When you go for help to the tutoring center, how do you get them to be helpful?

[Nan in Mass]

My sons are reluctant to go for help to the tutoring center because they've tried it a few times and not found it helpful. What can I tell them to help change this? I suspect they are spoiled with the sort of help that I, who was following their studies closely, was able to provide without making them put their problem into words. Now they are in college and I am not there to do that (usually) and they need to learn to use that tutoring center to get other people to do something truly helpful.

Nan

[Brenda in MA]

Nan,

 

My son has done a couple of things to get the tutoring center to be more helpful. The first is to go there on different nights. They often have different staff on different weeknights, so sometimes, he has been able to find someone he thinks is helpful, and then he just knows that person is in on Wednesdays.

 

Another thing is to attempt the homework problems first himself and then go there with a specific problem that he can ask them to work through for him. Occasionally, he's gotten a tutor who refuses to work through homework problems, so he's had to have some similar problems that he can have the tutor walk through.

 

He also has gone to both professors' and TAs' office hours to see if they are helpful, and he goes back to the ones that he is able to learn from the best. As he's gotten further into his studies, he has started to network with other students in his classes. He will often send a note to three or four of them and ask if they would like to meet one evening a few nights before an exam to review the material. He says that he studies better with others -- he is more able to keep focused on the material, and when the kids ponder something together, they can often figure it out.

 

HTH,

Brenda

[regentrude]

Can they be more specific about what exactly they did not find helpful?

 

I run tutoring sessions where students help and interact with each other, and I would suggest the following:

 

If it is one-on-one tutoring with a single person: come prepared. Have specific questions, or a problem where you had trouble, or a concept you did not get. The tutor can not help if the student says "I do not understand anything." If they can not "put their problem into words", they must learn to do that!!! Often, formulating the question is all that is needed for the student to have the lightbulb go on suddenly.

This a very important skill, and if your sons have trouble with this, they must learn this.

 

If it's group sessions or open learning centers: work with a friend. If you don't have one, ask any student who is there if he wants to work with you on a problem. Use the blackboards/white boards. It will make it easier to work in a group, and it will make it easier for the tutor to find and address mistakes.

 

Do not become frustrated if the tutor tries to teach and employ Socratic methods instead of just telling you the answer. I often find students just want me to tell them the solution; this is useless because they don't learn from it. We train out tutors to guide the students to the discovery of the solution, to ask questions, to actively involve them. Our tutors are taught not to pick up the chalk themselves (mostly) but to guide the student - work the student does himself helps learn; tutor performing and student copying down the tutor's work does not.

 

If there really is an issue with the tutor's quality and manner: bring it to the attention of the faculty member in charge of the program. Tutoring should feel welcome; tutors may not belittle students, make them feel stupid for asking, play favorites. If these behaviors occur, they need to be addressed.

My sons are reluctant to go for help to the tutoring center because they've tried it a few times and not found it helpful. What can I tell them to help change this? I suspect they are spoiled with the sort of help that I, who was following their studies closely, was able to provide without making them put their problem into words. Now they are in college and I am not there to do that (usually) and they need to learn to use that tutoring center to get other people to do something truly helpful.

Nan

 

If there's a subject they are good at, and they were to volunteer to tutor for it, I bet their eyes would suddenly be opened as to how to interact with the tutors. As we all know, it is amazing what you learn when you teach.

[memphispeg]

:iagree: Tutoring helps you learn when you run into problems. You can ask yourself "How would I teach this?" Problem solving seems to be the best place for this kind of questioning but, it also helps with writing and language arts.

[Nan in Mass]

Regentrude - It was awhile ago. The most recent class that worked like that (stability) was one where my son lived with the tutor. He did well in that class. I am trying to figure out what to tell my youngest. I think it was a more a matter of being able to do the problems but doing very poorly on the test. Everyone asked why he didn't go to tutoring and he said he had tried a few times, but they just helped him do the homework problems which he could already do.

 

Nan

[memphispeg]

Maybe a studies skills class/tutoring session is due. Have someone help him put together a "review-for-test" routine...organizing class notes, doing representative problems, thinking of the larger picture (popular in science testing), practicing/memorizing nec. information. Not everyone organizes things in the same way but, he could get suggestions and work out what works best for him and the particular class.

This may be hard to find for a specific class but, there may be someone who could help with "science" study skills in general.

These ideas worked for my dh and me in undergrad. and grad. schools. It does require some work and patience before finding out what works best.

[regentrude]

I think it was a more a matter of being able to do the problems but doing very poorly on the test. Everyone asked why he didn't go to tutoring and he said he had tried a few times, but they just helped him do the homework problems which he could already do.

 

 

In that case I would suggest that instead of going to the tutor he should join a study group that has a few weaker students in it and that he take an active role in teaching his classmates to do the homework. Explaining concepts and solutions to another student is by far the best way to learn - nothing makes you learn something as well as teaching.

If there is a discrepancy between doing well on the homework and not well on the tests, he should first of all make an appointment with his professor and ask what he can to to improve his performance - there has to be a reason.

[Beth S]

Two of our kids have tutored at our local cc, and the tutors' abilities do vary widely.

 

It helps to make an appointment ahead of time (AND show up!) for a specific tutor who is positively recommended. You can probably talk to the Head of the tutoring center (ours is a professor) to get some alternative suggestions. Our tutoring center had specific tutors for A+P and Calculus, but others would fill in as needed.:glare: