Frequently Asked Questions (Faculty)

 


 


What is the role of a Tutor? 

A tutor's role is to facilitate outside practice spaces for students enrolled in your class. Tutors are expected to prepare on their own and create learning activities that engage students in group learning. The activities they create are based on the content for your class. 

A tutor can also be a mentor for your students, a connector to resources, someone to brainstorm with, someone to share ideas, anxieties, or successes. 

A tutor can also be an insight into what students are feeling in your course as they can share what students are saying or feeling during a tutoring session. 

 

How is Small Group Tutoring or Large Group Tutoring helpful for my course?

It allows students dedicated practice space and time outside of your class. Tutoring can help give students structured practice to breakdown difficult concepts, go back to concepts they did not understand, build specific skills necessary for your class, and build community between the students in your class. 

Large Group Tutors are paid to attend your class and can closely follow your pace and provide additional practice problems to the material you are covering. 

Small Group Tutors prepare on their own and can tailor support to the 4 students who signed up to the sessions.  

What training do Tutors receive? 

All Tutors are required to take a Tutor pedagogy class, (STEV 96) the first quarter they tutor. In this class they are introduced to foundational education theories and how to practically apply them to their tutoring sessions. Tutors leave the class understanding how to apply educational theory into their work, what it means to be an equity-minded peer educator and how to create collaborative peer learning spaces. Tutors attend quarterly additional training around session preparation, using self-efficacy tools, working with neurodiverse learners, etc. Our training program has also been recently CRLA (College Reading and Learning Association) certified! CRLA is an international tutor training certification program. If you are interested in learning more about CRLA, please visit their website: https://www.crla.net/ 

What are the requirements to become a Tutor? 

All Tutors have taken the class they are working in and received a B or better and received a letter of recommendation from a UCSC community member. All of our requirements are listed on our hiring basic qualifications page.

We welcome faculty input on qualifications specific to their course. Please contact Sharon Castro or Lexie Tapke. 

 How are Tutors preparing for sessions? 

Tutors prepare for sessions based on class material. Tutors who attend lectures are asked to use that time to prepare. Tutors who prepare on their own, are paid to review material. Access to your class materials ensures that the tutor is preparing accurate information that will best serve your students. 

Check out the session preparation planning template for each position:

How can I communicate with my Tutor?

You are welcome to email your tutor or invite them to meet with you. Tutors are asked to email instructors at the start of the quarter to introduce themselves. 

LSS staff supervise tutors, if you have questions about what work they can or can't do, please contact the LSS staff. 

Before the start of the quarter, LSS staff will contact you with the name and email of your tutor. Look out for an email from our director! 

How can I incorporate my Tutor?

Incorporate your LSS team into your teaching team by taking one or more of the following steps:

What can I do to boost attendance for tutoring sessions?

We encourage you to share any announcements your tutor has regarding their sessions. Advertise LSS services and your LSS Team’s schedule on Canvas, class website, and/or during lecture. 

Additionally, consider offering extra credit (1-5%) to encourage students to attend LSS resources. Please reach out to us directly if you would like to request attendance records to offer extra credit, rather than asking your tutors since we ask them not to share student attendance data. 

How can students sign up for tutoring?

Please direct your students to LSS instructions to view the schedule and sign-up for sessions.