The impact of maths support tutorials on mathematics confidence and academic performance in a cohort of HE Animal Science students
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Agricultural Science, Zoology, Science and Medical Education
- Keywords
- Mathematics, Numeracy, Bioscience, Animal Science, Support
- Copyright
- © 2014 van Veggel et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
- Cite this article
- 2014. The impact of maths support tutorials on mathematics confidence and academic performance in a cohort of HE Animal Science students. PeerJ PrePrints 2:e355v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.355v1
Abstract
Students embarking on a bioscience degree course, such as Animal Science, often do not have sufficient experience in mathematics. However, mathematics form an essential and integral part of any bioscience degree and are essential to enhance employability. This paper presents the findings of a project looking at the effect of mathematics tutorials on a cohort of first year animal science and management students. The results of a questionnaire, focus group discussions and academic performance analysis indicate that small group tutorials enhance students’ confidence in maths and improve students’ academic performance. Furthermore, student feedback on the tutorial programme provides a deeper insight into student experiences and the value students assign to the tutorials.