November 24, 2020
Getting the Most Out of a Tutoring Session
by Sophia Mavrogiannis, Director of Academic Support
Academic Support at SUNY Empire provides free online and in-person services and resources, including learning coaches, peer coaches, and TutorMe, 24/7 on-demand, live tutoring in more than 300 subjects.
Review our five tips to help you get the most of out of your session.
- Don’t wait until the last minute to get help. Make an appointment with a coach/tutor early in the term to begin working through challenging material and assignments. Don’t wait until one or two days before an exam or right before a paper is due to ask for assistance.
- Keep up with classwork and homework. Tutoring is a supplemental resource – an opportunity to get some extra, one-on-one help. It's not intended to replace primary course instruction. Keeping up with classwork, homework, and readings will give you a foundation for talking about material with your coach/tutor. If you want to work on a specific assignment with a coach/tutor, first try completing it on your own so that your session can focus on the parts you found most challenging.
- Come ready with specific questions or concepts to work on. Make a list of questions or course concepts for which you need help. Be specific and narrow down your list so that you and your coach/tutor can focus on one or two things. Saying, “I don’t understand how to graph inequalities” is an example of a focused topic versus saying, “I don’t understand anything about graphing.”
- Bring your course material and assignment with you. Coming to a tutoring session with your assignment and materials will help the coach/tutor understand the context of your questions and the task at hand. We can help you more when we know exactly what your instructor assigned.
- Hold realistic expectations. Learning new material takes time, so be patient with yourself. A tutoring session is one hour, so consider what can reasonably be accomplished in that time. A coach/tutor helps by listening, asking questions, and modeling tips or strategies, but they won’t complete assignments for you or evaluate your work for a grade.
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