UCF plans events for National Tutoring Week

Starting Monday, the Student Academic Resource Center, Academic Services for Student-Athletes, the Mathematics Assistance and Learning Lab and the Writing Center will be celebrating National Tutoring Week by honoring the 250 staff and students who serve as tutors, mentors, consultants or supplemental instruction leaders on campus.

 UCF offers widespread and diverse academic support for students. SARC provides tutoring, supplemental instruction, online peer-assisted learning and learning skills consultations. Free tutoring is offered to students registered in classes associated with the current semester’s schedule. In addition, SARC caters to students in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and the Veteran’s Academic Resource Center.

 Supplemental instruction is for students taking difficult courses who are in need of weekly study sessions. At each session, an SI leader who has already taken the course and earned an A average will guide attendees through course material.

 “SARC has done quite a bit of research and data analysis; it has been proven over several semesters that students who attend SI typically score a letter grade higher than those students who don’t participate,” said Mark Gumble, assistant vice president of Student Development and Enrollment Services.

 Online peer-assisted learning sessions are offered for selected UCF courses using Adobe Connect. OPAL is an online study group with a SARC peer tutor or SI leader. SARC also gives students the opportunity to work with learning skills specialists who provide one-on-one consultations designed to help students develop the study skills needed to be successful in college.

 Natasha Ford, coordinator of Academic Support Services, said there is a misconception that tutoring is for students who are failing in their course work.

 “Tutoring is not only for students failing classes. Our services are great to help students keep and maintain their good grades as well. For students who are getting A’s and B’s, our resources are a great way to meet other students in their courses and to study in a more collaborative environment,” Ford said.

 The Academic Services for Student Athletes office is another academic resource UCF offers. It provides mentoring, tutoring and academic advising to aid the more than 400 UCF student-athletes. Five nights a week, tutoring is available in more than 75 courses for all student-athletes.

 The Mathematics Assistance and Learning Lab provides tutoring for students enrolled in mathematics courses. Those courses include finite mathematics, explorations in mathematics, college algebra, trigonometry, business calculus, precalculus, mathematics for calculus, calculus I, II and III, and differential equations.

 The University Writing Center is also used to support students academically. It assists freshman through graduate-level students by providing individual and small-group literacy support.

 “The writing center has a two-fold mission, we don’t only help the students who come here for assistance with writing, we also provide a rich teaching and learning opportunity for the student tutors who work in the writing center. The tutors in our writing center are engaged in writing center theory, research, practice and various teaching and learning opportunities,” said R. Mark Hall, University Writing Center director.

 Throughout the week students will have the opportunity to say thank you to the UCF tutors. There will be a photo booth set up until Oct. 5 in the SARC tutoring lab where students will be able to write a thank you message on a whiteboard and then be photographed. Also, students can leave a thank you note on the Tree of Thanks located in Howard Phillips Hall.