The “Maths Meeting Point” at TU Darmstadt

The Maths Meeting Point is an optional addition offered by the Department of Mathematics. It is designed to supplement the basic mathematics lectures in the first two semesters. Since the Winter Semester 2009/2010, it has also been open to students of mechanical engineering and, since the Winter Semester 2011/2012, to students of electrical engineering, computer science and civil engineering as well. During the semester break the teaching modules that accompany lectures are complemented by an Examination Preparation Course.

For information for students on current Meeting Points (Winter semester 2019/2020) visit

Treffpunkt Mathematik 1 für MB (moodle course)

Treffpunkt Mathematik 1 für ETiT (moodle course)

Treffpunkt Mathematik 1 für Inf (moodle course)

Treffpunkt Mathematik 3 für MB

The idea

The Meeting Points are designed to complement the standard lectures and support classes. The idea came about because students often found the mathematics lectures particularly difficult and abstract, a fact that was reflected in failure rates.

Therefore, at the Meeting Points we revise and expand the lecture topics with the help of exercises. One of our important objectives is to compensate for any discrepancies in students’ school knowledge of mathematics and ensure that they enjoy coherent, solid basic training in mathematics on which they themselves can build in the following semesters.

Apart from this, our activities include applying what students have learnt to the actual subjects they are studying, thus emphasising the relevance of the material and increasing students’ motivation. Here are some examples of exercises (opens in new tab) to give you a better impression of the different types of exercise.

Implementation

The Meeting Points are held once a week during the semester and take the form of a 90-minute course. During the semester break the Meeting Points that accompany lectures are complemented by an Examination Preparation Course consisting of five 90-minute sessions which repeat the topics of the lectures, practise the material using exercises and thus ensure that students receive the best possible support in preparing for examinations.

For students who have failed the previous semester and now need to prepare for resits, an additional examination preparation course is offered. As the relevant lectures and support classes are only held every other semester, the preparation course plays a particularly important role.

The lecturers working with the Meeting Points are in constant touch with the professors and assistants involved in the mathematics lectures. They thus get feedback on particular problem areas which emerge, for example, in the support classes and can then deal with students’ specific problems. In the run-up to the examination preparation course, students have the opportunity to say which topics they would like to address – an offer that students enthusiastically embrace and that helps to respond appropriately to students’ needs.

Evaluation and student response

The weekly Meeting Points as well as the examination preparation courses are very well received by students, as demonstrated, on the one hand, by the constantly high numbers of participants over the years (approx. 150 participants in the weekly courses; approx. 200 participants in the examination preparation courses and approx. 20 participants in the preparatory courses for examination resits) and on the other, by the positive results of the regular evaluations. You can find the profile lines for the Winter Semester 2013/2014 here (opens in new tab) .