Student Mentorship 和 Support

by 卡罗莱纳·利斯克26岁，布局编辑器 多边形

Many 学生 may find themselves in need of extra support or resources when preparing for a large exam. 然而, it can be challenging to adequately prepare for an exam while also trying to tackle other things such as sports games, 或者家庭作业. To address this challenge, the 同侪学术辅导 (PAC) group is introducing curated workshops to mentor 学生 studying for large exams or writing papers.

The 同侪学术辅导 group is a separate peer tutoring group where leaders actively coach members of the Poly community in their studies. I am one of the two leaders of the PAC group. 艾娃·巴比埃，26岁 和 I work alongside Learning Support Specialists 莎拉债券 和 房利美桑塔纳 to implement our resources into the life of 学生 at Poly.

“We wanted to create a program to empower student leaders 和 provide them with skills to be more effective tutors.”

莎拉债券

Creating a Focused Structure That Benefits Student Results

After the COVID-19 p和emic, Bond 和 Santana worked with 以利亚Sivin, director of service learning, to create this extension of service learning. 邦德说, “We wanted to create a program to empower student leaders 和 provide them with skills to be more effective tutors. In addition, we wanted to find a way for 学生 to earn service hours.”

As a result of Bond 和 Santana’s original ideas, each Peer Academic Coach engages in a series of training sessions broken down into separate milestones to ensure that they have the right skills to lead their tutoring sessions effectively. 分别, each coach also goes through a rigorous interview process in order to be a part of the group. 

I know what you’re thinking: “Isn’t that just peer tutoring?  然而, the PAC system was created to help groups of 学生 in a more structured way. The program introduces curated workshops with tutors that have specific strengths in that subject area, 和 are able to plan out a mini lesson.

整个秋天, tutors held drop-in sessions where 学生 could go to receive assistance with any class. 虽然这是个很好的想法, several Peer Academic Coaches were unable to sufficiently prepare for each session, 和 学生 did not really know what to expect. 为期中考试做准备, tutors held numerous workshops to help 学生 adequately prepare for testing on topics ranging from study techniques to deep dives into specific topics. Tutors offered one to two workshops each day, beginning directly after winter break, with each including a curated plan on how to tackle different topics. The workshops had one PAC leader to teach the lesson, 和 then two to three additional coaches to help out. After learning the workshop’s study technique or reviewing the lesson, 学生 broke off into small groups in order to practice 和 apply what they learned. The PAC team believes that this program will not only help support 学生 in their studies, but it can also encourage other 学生 to step up 和 help their friends 和 classmates when preparing for an exam. 另外, it can help point 学生 in the right direction when it comes to planning out their study methods 和 studying all the necessary material for an exam. 

Specific Topic Sessions 和 Curated Workshops Hit the Mark

 After surveying the turn-out of drop-in sessions throughout the first semester, Barbiere 和 I worked with Bond 和 Santana to adjust the program to replicate the midterm preparation format. Bond realized that “学生 were more likely to attend a session addressing a specific topic or skill rather than attending drop-in sessions.” The new organization will include carefully curated workshops for each major assessment on the exam schedule across all grades. Bond also proposed that the teachers attend some of the meetings in order to make the sessions more meaningful to the student body. She added that “we will be consulting with teachers, 学生, 和 the testing calendar to inform future sessions.” 

Our team of 21 peer coaches will continue to meet to foster workshops where we break down confusing material using different explanations so the sessions can accommodate all types of 学生. 

The workshops will be held two to three times a week beginning the week of March 4. Each session will be during either a free period or a flex block in the first classroom of the 校友 Building in order to accommodate many different 学生. 二年级学生 玛吉·科克伦，26岁 说, “I am super excited about this new extension of the PAC program, I think it will really help the student body!”

注意: This article was originally published in 多边形的 2024年3月 问题.