Science Forums 2

[CraigD]

Originally Posted by yellowbus

Has anybody had tutors before?

I was a college tutor for several years

Does tutoring raise the grades tremendously?

Sometimes, but not always. Its effectiveness depends on many things: the willingness of the student, the ability of the tutor and her/his familiarity with the subject and the specific class and teacher, and sometimes even the teacher’s attitude toward tutoring

What would one do during a tutoring session- go over homework?

Usually, yes. I usually reviewed textbook reading assignments and class lecture notes – in short, attempted to reproduce the class itself, focusing on any problem areas

And about how many times a week do average tutors meet (my classes learn new things every other day, so if it’s once a week I’d be pretty far behind).

In my case, most of my payment came from a state-funded office of the college. I was allowed to tutor each student for 1 hour/week/class (many students were tutored in several classes) without any special review or permission. If more was needed, I had to get permission from the program’s director. It was unusual for such permission to be denied. Tutoring more than 3 hours/week/class was very unusual.

An important question that should be asked is how to find a good tutor. The tutor’s familiarity with the specific text, class, and teacher is valuable, so former high-achieving students are often the best tutors. A person very knowledgably about the subject is not necessarily the best tutor, and may even have a negative effect due to a their approach conflicting with the teacher’s.

Having a specific office to coordinate and even pay for tutoring, as in my case, is ideal. A good first step would be to check with your teacher and school administration for the existence of such programs, or recommendations for qualified private tutors.