AA 2011 Volume 43 Issue 4

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Browsing AA 2011 Volume 43 Issue 4 by Author "Maitland, Irene"

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    Meeting the social and emotional needs of first-year mathematics students through peer-tutoring
    (University of the Free State, 2011) Maitland, Irene; Lemmer, Eleanor
    English: Academic under-performance among first-year university students calls for effective support systems. In this regard, a peer tutor-mentor programme was introduced at a private university in South Africa to improve the academic outcomes of vulnerable first-year mathematics students enrolled in an academic development programme. This article examines the influence of peer tutor-mentoring through a qualitative inquiry framed by a bricolage of learning theories. Data gathered from a comprehensive sample of students, tutor-mentors and lecturers indicate that the programme assists students’ social adjustment in a multicultural setting; that cultural diversity among tutor-mentors is both a barrier and a resource, and that positive campus perceptions of the programme are essential to its continuation, thus forging a new community of mathematics practitioners.