FLY Tutoring Services

Students enrolled in the FLY Program are eligible to receive weekly recurring appointments in the Writing Center and 1-on-1 tutoring for much of their course work, including Math and Statistics. Both services are exclusively offered to students in the FLY program. A list of courses for which 1-on-1 tutoring is provided can be found on the Supported Courses web page. 

For courses not listed on the Supported Courses page, FLY students are encouraged to request tutoring using the Tutoring Request form in Navigate.

The Learning Commons utilizes a peer-to-peer tutoring model. The peer-to-peer model is a distinct approach to tutoring. In peer tutoring, students act as academic guides to other students. The peer in peer tutor refers to the fact that peer tutors are at a similar level of educational achievement as the students with whom they are working. Peer tutors are generally a little bit further along in their studies than the students being tutored, but it's a key part of the model that they're participating in the same curriculum. Peer tutors were recently at the same point in the learning process that the students receiving tutoring are currently, and because of this they are able to act as mentors, providing insight based on their own hard-won experience on how to succeed and excel in a course. Peer tutors may well be excellent students, but the most important qualification to be a peer tutor isn't one's grades or mastery of the material. It is rather one's ability to empathize with learners, communicate well, ask questions that help students arrive at answers themselves, and offer support for students in their own path toward mastery.

From the perspective of a student being tutored, the most important thing that a peer tutor provides is not answers, or instruction, but mentorship. Tutors are role models. The tutor is the kind of student that the student can reasonably aspire to be, with some hard work and attention to their own habits as a student. Excellent peer tutors are relatable, so that students using tutoring can see aspects of themselves and their own journey in their tutors. They are open about their struggles as students, so that learners are able to internalize that it's okay to struggle. They facilitate critical thinking and model the strategies that they've applied to ultimately overcome these struggles, and to be successful students.

Every student, at every college and university, has more than enough access to PhDs talking at them. Peer tutors provide something different. Imagine the journey toward a degree, or toward acquisition of a concept, as a climb up a steep mountain. The peer tutor, isn't the sage at the top of the mountain who lives in the clouds, breathing the rarified air of mastery. A peer tutor is the climber just up the trail, once in the location that the student is now, and is now able to offer advice based on recent experience: Mind that rock! Careful where the trail splits! Watch for that loose handhold! A peer tutor provides a hand up, using experience to help fellow climbers continue climbing.

Adapted from: Sanford, D. R. (2021). The Rowman & Littlefield Guide for Peer tutors. Rowman & Littlefield.

The Learning Commons strives to foster independence, as a result tutors engage students in active learning to personalize instruction and facilitate insights into the student’s learning process. To that end…

The Tutor Can…

1. Help students develop their own strategies for learning course content.
2. Help students develop self-confidence and raise self-concept as a student.
3. Help reduce anxiety or fear relating to academic work. 
4. Provide a student perspective on learning and school success.
5. Help students relate learning to personal experiences (helps learn more and retain longer).
6. Help students improve their learning strategies to promote independence and empowerment.
7. Offer study skill suggestions (time management, note taking skills, organization, etc.). 
8. Help students understand assignment expectations.
9. Develop strong communication skills (listening and questioning).
10. Offer tools and resources to assist.
11. Involve students in the learning process through questions, discussions, problem solving, etc. 
12. Help students discover answer(s).

The Tutor Can NOT...

1. Replace Faculty members as content experts. (However, Tutors have been successful in the courses they tutor, and they are highly trained in the subjects they tutor.)
2. Help someone who won’t work.
3. Intervene in the student’s relationship with the instructor. 
4. Help students with exams, tests, or quizzes of any kind.
5. Do a student's homework for them. (However, they can develop and explore the assignment through similar problems and examples).
6. Guarantee a student's work is error free or guarantee a higher grade. (All student work is the student's responsibility.) 
7. Be available outside of their regular tutoring times.
8. Teach material students may have missed in class. (Tutoring is not a makeup event for classroom instruction).
9. Assist a student with personal problems.
10. Cannot help with emotional needs or any mental health related issues/concerns. 

Adapted from: University of Tennessee Chattanooga Student Support Services; Central Washington University Tutoring Methods Handbook

The Student will…

1. Always check in & out at the front desk with your student ID to ensure a record of your attendance.
2. Be on time to appointments.
3. Come prepared — Tutoring Sessions are not Study Hall.  Complete the readings, and bringing all necessary materials to the tutoring session with homework done or attempted (textbooks, notes, PowerPoint slides, syllabus, laptop, assignment descriptions and/or rubrics).
4. Create specific, realistic outcomes to be accomplished in the tutoring session.
5. Be motivated to do well and accomplish goals.
6. Ask questions & remain receptive to constructive criticism.
7. Notify The Learning Commons staff of absences, tardiness, or changes at least two (2) hours before scheduled session.

Adapted from: The Academic Services Center, High Point University, Training Manual.

The Learning Commons provides 1-on-1 tutoring for the following: all WRIT courses, most BG Perspective courses, and MATH courses through Calculus II. A full list of courses supported can be found on the Learning Commons Website.

Please Note: This list is as exhaustive as we can make it, but it is subject to revision as university course offerings change. This should be used as a guide only. If you have specific questions about the availability of tutoring, please contact a Learning Commons staff member.

FLY students are encouraged to fill out the Tutoring Request Form in Navigate for any course, at any time during the semester, if a course is not included on this list.

Enrolled in a Course not Supported

If a course is not listed on the Supported Courses website, tutoring may be available. However, the tutoring will likely not be 1-on-1, and the support may not be course specific—meaning that tutoring may be delivered in a drop-in lab or in a study group. Moreover, the tutor may not have taken the specific class but is majoring in the field or a closely related field. For example, a Math Tutor helping with the statistics portion of a project for a psychology course, or a Writing Consultant who is a Literature major but may not have taken the literature course being tutored.

Regardless, FLY students are encouraged to complete the Tutoring Request Form in Navigate for any course.

Enrolled in a 3000 or 4000-level Course

We will strive to meet the student's need but cannot promise 1-on-1 tutoring for upper level (3000 and 4000 level) courses. Many upper-level courses are focused on content that is too specific, have limited enrollment, or are taken too close to graduation to allow us to find qualified tutors (e.g., BIOL-4720 Ichthyology). Students enrolled in upper-level courses are encouraged to attend drop-in tutoring.  

However, FLY students are encouraged to complete the Tutoring Request Form in Navigate for any course.

Please note: The availability of tutoring for upper-level courses varies each semester depending upon the enrollment of our current tutors. For example, one semester we may have a Senior who has taken BIOL-4720. However, when that student graduates, we will no longer be able to support the course. 

FLY students wishing to receive 1-on-1 tutoring for a course or subject area listed on the Supported Courses webpage, should request tutoring using their student account in Navigate. 

If students have difficulty requesting tutoring or have questions or concerns about requesting tutoring, students should speak to their Learning Specialist.

Students in the FLY Program are offered personalized access to the tutoring services. However, that access can be modified or revoked if the student does not follow applicable procedures and policies.

The Learning Commons Services are governed by the following policies:

No Show Policy

Students are expected to attend tutoring appointments. Students are required to notify The Learning Commons at least two (2) hours in advance if they are unable to attend, wish to cancel, or reschedule an appointment. If the Learning Commons is not notified at least two (2) hours prior to the start of the appointment, it will count as a No Show.

After two (2) No Shows the following will occur:

Writing: The recurring one-on-one appointment will be cancelled. Students are welcome to schedule single appointments as needed. Students are welcome to use the Online Writing Submission process.

Math: The recurring one-on-one appointment will be cancelled. Students are welcome to use the tutoring services, but they must attend drop-in tutoring in The Math & Stats Lab.

Course-based: The recurring one-on-one appointment will be cancelled. Students are still welcome to use the tutoring services, but they must attend drop-in sessions for their course.

Reinstatement of one-on-one recurring appointments is possible only if the student speaks to their Learning Specialist. However, a third No Show will result in the permanent cancellation of the recurring appointment.

Because No Shows result from varied circumstances, revocation and reinstatement will be made at the discretion of the Learning Commons staff. 

Harassment

Any conflict with or harassment of Learning Commons tutors or any disruption of Learning Commons services may result in revocation of all tutoring services for a period specified by the Learning Commons staff. All students are governed by the BGSU Student Code of Conduct, and reports of harassment, hazing, or other behavior that limits others ability to full access of educational services will be handled according to University policy.

Academic Honesty

All services provided by the Learning Commons are governed by the BGSU Academic Honesty Policy. Students using the tutoring services of The Learning Commons are responsible for knowing if they are permitted to seek assistance for a specific course or for a specific project. It is the student’s responsibility to understand the Academic Honesty Policy as well as the course policies established by their professors for a given course or assignment. 

Tutors will not help students complete exams, quizzes, and other graded knowledge checks or tests.