Tutoring

Reading & Writing Center Logo.The Reading & Writing Center provides a variety of tutors to assist students in reading, writing, and oral communication.

Professional:
  • Drawn from our adjunct faculty
Peer:
  • Students who have successfully completed English, reading, or speech classes, or who have special computer skills
Faculty:
  • Full-time faculty who assist in the College Reading & Writing Center as tutors

Students should remember that tutoring supplements but is never a substitute for classroom instruction. Tutors do not proofread or edit papers. Instead, tutors guide students through assignments, providing general explanations and reviewing the procedures that underlie successful work.

Tutoring schedules for Faculty, Professional, and Peer Tutors are posted in the Center.

Primary Goal

The primary goal of  a Tutor is to promote independent learning .

CR&WC Tutors offer encouragement as they provide additional assistance with pre-identified problems determined by instructors through diagnostic grammar tests, essays, and so on.

Guiding students through additional writing and grammar exercises geared toward specific areas of deficiency, tutors clarify the writing process for students, directing them through the completion of their drafts if extra help is needed for the introduction, body, or conclusion but not usually for the entire paper.

The Tutees need not make an appointment for tutoring, as they are served in their order of arrival. If possible, when a student comes for tutoring, he or she should bring instructor-provided information which identifies the problems to be specifically addressed during the tutoring session. These items could include (but are not limited to):

  • graded grammar tests
  • diagnostic tests
  • essays
  • paragraphs

Also, the Center strongly recommends that the instructor fill out a "CR&WC Referral Form" to be handed to the tutor when the student comes to the CR&WC. Depending upon the topic of study, each tutoring session generally lasts for ten to twenty minutes. Because of time demands on CR&WC tutors, tutoring sessions must often be limited.

Tutor Job Descriptions and Qualifications

Faculty Tutors: Faculty tutors are full-time English, reading, and speech instructors who spend some of their office time in the CR&WC making their expertise available to all CSTCC students. While faculty tutors' scheduled tutoring times are posted in the Center, students should realize that other commitments sometimes interfere with faculty members' CR&WC tutoring times. When Faculty Tutors are not working with tutees, they will engage in their own projects and preparations.

Professional Tutors: The primary goal of the Professional Tutor is to promote independence in learning. Using research-based strategies and professional expertise, the Professional Tutor personalizes instruction in order to facilitate student insights into learning and learning processes.

Peer (Student) Tutors: The primary goal of the Peer Tutor is to promote independence in learning. Using research-based strategies, the Peer Tutor personalizes instruction in order to facilitate tutee insights into learning and learning processes. Additionally, the Peer Tutor provides a student perspective on learning and success at Chattanooga State while respecting the individual differences (cultural, physical, etc.) in learners.

General Responsibilities

  • Peer Tutors assist in providing the instructional services offered by the Writing Center.
  • While individualized or small-group tutoring is the Peer Tutor's primary focus, he/she assists with campus-wide writing workshops, classroom presentations, and computer software.
  • Peer Tutors perform some clerical duties (e.g. filing, answering the telephone) and maintain supplies for designated areas.
  • Peer Tutors write (when appropriate) and compile material to be used in campus-wide workshops.
  • Peer Tutors schedule tutoring appointments and keep accurate records of student attendance and progress using appropriate forms provided by the Writing Center.
  • Peer Tutors will be in the Writing Center at their designated hours. Activities during tutoring hours will be limited to those activities included in the Peer Tutor job description.
  • Peer Tutors must fill out time cards daily.
  • Peer tutors should monitor the lab continuously, reminding other students (when necessary) of the following:
    • No open food or drinks
    • No active cell phones
    • No children
    • The necessity of signing in and out (and providing all information requested on sign-in form)
      • Additionally, peer tutors should
    • Keep chairs pushed in
    • Walk around frequently to see who's on which site
    • Be visible-not just “camped out” at a computer
    • Position themselves throughout the CR&WC, wear their name tags, and keep “Tutor” signs nearby
    • Fill out time cards daily.

Tutoring Sessions

What a tutor SHOULD do

  • help students find the best tutor to work one-on-one to meet their needs;
  • create and maintain a respectful, supportive and constructive environment;
  • listen to students' concerns about their writing, reading, and studying;
  • ask students questions about the project or academic subject they are working on to clarify the instructor's assignment,
  • help students learn to identify what is important in a text, what should be learned, and what strategies might help students learn;
  • help students at any stage of the writing process: getting started, developing ideas, organizing, and revising;
  • help students focus on the most important aspects of their writing assignments (such as purpose, audience, thesis, development, analysis, etc.), as well as help them identify sentence level errors;
  • provide strategies for improving students' understanding, study techniques, and writing skills, now, and in the future;
  • admit when the tutor doesn't have the answers, but work hard to help students find answers.

What a tutor SHOULD NOT do

  • edit or proofread your papers for student. That is, tutors do not correct mistakes or sentence level errors.
  • read the material for students and summarize it,
  • outline or prepare notes of students materials or texts,
  • compose sentences or drafts for students,
  • decide on students' topics or subject matter,
  • "feed" students answers or do all the talking,
  • criticize student work,
  • answer for instructors or discuss strengths and weaknesses of instructors,
  • discuss grades or take responsibility for grades.

A Typical Tutoring Session Goes Something Like This . . .

  1. At the front desk someone will greet the student and have the student sign in.
  2. This person will then introduce the student  to the tutor.
  3. The student and tutor will find a space to talk about the student's reading assignments and / or writing project and to determine the student's goals for the session.
  4. The student and tutor will work together to achieve those goals.
  5. At the conclusion of the session, the tutor will send a report to the instructor about the consultation. Most consultations last between 20 and 60 minutes.

Employment Requirements for Peer Tutors

  1. Eligible students must have already completed at least one college level English class.
  2. Peer Tutors must have an average of at least a “B” in all English courses attempted.
  3. Peer Tutors must register for ENGL1000 and complete the course.
  4. Peer Tutors must be interested in writing.
  5. Peer Tutors must receive an acceptable evaluation in order to be considered for future employment in the Writing Center.

    Availability of tutoring positions varies by semester. Those interested should check with the CR&WC Coordinator about possibilities.