Blended Tutorials: Blended Synchronous Learning in Mathematics

A blended tutorial is a single learning event which gives students the opportunity of attending face-to-face or online. This article reports the findings of a scholarship of teaching and learning project conducted at The Open University, and considers the barriers and opportunities to using blended tutorials to support distance learning. Two pilot blended tutorials were carried out on the honours mathematics module M337 Complex Analysis, and the results of the evaluation are presented. Using qualitative data from practitioner reflections, lesson observations and semi-structured student interviews, this project uses thematic analysis to identify barriers and opportunities to using blended tutorials. Particular emphasis is given to the unique challenges in learning mathematics, and in the distance learning context of The Open University. The report concludes with recommendations for the design of blended tutorials, and recommendations for future research.