PROCEEDINGS OF THE 22ND ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2019
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
This is us: An analysis of the second groups within a mathematics learning center
Page: 44
The mathematics learning center (MLC) of a university may influence more aspects of a student’s life than the targeted mathematics learning. In this study we examined an MLC from the perspective of the undergraduate peer tutors employed there seeking to understand the space as a figured world. Differential use of pronouns emerged during analysis of collected stimulated recall data from the participating undergraduate mathematics peer tutors. My examination of which individuals, groups, or subgroups were included in “we” and “us” statements by the participants revealed social patterns within the MLC where both academic and non-academic behaviors indicated belonging or the potential to belong. The personal narratives of the participant tutors expanded on these ideas of coming to belong within the MLC and the implications of that belonging for their developing mathematics and STEM identities.