sigma the centre for excellence in university-wide provision of mathematics and statistics support is one of 74 Centres for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETLs). Three years since its establishment in 2005 it is now providing students from all disciplines at Loughborough and Coventry Universities with superb environments in which they can access support and build confidence in their ability to apply mathematics or statistics in their mainstream studies. The most public face of sigma can be seen in its modern well-staffed and well-equipped drop-in centres providing students with one-to-one tutorial help pleasant and friendly workspaces high quality learning resources and other facilities. Behind the scenes sigma staff and postgraduate students are researching and developing ways of enhancing the teaching learning and support of mathematics and statistics. As sigma has developed it has begun to stimulate and encourage growth of similar activity across the sector. This article will describe briefly some of these developments.
