Ní Fhloinn, Eabhnat
ORCID: 0000-0002-3840-2115 and Deacon, Lucy
ORCID: 0009-0002-9629-6100
(2023)
The Impact of Mathematics Support upon Student Retention: The Student Voice.
In: Ninth Conference on Research in Mathematics Education in Ireland (MEI 9), 13-14 Oct., 2023, Dublin, Ireland.
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.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Conference or Workshop Item (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Event Type: | Conference |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Subjects: | Social Sciences > Education Mathematics |
| DCU Faculties and Centres: | DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science and Health DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science and Health > School of Mathematical Sciences |
| Published in: | Proceedings of the Ninth Conference on Research in Mathematics Education in Ireland (MEI 9). . MEI and Dublin City University. |
| Publisher: | MEI and Dublin City University |
| Official URL: | https://zenodo.org/records/10037374 |
| Copyright Information: | Authors |
| ID Code: | 32660 |
| Deposited On: | 19 May 2026 10:51 by Eabhnat Ni Fhloinn . Last Modified 19 May 2026 10:53 |
Documents
Full text available as:
Preview |
PDF
- Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 2MB |
Metrics
Altmetric Badge
Dimensions Badge
Downloads
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year
Archive Staff Only: edit this record