Preparing for tutoring sessions

Are you prepared to become an active and independent learner? If you come prepared for online tutoring, the assistance will be more beneficial and helpful.

• Log into a tutoring session early in the semester. When you first begin to experience difficulty in a class, seek assistance immediately. If you seek tutoring assistance the day before an exam, or when you feel that you may be in danger of failing a course it may be too late. It is best to envision online tutoring as supplementary to what you are covering in your course.
• Assume responsibility. A tutor’s role is to help you learn how to do your course work, not to do it for you. Tutors can provide support and insight, as well as guide you in problem solving. Our central goal is for you to become an independent learner.
• Read all pertinent material before meeting with a tutor. Try to work all assigned problems prior to the session, and bring your work to the tutoring session for the tutor to review. This will allow you to ask specific questions about issues you may have and pinpoint particular difficulties you may have experienced.
• Aim to engage in tutoring sessions in an active manner. You will reap more benefits from assistance if you are the one doing the work.
• Set reasonable goals about what can be accomplished. Always keep in mind that it is not realistic or feasible to ask questions about a semester’s worth of material in one tutoring session.
• Be patient during particularly busy tutoring times (e.g. mid-terms, final exams, etc.).
• Do not hesitate to say, “I am still having difficulty understanding this type of problem. Could we go through it one more time?”
• Review your recorded live tutoring session on a consistent basis. Try to continually expand your understanding of the material as you strengthen your knowledge base.