A shortage of tutors available through Tutor Clearinghouse resulted in the service meeting 325 of 475 requests, a situation that resembles previous terms, Tutor Clearinghouse manager Holly Tracy-Potter said. Nearly a third of students who requested tutors this term were unable to be matched with one.
Tracy-Potter said that there are shortages of tutors every term. Tutor Clearinghouse matches students with peers who have succeeded in the course in a previous term, and pays the tutors $9-15 per hour.
Tracy-Potter said that classes with a deficit of tutors every term include “General Chemistry” and several mid-level economics courses such as “Econometrics” and “Macroeconomics.”
Despite these shortages, they met demand for other frequently requested courses like “Introduction to Programming and Computation,” “The Price System: Analysis, Problems and Policies” and the introductory math classes, she said.
“We’ve gone through all of the tutors that we know are available and we are going to be turning our focus to students who have done well in these classes but haven’t thought to step up,” Tracy-Potter said.
Tracy-Potter said they use this strategy every term to bridge the gap between requests and available tutors. She said recruiting is often a simple matter of bringing the idea of tutoring to students’ attention.
“A lot of students don’t think to step up because they’ve got so many other things on their plate,” Tracy-Potter said. “Many of those, when we approach them, volunteer immediately.”
Nina Maksimova ’15 worked as a physics study group leader for three years, meeting with groups of eight to 10 students once a week. She said she had not heard of the Academic Skills Center until the Tutor Clearinghouse contacted her after a professor recommended her to be a tutor.
“The opportunity seemed really exciting because I really enjoy physics and I think it’s very engaging,” she said. “I also think that a lot of the time it’s easy to miss how exciting and engaging it is if you’re having trouble with it.”
Maksimova said being a study group leader provided her with an opportunity to meet students and share her passion for physics. She said the experience has been positive, and she tried to make each study group unique to prevent the work from becoming repetitive.
“It helps me become a better physicist and I understand the material better from teaching it,” she said.
Maksimova said that students chose not to be tutors because of the busy schedules of many Dartmouth students. She herself chose not to run a study group this term because she is taking two challenging courses.
She said that students who could be good tutors may be unaware of this opportunity, just as she was before they contacted her.
Tracy-Potter said that they receive excellent feedback from both tutors and tutees, which leads to a greater demand for the service.
“We feel that the work that we do is valued by students here,” Tracy-Potter said. “It’s a place where students can come and be listened to.”
Cecilia Lu ’16, who took “Macroeconomics” her freshman winter, said that she received a tutor without any difficulty or time lag, but she did not personally find it beneficial.
“I found that studying on my own, working with friends on the problem sets and asking the professor questions were more helpful that term, so I haven’t gotten a tutor since,” Lu said.
Kendall Ernst ’18 said that she did not request a tutor for “Microeconomics,” one of the high-demand classes, because she finds professor office hours and working with peers to be sufficient.
She said students in the course seek out tutors since the math component of the course can be challenging without prior experience.
Tracy-Potter said that Tutor Clearinghouse offers other options beyond one-on-one tutoring for those who are looking for academic assistance in their classes. These include study groups for many high demand courses and general subject study halls facilitated by students with experience in a certain department.
These study halls are currently only available to student athletes and students living in the River and East Wheelock residence halls. Tracy-Potter said that Tutor Clearinghouse is looking to expand the service to other students who may be interested.
