The Sigma Mathematics Support Centre at Coventry University offers all staff and students mathematics support during the course of their time at the university. The MSC began life in 1991 as a simple drop-in centre. It grew from strength to strength, offering more and more support and more resources and was praised by the students for the support they received. This was reflected in 2011 when Sigma won the Times Higher Education Award for Outstanding Support for Students.
Who works there?
Within the MSC there are experienced and trained tutors, not just mathematicians but engineers, business tutors and nursing tutors. There are many resources on offer such as worksheets with step-by-step guides, books, computers, and printers. We also offer special training sessions on various topics including how to pass numeracy tests when applying for jobs. We offer statistics support with the help of two statisticians. There is also the ability to provide one-to-one support including Skype sessions for long-distance learners.
Where can I find them?
Situated on the ground floor of the Frederick Lanchester library, the MSC is open 7 days a week during term time to offer advice and support on any question you may have – No question is deemed “too simple” or too complex, we help everyone!
What do students say about them?
In the past year the MSC has seen numbers rise across all faculties, with 9,500 student visits from September 2013 to August 2014. The aim is to have 10,000 visits this year! Current feedback from students has been very positive. Students comment on the “outstanding manner in which tutors help me to understand the difficulties I am having” and how that leads to “confidence in my answers and mathematical ability”. Students have also said that they “get more feedback in the MSC than in lectures”, and “..get help with even the toughest questions as the tutors are willing to go the extra mile even if they themselves are struggling”. They find that all the staff are “friendly, understanding and approachable”. 98% of students would recommend the centre to a fellow student according to the feedback we received from the last academic year.
What else do they do?
Not only do we offer mathematics support, we offer students with the chance to be interns and improve their skills and CV. Over the summer we have employed several student interns to work in the MSC on various projects such as creating our new website, improving and increasing the worksheets we have on offer and supervising high school students as part of the Nuffield Project. We also extend our services to the local community, offering numeracy support to people outside the university.
The next academic year will be an exciting one for the MSC as we aim to improve our service even more. We are opening for longer hours, as per student feedback throughout term time and will be looking to offer more support to Masters students throughout the summer of 2015. Students are welcome to drop in at any time for support and we look forward to seeing you soon!
Anything else?
During the first month of the new term, we will be offering free calculators to all students who complete a very short online survey and visit the MSC. Details of this will be provided shortly however the offer will run from 29th September to the 31st October (whilst stocks last!).
If you would like to get in touch with SIGMA you can email math support@coventry.ac.uk or drop in to the library on campus.
