12D
Wednesdav. August 19. 1992
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Study aids include more than just tutors
Daron J. Bennett / KANSAN
At the Student Support Services center in Jayhawker Towers, Caryn Shinn, Detroit sophomore, gets help on an English assignment from Danette Michaels-Knowiton, a Lawrence graduate student. Michaels-Knowiton said she had been helping students for two years.
Students need to question potential tutors about qualifications,references and safety
By Andrew Arnone Special to the Kansan
Although there are many options for students who are behind or doing poorly in an academic course - time-management workshops, groupstudy sessions, meeting with the professor more often - sometimes a private tutor may offer just the expertise and insight a student needs to improve.
Classified ads, lists, and fliers for tutors abound across campus, but selecting a tutor should entail more
than responding to an advertisement
Lorna Zimmer, director of the Student Assistance Center, said students should personally scrutinize tutors because there was no official way for the center to certify them.
Zimmer said these were some questions students should ask a potential tutor before hiring him or her:
- Ask to see transcripts to verify the tutors have completed the course they will tutor with an above-average grade.
- If applicable, verify with a department chairperson that the tutor is or has been a graduate teaching assis-
- Ask for references of others the tutor has assisted before.
- Ask to see the person's diploma or other verification of degree.
Another consideration is location. A tutor who lives nearby will be easier to arrange meetings with than one who lives across town.
But above all, Zimmer said, people should keep safety an issue. One should meet a tutor in a public place like a library or cafeteria, never alone at either the student's or tutor's house.
Workshops, videos provide alternative methods of help
By Andrew Arnone Special to the Kansan
For many college students who find themselves confused or doing poorly in a course, their first reaction is to find a tutor.
But hiring a tutor is not always the best solution, said Lorna Zimmer, director of the Student Assistance Center, 133 Strong Hall.
"People view tutors as cure-alls, but that's not true," Zimmer said. "Sometimes people migrate to tutors rather than doing additional work."
A brochure from the Student Assistance Center recommends that students should consider several questions before finding a tutor.
Have you asked the professor for help? Have you done the assignments, or are you behind? Have you taken a look at your overall work app?
If students are having trouble in class, their professor should be the first person they talk to. The professor can offer advice on how to improve and whether it is wise to stay in the course, the brochure stated.
The second step is to evaluate personal study habits.
"Tutoring may help, but it is not a substitute for studying," the brochure states.
Zimmer agrees that strong study habits are necessary.
"Tutors are not in place of your own work. The only way to learn something is to digit out yourself." she said. "Students don't need weaknesses isn't always easy, so the Student Assistance Center has set up a computer software program to help."
The Learning and Study Strategies Inventory, or LASSI, is a program
designed to measure a student's skill level in 10 areas related to academic success, a brochure about LASSI states.
The program takes about 30 minutes to point out strengths and weaknesses in study habits and skills, which may be all a student needs to improve in a course.
The program is available either at the Ermal Garinger Academic Resource Center, 4069 Wesco Hall, or the CLAS Advising Support Center, 4017 Wesco Hall.
In addition to LASSI, students may check out several study-skills videos, including, "Where There's a Will," "Chaos" and "College Success." Zimmer said.
The Student Assistance Center also conducts several free study-skills workshops during August and September, which can help students learn valuable study skills, Zimmer said.
The workshops topics include: time management, taking control of calculus, learning a foreign language, listening and note-taking, and preparing for exams, she said.
If a student's problem is not comprehension but lack of study time, a professor or the Student Assistance Center can discuss drop or incomplete policies with students, Zimmer said.
The third question students should ask themselves is whether their performance is suffering because their course load is too heavy.
Many departments offer in-house tutoring for students in particular courses, especially lower-level introductory classes.
If a student believes a tutor is the best solution, however, there are several options to consider before hiring a private tutor.
The School of Engineering, for example, offers free physics and math tutoring four times a week for engineering students, said Ann Bakerink, administrative assistant for the school.
Residence halls also offer math tutoring twice a week in the Academic Resource Centers of Ellsworth, Gertrude Sellars Pearson-Corbin, Templin and Oliver Halls, said a receptionist of the department of student housing. Students from any residence hall may attend these sessions.
In addition, free, private tutoring is available through the Student Support Services Program for students who qualify. The program is financed through the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a federal grant and is available for students who have a financial need, who are first-generation college students or have a physical or learning disability, according to a brochure from Supportive Educational Services.
If a student wants to hire a private tutor, the Student Assistance Center offers a list of private tutors students may select from. Zimmer said.
Students need to meet only one or two of these criteria to be eligible for the program and can apply at 108 SES Building.
But she said that the list was not screened by the Student Assistance Center and that students needed to evaluate the tutors themselves.
But for a tutor to be effective, preparation is the key. A student must still do the homework and reading. A tutor should just clarify specific problems, Zimmer said.
"All of us hope for magic," she said. "But you still have to do the work. Learning is just hard work."
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