Bellwether Online Tutoring Presentation 2012: It is all in how you say i

It’s All in How You Say It!

“Your face is so ugly it could stop a clock!”

“When I look at you, times stands still.”

In the world of online teaching, it’s all in how we say

it; therefore, being able to decipher what a student really means,

understanding his needs, and encouraging him with our words

become valuable tools in helping him reach his goals.

Presentation Purpose

This presentation focuses on situations that may arise between

students and online tutors. Although presented in a light-hearted

manner, the topic is serious, for a teacher’s reactions and words

can result in a student’s success or failure. Actual submissions

to the Houston Community College online tutoring service by

students and tutors’ responses are presented. Spellings and

grammar usage has remained the same. Names have been

changed to protect the guilty. There are many slides, but they are

short and do not have notes, for they are self explanatory.

Now, with all that being said, let’s begin.

A special bond needs to be formed between the tutor and the student.

This is not as easy as it is sitting down with a student. There are specific

issues that online tutors, who do not have the same dynamics as face-

to-face (f-2-f) tutors, must think about. A student who is face-to-face with

a tutor can read the tutor’s body language and facial expressions. She

realizes that the tutor is interested helping her improve his knowledge

and work.

An understanding voice and gentle smile tell a student that this tutor is

willing and ready to help solve problems.

Online Tutoring Considerations

Communication

Boundaries

Over-dependence

Unreasonable Expectations

Limited English Proficiency

Building Rapport

Communication

The questions and responses tutors post online must be carefully

formulated, and this takes a lot of practice. In an online environment,

students do not always write back when they do not understand, which

makes it difficult to measure the student’s progress.

Facing the Challenges

Unreasonable Expectations: At what point does the paper pass from being the student’s work to the tutor’s?

Building Rapport: In an online environment, it may be difficult to establish rapport with students because there are no cultural markers or visual cues for online tutors.

Communication: Despite these challenges, there are many ways for tutors to show students that they care. By acknowledging what the students wrote, by praising something impressive, and by asking questions, tutors send the message that they value their

students as human beings.

When a student is online, he can only judge a tutor’s reaction to his paper by

the words used. Therefore, if the words are short and curt, the student will

imagine the reaction as.

this, or this,or even worse, this.

Justgive up.

Be careful not to make the mistake of thinking the online student can

read your mind. All he has to go by is the words on the screen. He

already thinks that his work is probably inadequate, and some find it

hard to admit the work is below standards, let alone ask for help.

Therefore, as an online tutor, you must be very careful to let that

student know that not only is he capable of succeeding in meeting

the assignment goals, but also that you are ready and eager to help.

Be aware of the (1) lack of visual feedback, (2) communication

delays, (3) requirement of mastery of technological tools, (4)

additional work that is required with written communication, and (5)

often incomplete information about assignments.

Now, we have email and texting, and with them are new unwritten

standards of relaxed spelling and grammar rules. By accepting these new

unwritten rules as permanent , we tutors will save ourselves a lot of

frustration and aggravation. The only thing left to do is to learn how to

decipher not only the spelling of online requests but also their hidden

meanings.

Here is some examples of submissions that we received from students.

Note the use of the “new” unwritten rules.

“This is a paper" [ Reply ] Sent by student at July 20, 2006 8:01:15 AM

yo, hows my essay. i hope u can read it.

Translation: I am anxious to see what you think, but I am a little nervous.

“My Paper" [ Reply ] Sent by student at Sept 15, 2006 8:04:27 AM

nothing

Translation: I want help, but I don’t even know what I need.

Not only must you, as the online tutor, be careful of how you

give advice, but you must also be able to decipher what the

student is requesting and why he “asks” the way he does.

Occasionally, you may find some requests offensive. These

types of situations require assertiveness and self-direction

on the part of the tutor.

Let’s take a look of how you, as the

tutor, could respond to this student.

“If I were you, I would conference with your instructor and

start all over.”

(Such advice may be meant as an earnest effort to

re-focus the student. However, this may serve as a

message to the student that he is totally lost and has no

chance at succeeding in reaching the assignment goals.)

The student hears, “How should I know? I cannot make sense of this.”

“I see that you have some really good ideas that you want to relay to

the reader but are having difficulty with the formatting of your paper. I

am sending you an attachment that will help you understand better

how the format of an argumentative essay should be. Once you have

completed your second draft, please re-submit your paper. I am

looking forward to seeing improvements in your paper.”

Instead, help the student minimize learning gaps.

Establishing Boundaries

While it is important to remember that tutors cannot assume the

role of instructor, it is also necessary for tutors to define their own

boundaries in the tutoring environment so that the students are

aware of the boundaries. It is only natural for students to get as

much help as possible so that their grades are high. Therefore, it is

up to the tutor or the tutor supervisor to decide when “enough is

enough.”

“My Paper" [ Reply ] Sent by student at Oct 25, 2006 9:04:27 PM

just fix this caz i can’t

Translation: I am just not smart enough to do this.

“My Paper" [ Reply ] Sent by student at Nov 7, 2007 8:29:27 PM

I want u 2 fix my papr. Thanx in advance

Translation: I have tried and tried, but I don’t know what to do to

make this correct. I feel that your doing it for me is the only option

I have left.

Do not be fooled, for this is not the laziest student you have ever

seen, nor should you be caught up in feeling sorry for his

desperation. Be aware that this is a student who is crying out for

help and who needs guidance.

“As a tutor, I am not allowed to format, construct, edit, or

grade your paper. You must do that yourself.”

The student hears, “You are on your own. There is nothing I can do.”

Instead, establish boundaries.

The student’s attitude has been changed from frustration and fear to

being pleased the tutor thinks that he has good ideas and has made

a good beginning. By setting boundaries and letting the student know

that he is very capable of being a successful writer, the tutoring can

begin with rapport and mutual respect.

Re: group research paper [ Reply ]

Sent by andrea.brown at Dec 9, 2007 7:16:40 PM

We were told to write a scientific paper, and my part is

the Materials and methods of the experiment in the past

tense. Can you check if I followed the assignment? I ran

out of connection terms and sentences to make my part flow !

can u help me?

Dear Student, I have read and commented on the grammar and

organization of your paper. To see my comments, select WEB LAYOUT

from the VIEW menu in Word. Check back later to get comments from a

biology tutor about the content. I'm afraid that I can't help you with that.

The English Tutor

Do not be afraid to let the student know your boundaries.

At HCC, a science paper is tutored by a science tutor for content and an

English tutor for format and grammar.

Tutors should remember they are not to do the work for students.

Instead, tutors should encourage students to attempt to work

through problems after the tutor has tutored a paper and given

guides that will help the student in locating similar errors. The

following slides are examples of what a student will do when

allowed to depend too much on a tutor.

Notice the dates of submission on the

slides that follow.

Student Over-dependence and Unreasonable Expectations

First Submission

Unconditional Love [ Reply ] Sent by student at Dec 24, 2007 5:27:33 PM

Hi. I am supposed to write an essay on the short story I read. I have to discuss the patterns of development and a literary element.

Can you please help me make my essay better? Thank You.

Download attachment: E:\ENG 2\RD#2.doc

Second Submission

Unconditional Love [ Reply ] Sent by student at Dec 25, 2007 12:03:13 AM

Hi can you please help me make my essay better Thank You



Hi I have made some more changes to my paper can you please help me make it better?

Thank You Download attachment E:\ENG 2\RD#2.doc

Third Submission


Hi there I have made the changes that were pointed out to me

Can you please check for any other mistakes?

Thank You


Fourth Submission


Hi I have made the changes Thank You


Fifth Submission


Hi I have made some more changes to my paper can you please help me make it better?

Thank You


Sixth Submission

Because of the many students that we serve and the number of

tutors there are, some students “sneak” through the lines as first

time submitters. However, we have found that doing more than

two tutoring sessions is not beneficial to the student’s progress.

math [ Reply ] Sent by student at Dec 17, 2007 2:54:03 PM

x = y2 + 6 and y = x2 + 6. Please I want to know whether this is a function or not.

Read on to see the tutor’s answer.

No matter what the question, the student can be guided toward success.

Re: math [ Reply ] Sent by tutor at Dec 17, 2007 3:01:23 PM

If an equation can be solved for y so that there is only one solution, then y is a function of x, otherwise y is not a function of x. In the first case, you need to isolate the y^2 term and then apply the square root property in order to solve for y: x - 6 = y^2 +/- sqrt(x - 6) = y

When you apply the square root property, you get two answers: plus and minus. Therefore, this is not a function of x.

In the second case, the equation is already solved for y. Thus, you don't need to do anything to it. This is a function of x.

Try again now.

Read on to see how thoroughness can give a student confidence to work on his on.

math [ Reply ] Sent by student at Dec 17, 2007 3:30:05 PM

I can do it!

physics II [ Reply ] Sent by eddyeb at Dec 9, 2007 1:01:07 PM

I'm asked to find the drift speed of the conduction electrons. I'm given: one free electron per atom, J= 6.5*10^-8, n=m/M, M of Al=26.98, density=2.7. Solution manual shows that n=NA/(M/density) and that Vd=J/ne. How?

Here’s another example of a student’s frustration.

Re: physics II [ Reply ] Sent by yiyan.bai at Dec 9, 2007 7:17:08 PM

1) Let's look at the information given one free electron per atom current density J = I/A = nqVd = 6.5*10^-8 n = m/M m is the mass, M is molecular weight mass density = m/volume = 2.7

by the solution manual: n = NA/(M/density) below we try to prove the above:

compare n=m/M given and n = NA/(M/density) which asks to prove: n = NA * density/M we just need to prove: m = NA*density density = m/vol NA * density = NA * m/vol vol = length N * area of cross section A NA *m /vol = m so you have n = NA/(M/density)

Here’s another example of a tutor’s patience and encouragement.

2) prove Vd = J/ne Suppose a cross section of A carries current I, then J is the current density J = I/A current I = n *e* Vd *A n is the number of electrons per unit volume e is the charge of one electron = 1.6*10^-19 C Vd is the drift velocity A is the cross section here Vd = delta X / delta t Vd * A = delta X * A /t = delta Volume /t n * e = total charge of electrons current definition is in a time interval of delta t the total charge/over a cross section so I = n *e* Vd *A is correct

divide A from both sides:

I/A = J = neVd finally we have :Vd = J/ne

At what point does the paper pass from being the student’s work to the tutors’?

tutored

tutored

tutored

tutored

mine mine

tutored

Where did my ideas go?

tutored

When the student’s essay has changed to reflect the tutor’s ideas

instead of his own and/or the paper contains vocabulary that

reflects the tutor’s words, the student has ceased to be the author

of the paper. When a math paper contains answers but the steps

needed to work the problem are not completed by the student, the

paper has ceased to be the student’s work. Students often request

that the tutor edit, fix, or change whatever needs changing so that

their papers will make a good grade. Upon returning a student’s

work, the tutor should explain that such expectations will not be

met. It is important that the tutor emphasizes that the tutor is a

guide and not a grader.

Students with Limited English Proficiency

A student’s background may affect how he communicates,

including the use of appropriate and inappropriate vocabulary and

diction. Online tutors may find it difficult to decide if students do not

understand the content or they have a language barrier. When

tutoring such papers, remember that such students are unusually

sensitive to the way you respond.

argumentative essay [ Reply ] Sent by student at Aug 2, 2007 4:120:36 AM

I’m not so good. please help me with my language of english grammar. Thank you a head of time.

Download attachment: E:\essay.rft

A student sends in his request.

Translation: I know I have problems. I am glad that there is someone to help me improve.

“This paper has such serious grammar errors that I just can’t help you. I

suggest you tell your instructor that you have serious problems with

English grammar or get help from a live tutor.”

By simply pointing out the serious grammar errors, the student is

made to feel that there is a “mountain” that just can’t be climbed.

He is already struggling, so there is no need to harp on it.

“Your first draft shows that you understand the required format of an

essay. Your thesis statement focuses the reader and your topic

sentences reflect the main ideas of each paragraph. I did notice that

your main grammar error is with verb tense. I have indicated some of

these errors. After correcting the ones that I indicated, use your new

knowledge to located and correct similar errors.

I am looking forward to seeing your second draft.

Thank you for using the HCC online tutoring service.”

By focusing on what the student has done correctly first, his sense

of accomplishment will give him the encouragement to begin

“attacking” his grammar problems.

With so many grammar errors, it is hard to understand

what you are trying to say.

The student hears, “This is disgusting. No one could understand

this. I may as well give up”

I made some grammar notes. Please go through the rest of your essay

to see if there are any more occurrences. Having a friend who is a native

English speaker proof read your essay will help catch some of the minor

grammar issues that are present.

Instead, let the student know there is a light at the end of the tunnel

and that you are ready and willing to assist in his success.

Building Rapport

In an online environment, it may be difficult to establish rapport

with students because there are no cultural markers or visual

cues for online tutors.

Despite this challenge, there are many ways for tutors to show

students that they care. By acknowledging what the students

wrote, by praising something impressive, and by asking

questions, tutors send the message that they value their

students as human beings.

Here are some examples.

Example 2 (English): There were some nice ideas to build off of in the essay. You will want to go back and take a look at your word choice, word form, and general sentence structure. This will help with the clarity of your paragraphs. With some revisions, your essay will be on track. I hope that you continue using this service during the semester.

Example 3 (English) : You have made a very good start with a strong thesis statement and strong topic sentences, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Your quotes from the text also provide strong support. Were you to follow MLA standards when citing these quotes? If so, please go to the site indicated in the MLA information bubble to find some examples of in-text citing. Please read the information in the bubbles carefully so you will have a strong to guide to locate and correct similar errors.

Example 1 (Psychology): Your case study is very interesting, and you have done a good job in describing your friend Mario. I have provided several suggestions for enhancements in an attachment to your report. I will now forward the report to an English tutor who will check for presentation.

If you need further assistance, feel free to contact Askonline. Best wishes.

Example 4 (Psychology): Dear Student--The report is a good one, but still needs some work. I have provided some suggestions in the attachment. The paper will be forwarded to an English tutor for review of grammar and presentation. Please feel free to contact ASKonline if further assistance is needed.

Example 5 (Math) : Your formulas are strong and show you well understand what the problem-solving technique requires. Always review your calculations before moving on to the next step.

Example 6 (Psychology): Your assignment indicates that you are to choose one topic per section of exam material. While the submitted report is a good one, are you supposed to turn in others as well? I wanted to be sure you were aware of this. My suggestions about the submitted report are in the attachment. I will now turn the report over to an English tutor. Please feel free to contact Askonline if you need further assistance. Best wishes.

If a tutor keeps all these thoughts in mind, the student will

go from this.

Critical Essay [ Reply ] Sent by at Nov 14, 2007 11:03:11 AM

Is my grammar fine? Is my essay well-written? In this essay we were supposed to compared two characters. the essay should be thoughtful, focused and firmly rooted in a close reading of the text. Is my work cited well-written?

Thanks The Student

Download attachment: F:\College Crap\English 1302\essay2.doc

To this

SOCI 1301 [ Reply ]

Sent by one pleased student at Nov 13, 2007 9:14:05 PM

wow.

Thank You so much.

I clearly understand my mistakes now.

Thanks

TutorStudent

Success is sweet for everybody!

#1

Education

Bellwether Online Tutoring Presentation 2012: It is all in how you say i