Enhancing University Mathematics Teaching

摘要

How may academic staff increase student engagementand participation in a large class, and in a subject,mathematics, that students universally find difficult?Introduction: Contemporary university mathematics teaching [1] is replete with challenges: Large classes with the attendant highfaculty to student ratio are counter-productive to promotinggenuine interactivity and engagement between lecturers and stu-dents. Second, observation shows that students are on averagetaciturn in class and in addition, some find the large classesintimidating and impersonal. Third, research data [2] suggeststhat students, especially the weak ones, do not regularly attendtutorials, which have been specifically designed to augment thelearning occurring in lectures. Moreover, there is also the factthat more students now work part time, probably as result of theintroduction of top-up fees, thereby reducing time for independ-ent study. The challenge therefore is for university lecturers tofind pedagogical means of overcoming these challenges in orderto enhance student learning.