AA 2011 Volume 43 Issue 4

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http://hdl.handle.net/11660/2482

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Browsing AA 2011 Volume 43 Issue 4 by Subject "First-year students"

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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.
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    Retreating to a Vygotskian stage where pre-service teachers play out social, ‘dramatical collisions’
    (University of the Free State, 2011) De Beer, Josef; Henning, Elizabeth
    English: This article describes student engagement in simulation games in a field trip retreat for first-year Education students. The authors propose that the methodology can be a useful vehicle to address key social elements of pre-service teachers’ professional learning. They explore a theoretical view of such collaborative learning from the neo-Vygotskian perspective of activity theory, in which the simulation games are viewed as the main tool for mediating learning. From this position they suggest that field trips hold some promise for exploring HIV/AIDS education, issues of race and racism, and an understanding of poverty and food security in education.