Finnish university students’ views of different relationships in first-year engineering mathematics courses

Integration is seen as a main factor for students to stay in university and eventually graduate. In conventional lecture-based teaching, students might avoid asking for academic help from teachers, which weakens the student–teacher relationship and distances students from the faculty. To decrease distance and ease integration, more student-centred methods are widely adopted. This article concerns the use of specific tutors and a learning space called Math Shack in engineering mathematics teaching and learning at Tampere University in Finland. The aim of this study was to examine how students experience relationships and roles within first-year engineering mathematics courses and determine if Math Shack affected their experiences. The analysis was based on the material from a drawing assignment (N = 695) which was collected from first-year engineering mathematics students. Drawings were categorized as data-driven. The results showed that Math Shack tutors were experienced as more approachable than assistants; however, assistants were experienced as middlemen. Though there were no major differences in experiences whether students had been in Math Shack or not, assistants were experienced slightly differently.