Resumen de Evaluation of mathematics support centres: a literature review.

Janette Matthews, Tony Croft, Duncan Lawson, Dagmar Waller

• Mathematics Support Centres (MSCs) have been established at universities in the UK and a number of other countries, of which colleagues from Australia and Ireland have been the most prolific in publishing about their work. Their main functions are to address issues surrounding the transition to university mathematics and to support students´ learning of mathematics and statistics across the wide variety of undergraduate courses. There is a growing body of research examining the operation and impact of MSCs. This article will review and synthesize available published research evidence so that informed decisions can be made about the value of mathematics support activity and the targeting of future funding. Evidence will be shown of the evaluation of MSCs in each of the following areas:

  *the collection of data and the challenges that are presented in both quantitative and qualitative studies;

  *analysis demonstrating MSC usage and activity;

  *analysis showing the impact of MSCs on students, staff and the institution.

  The article will conclude by identifying areas where further research would be helpful.