to these struggles, and consider the ongoing impact of mathematics support following the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Original language | English (Ireland) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Ninth Conference on Research in Mathematics Education in Ireland MEI 9 |
| Publisher | Dublin City University |
| Pages | 73-76 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 13 Oct 2023 |
| Externally published | Yes |