For students struggling with classes, the tutoring center is a great place to get some extra help. All students need to do is check the weekly schedule and come to the learning center when their class has help available. They also have an online option that students
can use where they have to request their The most common drop-in that the tutoring center gets is math 111, with in-person tutoring drop-in hours for this class being available for most of the day Monday through Thursday. However, for students who are taking the class online or those who don’t have easy transportation to or from campus, it can be difficult for them to find time to get tutoring in person.

There is also a remote tutoring service available for these students, but the process can be a little tedious, with students having to supply their schedules and then the learning center finding a tutor available for that time. In order to accommodate so many students
requesting help for this class, Kristen Engels and her team decided to try a zoom time.

“Wewere trying to brainstorm ways to provide further support for this class because so many students were asking for assistance,” explained Engels.

That is why the learning center is piloting a zoom tutoring session. To make the services available for everyone, they are having a tutor on zoom on Monday – Tuesday at 12:30 – 2 p.m. and Wednesday – Thursday from 9 – 10:30 a.m.

These are group sessions that students are able to join at any point throughout the call. This way students can have access to tutoring resources even if they cannot make it on campus.

Tutors will also have extra tools that they can use in the call, like the whiteboard option. This allows students to visualize the problems with the tutor.

For now there is only one tutor per zoom call, as they are testing the idea to see if it is something students like. Engels says, “for this one, we are just piloting, we’re trying it out and seeing how it goes.”

When asked if they will be expanding the project to other classes or times, Engels explained that it was all based on the students’ engagement and if this seems like something viable they can do at a larger scale. “If there is a strong student response saying this time
would actually work really well for people, we would be willing to adapt to those,” says Engel.

For students who are looking for a little extra support in math 111 this semester, the online tutoring option is a great way to receive help even if they are unable to make it to campus.