Many departments of mathematics, physics and engineering now use some form of diagnostic test to assess the basic mathematical skills of new undergraduates [1]. Results reveal that a typical cohort consists of students with a diverse range of mathematical backgrounds and capabilities. Tests also help to identify those students who lack both confidence and competence and are deemed to be at risk of failing or dropping out in Year One. It is now commonplace for those teaching first year mathematics to be faced by an inhomogeneous student cohort and all are in accord that it has become almost impossible to teach them effectively together. It is against this background that streaming of first year undergraduate physicists into two more homogeneous groups has been introduced at the University of Leeds. The aim is to provide more effective teaching and mathematics support that will get students up to speed and mathematically prepared for their second year.

Ni Fhloinn, E., Fitzmaurice O., Bhaird, C. M., & O'Sullivan, C. (2014). Student perception of the impact of mathematics support in higher education. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 45 (7) 953-967., DOI:10.1080/0020739X.2014.892161 Mathematics support in higher education has become increasingly widespread over the past two decades, particularly in the UK, Ireland and Australia. Despite this, reliable evaluation of mathematics support continues to present challenges for those working in this area. One reason is because ideally, properly structured support should function as an integral part of the overall educational experience of the student, in tandem with lectures and tutorials. When this occurs, it makes it difficult to isolate the impact of mathematics support from these other entities. In this paper, the results of a large-scale nationwide survey conducted with first-year service mathematics students in nine higher education institutes in Ireland are considered, exploring studentsâ?? perceptions of the impact of mathematics support upon their retention, mathematical confidence, examination performance and overall ability to cope with the mathematical demands they face. Students were extremely positive about the effectiveness of mathematics support in all of these areas, providing valuable insights into the value of learning support in mathematics.

University College London has established a wide selection of teaching resources to support a dramatic increase in the number of entrants to the Mathematics Department. This includes a diagnostic test for all entrants, a workbook for students to complete before the first semester and an integrated system of tutorials, lectures and a problem class. An intense Bridging Course also provides students with a valuable and comprehensive perspective of university mathematics.

Mathematical Advice and Co-ordination Service (MACS) was established in 1995 within the Faculty of Mathematics to support students within their studies at the University and to help prepare them to go into the world. Funding was made available for an initial period of 3 years and was then continued on a year-to-year basis. The emphasis has changed over the years and most of the work is now linked to students�¢?? current problems but also includes help for those facing employers�¢?? tests at interview. The University accepted that the concept of student support offered in Mathematics needed to be extended into other areas and, through The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), established the Student Advice Service (SAS). The SAS is now a permanent feature of the University serving any member of the student body (and indeed staff) who might benefit from what it offers. The remainder of this case study considers only the mathematical part of the SAS, though many of the comments apply to the other areas of the SAS (Academic English, Study Skills and ICT).

This article by SARAH PARSONS (Harper Adams University College) describes the positive effects on examination results of introducing mathematics support and implementing other changes. The article presents data which shows that significantly improved results followed from changes introduced in 2001 which included substantial mathematics support provision. However, because many other changes (changed content, separate lectures for some groups, diagnostic testing etc) were introduced at the same time it is not possible to isolate particular effects of the mathematics support provision. Nevertheless external examiner comments reflect the value of mathematics support. The article is published in MSOR Connections Feb 2005 Vol. 5 No.1.

Matthew Taylor, Ollie Bond, Callum Anderson and Andrew Kennedy. (2012) Summer internships in sigma-sw. MSOR Connections 12(1), 23-27. DOI: 10.11120/msor.2012.12010023 We report on the experience of Loughborough Universityâ??s Eureka Centre for Mathematical Confidence in establishing a small pilot project to provide one-to-one mathematics support for neurodiverse students who attend other local universities and where no such provision is available. We outline the background to the scheme and report on the three students involved.

This video segment introduces surds, such as the square root of 2. This resource is released under a Creative Commons license Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works and the copyright is held by Skillbank Solutions Ltd.

3 questions. First, two equations in two unknowns, second 3 equations in 3 unknowns, solved by Gauss elimination. The third two equations in 2 unknowns solved by putting into matrix form and finding the inverse of the coefficient matrix. Numbas resources have been made available under a Creative Commons licence by the School of Mathematics & Statistics at Newcastle University.

This leaflet provides a table of integrals of common functions. (Engineering Maths First Aid Kit 8.7)

The approach to teaching Maths to Year 1 students in the Department of Engineering underwent a major reorganisation prior to the start of the 2002/3 session. The aim was to provide an optimum framework within which students studying four different engineering disciplines could be taught Maths within the resource constraints imposed by student numbers, and to cope with the extremely wide range of their Mathematical abilities on entry to these degree programmes. After much discussion, students are now taught their Year 1 Maths topics in two different cohorts, streamed according to initial Maths ability, and using different approaches in terms of the depth of understanding expected. This also involves the use of different assessments. This approach has been much more popular and created far fewer difficulties than the previous system which divided the students into two groups according to degree programme.

Analysis is made showing how Helmholtz and Gibbs energies conveniently interrelate enabling typical 2-D and 3-D curves to be drawn across a range of temperature for selected chemical equilibria. Opposing influences leading to a free energy minimum or an entropy maximum are given a physical explanation with the attainment of equilibrium and the choice of conditions made evident. Simplifying assumptions are emphasised and the examples show how the data are manipulated, limits evaluated and trends in equilibrium summarised by EXCEL charts.

Double angle formulae are so called because they involve trigonometric functions of double angles e.g. sin 2A, cos 2A and tan 2A. (Mathtutor Video Tutorial) The video is released under a Creative Commons license Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works and the copyright is held by Skillbank Solutions Ltd.