This week a tutored a lady in MAT 060. I have worked with her many times before and she has grown very comfortable with me helping her. She is not at all confident about her math skills, yet she generally just needs confirmation that she is doing her work correctly. As she prepared for a test with a review packet she panicked when her instructor informed her that the last page had not been covered in class. He has said that students could figure out the work by using attached formulas. This lady panicked. She came to me (unannounced) and was in desperate need of explanation. I explained to her that the area and volume formulas worked the same way with all shapes and that she only had to find the various amounts for each variable and then work out the math. After a couple examples she was more confident, but still frustrated with the lack of guidance that she had received from her professor. I told her not to be discouraged and that I was sure she would do well on her test the next afternoon. I haven't heard back, but this I feel isn't an uncommon situation for our tutees. I do think that a lot of their confusion and hesitation comes from professor expectations that they simply haven't yet gotten comfortable with. A little practice and coaxing and she was back to work.
When I was a student at MCC, I always had to have tutoring in Writing in English Courses.
ReplyDeleteI have been experiencing frustration myself in some classes and as you pointed out in regards to your tutee, I think it is more about our expectations of the professor. Each professor has their own style and it just might not be what matches up best for the tutees learning style. I guess as tutors we are a bridge between the two.
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