Abstract: This was an action research that investigated the effects of peer tutoring in engineering mathematics learning to address the perceived problem of student underachievement in engineering mathematics in a Singapore polytechnic. About 400 students were guided by their lecturers in the first round of peer tutoring of selected topics, in the first semester, 2009. The data showed that both lecturers and students agreed on the usefulness of peer tutoring in improving engineering mathematics learning. However, they also believed that several issues had to be addressed before the benefits of peer tutoring could be more fully actualised. On the basis of this analysis, the teaching team, of which the author was its member, revised the peer tutoring process. The same batch of students then went through this second round of peer tutoring in the second semester, 2009. The results of the students in the e-quiz, mid-semestral test, and semestral examination in both semesters were compared. There was improvement across the three assessments in the second run of the peer tutoring process. Since this research has yielded positive outcomes in improving the learning of engineering mathematics, the use of peer tutoring can be further deliberated and improved to be implemented on a larger scale to benefit more engineering mathematics students in the concerned polytechnic.

Key words: Peer tutoring; Engineering mathematics; Engineering mathematics learning