Implementation of Peer Tutoring as a Strategy to Promote the Development of Basic Mathematical Skills in University Students

Abstract

One of the biggest problems in higher education institutions in Mexico is the high failure rate in the first math courses in areas focused on technology. Tutoring, as a fundamental tool in the integral development of engineering students plays an important role in dealing with this type of phenomena, the role it plays is decisive in controlling or diminishing one of the most worrying indicators: desertion. As a measure that aims to correct these rates, corrective courses of Precalculus have been developed and implemented using the strategy of peer tutoring, which in our case was divided into three different levels: basic, intermediate and advanced. The effectiveness of this strategy was evaluated with two instruments: the first was a placement level test, according to which the student was assigned a course adapted to their specific needs detected in the evaluation; At the end of these courses, a second test was conducted to determine the progress of each student. As a result, it is expected that a high percentage of participants will acquire the necessary mathematical skills to pass to the next level and guarantee their permanence in the following courses with follow-up in academic advising.

Keywords: Peer tutoring; academic advising; desertion; Precalculus courses.