The study reported here investigates the role, experiences and aspirations of a community of mathematics postgraduates as they learn to tutor in a mathematics support centre in a research-intensive university. This is achieved through in-depth interviews with nine postgraduate tutors all of whom had experience working in the centre. The data is analysed through the lens of communities of practice and presented through the voices of the postgraduates themselves. It sheds light on their personal trajectories as ‘newcomers’ to the peculiarities of tutoring within a mathematics support centre, and the ways in which they learn from, support and cooperate with each other in their common endeavour. As the postgraduates progress through their three or four years working in the centre the data reveals a growing confidence and, for some, a strong willingness to nurture and encourage their younger colleagues. Some of the ‘old timers’ go on to assist in the recruitment of new tutors and demonstrate insights into the ways their experience as tutors in the support centre will inform and influence their own future careers as academics. In particular, our work highlights the ways in which tutoring in the centre contributes to their own mathematical learning and personal development. The work is driven by a need to better understand the practices of postgraduate tutors in the growing field of university mathematics support and a desire to improve these. We consider how what we have learned can be put to use both in mathematics support centres and in university mathematics education more generally. By doing so we contribute to the solution of a widely reported ‘mathematics problem’ in higher education. At the same time this work strengthens what has been described as a ‘fragile’ relationship between mathematicians and educational researchers, bridging the gap between theoretical understanding and practice in a research-intensive university mathematics department.

中文翻译：

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在数学支持中心学习成为研究生导师

此处的研究报告调查了数学研究生社区在研究型大学的数学支持中心学习辅导时的作用，经验和愿望。这是通过与9位研究生导师进行深入访谈而实现的，这些导师都有在该中心工作的经验。数据是通过实践社区的角度进行分析的，并通过研究生本身的声音进行呈现。它揭示了他们作为数学支持中心内补习的特殊性的“新来者”的个人轨迹，以及他们在共同努力中相互学习，相互支持和合作的方式。随着研究生在中心工作的三到四年的进步，数据显示出越来越高的信心，对于某些人来说，培养和鼓励年轻同事的强烈意愿。一些“老手”继续协助招募新的导师，并展示他们在支持中心的导师经验将如何影响并影响他们自己未来的学术生涯。特别是，我们的工作突出了中心的补习对他们自己的数学学习和个人发展做出贡献的方式。这项工作是由于需要更好地了解不断增长的大学数学支持领域中的研究生导师的实践以及对它们进行改进的愿望。我们考虑如何在数学支持中心和大学数学教育中更广泛地使用我们所学到的知识。通过这样做，我们为解决高等教育中广泛报道的“数学问题”做出了贡献。同时，这项工作加强了数学家与教育研究者之间所谓的“脆弱”关系，弥合了研究密集型大学数学系的理论理解与实践之间的鸿沟。