Ep. 17 - Why and How to Get Tutoring

Welcome to Episode 16 of the CSUSB Advising Podcast! Fall semester is in full swing! Is it too early to start considering tutoring? Definitely, not! How do you get help through the Tutoring Center? Find out here! 

In this episode, we have:

• David Reyes - Testing Coordinator, Tutoring Center

Follow us on social media:

• Instagram & Tik Tok - @csusbadvising
• Facebook - CSUSB Advising and Academic Services
• Twitter - @csusb_advising

Subscribe to the CSUSB Advising Podcast on Apple, Spotify, and more!

Follow us on social media:

Instagram - @csusbadvising
Tik Tok - @csusbadvising
YouTube - @csusbadvising

https://csusbadvising.buzzsprout.com/

Transcript

Star Wildes  
Hi and welcome to the CSUSB Advising Podcast. Join us as we bring you the latest advising updates at Cal State University of San Bernardino. Each episode is specifically made for you the CSUSB student and parents, we provide you with advising tips, interviews with both CSUSB campus resources and those in academic advising. Sit back and enjoy. Go Yoties. Hi everyone and welcome to our second episode for this term. We are so excited as we have a special guest. My name is Star Wilees from advising and academic services, and here with me, I have my special guest, and I'm going to let him introduce himself. David Reyes, Hi, David. How you doing?

David Reyes  
Hi, Star. This is David Reyes. Star has pointed out, and I'm the tutorial program coordinator here at California State University San Bernardino, I've been the tutorial coordinator for 20 years now, so I feel I like to think I know a little something about tutoring.

Star Wildes  
That's awesome. Just a little bit, right?

David Reyes  
I learned, I picked up some knowledge along the way. 

Star Wildes  
And David, I know that somewhere. I don't know if I mentioned this the last time you joined us, because I know that we recorded with you before, but I have known you since I was 18 years old, and that's been a long time. But if you can see David, but he does not age, so thank you again, David. We've known each other for a very long time, and I'm truly honored and humbled to interview to you today to provide this information to students.

David Reyes  
Yeah, thank you, sir. And always take compliments about how youthful I look, but yeah, it's been nice. I think that student energy that you get here working on a campus environment that kind of feeds that the youthfulness and within somebody such as myself and yourself too. You look great after all these years as well. I remember you as a student, but yeah, so I'm excited to be able to talk about tutorial and tutoring with your listeners.

Star Wildes  
That is awesome, and thank you so much in advance for our listeners. So let's go ahead and get started. So here are some of the questions that some students may be asking. So what is tutoring and who has access to your tutoring services?

David Reyes  
Well, tutoring is academic assistance for from peer tutors or students who have taken the classes themselves and they've done really well, and they want to share their knowledge by helping others in the with the course content, and they they can share tips and tricks on how a certain professor thinks that they've taken that professor in the subject that you're taking the tutoring in, or the you know, they will provide you with study skills, tips and assistance and things that help them be successful within the class. So it's not just course content, but it's about giving you a whole experience as to what it's like to think as a successful student, what a successful student does to be successful, and not to say that someone coming in isn't successful, but sometimes we all need a little boost too, or something to trigger that initiate that sense of like being able to study and learn in a way that works for you. And sometimes it's a different perspective that a tutor can provide. So that you can do that in terms of who can access tutoring that's going to be students who are California, state, I shouldn't say the CSUSB, thank you, students who are registered currently in this semester for the course that they want tutoring in. So you have to be registered in that course to get the tutoring for that course, because sometimes we do get students who are CSUSB students, but they're also taking a class at RCC, Riverside Community College, and they want math help for a math class at RCC. Unfortunately, our tutors are only authorized to tutor the courses here at Cal State San Bena, because that's what they've taken. That's what they've taken, that's what they've been approved for, and that's why they have math tutors at RCC who in this are in the same boat where they're approved to do their set of courses over there. So and unfortunately, that's why we can't help with that. On this end, we have to stick to what our resources allow, which are courses for our students here.

Star Wildes  
Absolutely. And thank you so much for sharing that, David, that David, that totally makes sense. So tutoring offer for students who attend here, and also for courses that are are to be taken here. So for students who are taking online courses, because I know we have 30% of our online courses, you know, being held virtual so fully online are are students able to utilize tutoring remotely, especially during this time, because I know we're returning to campus, or we've returned to campus, being that this is the first week for students who are taking online courses, are they able to still have this service provided to them?

David Reyes  
That's a great question. And yes, we will continue with online tutoring. You know, the pandemic was such a horrible thing that, you know, as it's not done, but during the height of it, we were all forced to change and switch up the way we provide our services and tutoring included. And you know, we learned to provide excellent online tutoring. So we're going to continue that because, you know, we're still going through some issues here, as well as in person tutoring, but the most important thing is that online tutoring is available, and it's also an access issue of equity, and so our students have the ability to make tutoring appointments on weekends and some nighttime hours. And the nice thing that's coming about this as well as we can now service our Palm Desert campus as well. And those students, if we have a tutor in a course that they're taking over there, they're more than welcome to schedule a session with our tutors here at San Benito campus. 

Star Wildes  
Thank you so much for sharing that I know that there's a variety of courses the subjects that's offered that you offer, as far as your office offers for tutoring. Can you name some of those subjects? And it doesn't have to be all of them, or where the students can find the information.

David Reyes  
Certainly, primarily we are tutoring accounting and then most of the major sciences, biology, anatomy, included Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, and then a lot on majority of the math courses we're covering as well. So if you're if you're stuck in some math courses, take a look and see, look at our schedule to see if we have that available. And then a new one for us. Well, we started in spring, but coming back this fall is nursing, and we've actually expanded the number of courses we're doing in nursing as well.

Star Wildes  
That is so awesome to hear David and shout out to all the nursing students as you know you have tutoring available to you. So David, I know that you know we talked a little bit about this before, during our live but you know, want to make sure that stdudents hear it directly from you, who coordinates all the tutoring services. Why should students attend tutoring? I know you mentioned a little bit before, but can you elaborate on why students should attend tutoring or receive tutoring from your office?

David Reyes  
Well, firstly, with like any resource on our campus, most of them are funded by the students tuition. So if you're paying for something, use it. You know. You know. And it's a there's so many things that you may not be aware of. So ask questions while you're out there and find out what's available to you. Don't just sit back passively and hope that things you find out about things. It's a shame when a student is in their third or fourth year and they're like, I didn't know I can get tutoring, or I didn't know tutoring, or I didn't know I can go get supplemental instruction or any kind of assistance. And there's such a wide variety of assistants on our campus. But also, more than that, is tutoring is to help clarify course content. And so if you're stuck and you're confused, and it's not that you're dumb, you know, some students just feel like I'm dumb, I don't understand the material. It's not that until it's not that. Maybe it's not being explained to you in a way that you can comprehend, or that's easy for you to digest, but a tutor can help break that down for you, potentially, because they know what it is that might be confusing, because they've sat through these classes as well, and they know some of these instructors, and you know, we want to make sure that they understand, that the student the tutors, are patient, and that there's no on our end, there's no dumb question, because students are always worried about, am I going to ask a dumb question? And it can't be dumb if it's you don't know what you don't know, which is, a colleague of mine likes to say a lot, and it's true like so if you come in and you don't know how to articulate what it is, your question is, that's why the tutor is there. The tutor is there to try to kind of investigate, interrogate you a little bit, not like in a law and order kind of way, but just interrogate to see what it is you know, what you don't know, work with you and what you do know, and get you up to speed with what you don't know, and then it's also, I think, an important way to meet new people. And that's another thing about our campus environment, is that a lot of students come to campus and they don't make attempts to try to meet anybody. But part of the most fun thing about especially now that we're on campus, is to socialize and meet new people, and whether that be tutors that you're seeing or fellow students who come in for tutoring. In the past, we had a drop in environment, and it was this big, large, friendly environment where people can interact. But unfortunately, right now, during through our circumstances, it is all appointment based where it's going to be one on one with a tutor, so you won't really get to interact with other people coming in for tutoring, but when we do open back up fully, it's this one cordial, congenial environment where we try to encourage people. There's no judgment, it's a safe space, and we just have a good time learning.

Star Wildes  
Absolutely, David and your tutors are truly amazing. I mean, when every time I go over, they greet. You. They're, they're amazing, super friendly, and please know that this resource is, again, it's out there for you. You, you've already paid for it, right? As David has mentioned. But I also wanted to share this David with you that I did have a student that met with me, and because the student went to tutoring, there was one year you were hiring, and the student shared with me that they are, there's a tutor. So, you know, shout out to David and the team. You know, this student needed help with a certain subject, and then, when there was an opening, applied and now gave back, you know, as a tutor, help the student. So kudos to you and your team. So David, the next question is, if can you share what students have found to be helpful during tutoring and what to expect? Again, I know that you have a lot of students and even tutors, right? Because I know we had an a live session where you were able to bring in your tutors to share their experience with students. But can you share what you have found that students shared with you that is helpful during the tutoring and what is expected?

David Reyes  
Sure, well, students find it helpful, basically, to speak to someone who can empathize with them and who understands where they're coming from, and they understand the struggle of the class, or how to take notes, or anything like that. So that's one of the main key points of why face to face tutoring, whether it be online or in person, is important for students who come in, but our tutors are not more than just academic support, but they're also emotional support for our students. So it's not like we're therapists or anything, and we won't counsel you on what to do, and we won't fix relationships, but your tutor can be a great cheerleader for you, and they will always encourage you to tackle a problem, to try to help you understand a problem. And that's the thing. Our tutors are trained not to just give up on you just because they showed you one way and you didn't understand it. We try to approach a problem from multiple ways, whether you and also depending on your learning style. So if you're a visual learner, they'll show you lots of things on paper or on a board. If you're, you know, a tactile learner, they're going to have you write things, and they'll walk you through those steps. And there's different things. They'll find out those things about you and what, how, the how you like to learn. So it's important that you come in consistently to tutoring when you need help. Because, you know, unfortunately, a lot of our students try to come in right before our midterm or final, and they expect miracles to happen, where you're going to absorb all this information that you didn't go to class for for the past eight weeks or something before your midterm. And unfortunately, the tutors can only do so much, but one of the keys of tutoring is if you come consistently, you build a good relationship with Tutor. They get to know you your learning style, and it's proven statistically, the more visits students make, whether to supplemental instruction or tutoring, the better they tend to do in their classes, because you accumulate that knowledge as you come in each time.

Star Wildes  
Absolutely and thank you so much for sharing that David and sharing the experience From students. David, I've had this a couple of times from a student. Now, let's say the student reviews the schedule for tutoring. And if there were a subject or course that tutoring is not available, what can a student do? Or what advice would you give the student?

David Reyes  
Well, as much as I wish we could have a tutor for every course. It's not feasible, whether it's through resources, lack of resources, or financial so we have to focus on classes which have high failure rates or non pass rates on our campus, and that's typically what you'll see on our schedule, or those are the classes with those kind of high as we call them, D, F, W, I, rates and students who aren't passing them, but if you are in a course that we're not offering tutoring, tutoring for, there are some options. Supplemental Instruction is one. And, you know, I don't know if your students can look into that, because I can't. I don't want to give a whole summary on that, but supplementary, supplemental instruction is basically like a study session after your class or before your class, where a tutor, or as they call them, a supplemental instruction leader, will cover the material from your course because they sat in in your exact course, and now they can cover that material with you. And a lot of the courses that we don't offer Supplemental Instruction sometimes, such as in political science or history, and they do have some sections that they cover. Another option would be to go see your professors in office hours, and that's what their office hours are for many professors. I talked a lot of them, and they're like, I sit there, but nobody comes to see me, and they seem like sad little kitties waiting for somebody to come in. But you know, and some instructors can be intimidating, but when you speak to them one on one, they seem they're like the friendliest people, and you would have never known that if, if you didn't go speak to them, and that's what their office hours are for. Again, that's another resource that you're if you're not using, you're wasting. Your instructors are a resource. And then. Lastly, I would say, if you we if you can't find a tutor, is to form a study group with your classmates. So if you can just again and another way to meet people, maybe you can make new friends out of that as well. And I don't know if your listeners out there are aware, but one of the main reasons students don't continue on with their education is because of that socialization process. They feel isolated, they feel lonely, and they don't know why they're here at the school, so then they just kind of give up or drop out. And that's a that's a huge part of that student experience. So if they can form a study group, you're going to kind of make some friends out of it. 

Star Wildes  
Yeah, absolutely. David and I truly agree. You know, meeting with students, especially coming from virtual and then coming back onto campus. You know, it's been over a year. So David and I truly encourage you. I know Matt is not here during this session. Shout out to Matt, but I just we all encourage you. Please ask, and if you don't know who to ask, you know, reach out to us on our social media platforms reach out to David and his team. We will help guide you the best way we can. But also David mentioned the Supplemental Instruction information. So if you want to look more into that, you could always email s i So S, as in Sam I, as in irene@csusb.edu to find out more information. And as David had mentioned, there may be other subjects that they are offering the supplemental instruction for that may not be offered in tutoring, but also reaching out to your professors. It's very important, forming that study group, as David had mentioned. So David, we are coming to the conclusion of our interview here with you, but I wanted to ask we know that you, your team. You and your team have an amazing social media handle and social media posts that you have. So if a student would like to contact your office or have questions about tutoring, how they can, how can they contact your office? And also, may I ask if you can share your social media outlet?

David Reyes  
Of course, we love getting followers on our Instagram. It's primarily the way we can communicate with our students. But firstly, I'd like to say, if you want to look at the tutoring schedule that's on our website, very simple, csusb.edu, forward slash tutoring. And you can, if you scroll down to the bottom of our page, you'll see the all the subjects that we're offering for the each current semester, and then even on our Instagram highlights, we will post the schedules for each of the subject areas that we're offering. So you can go to CSUSB tutoring. So at CSUSB tutoring on Instagram, and you'll see the highlights, you'll see posts, and you can look through there and see videos from our tutors that they've shot previously to welcome you to tutoring, so you get a sense of what their personalities might be like. They're not intimidating. They want to help you. And so I think that's one of the things that we encounter as students. After they we break the ice with them, and they open up, they tell us, well, I wasn't sure what to expect, so I didn't I was nervous coming in, and that's understandable, but you've got to take that leap for us to be able to help you. So come on in and just know that we'll be friendly, and we'll try to treat you as as right as possible. But, you know, and we try, we try to have fun, you know, under normal circumstances, like I said, it's this big old group, and it becomes like family in the in the tutoring center. But right now, unfortunately, it's going to be one on one, so you'll hopefully make a good relationship with a tutor that you see, and you come consistently, and we're happy to help you and that you'll do well by the end of the semester.

Star Wildes  
So awesome. David And again, thank you so so much for the time that you took out of your schedule to come and join us for our CSUSB advising podcast. We truly appreciate the information you shared, not only with our listeners. Shout out to parents who's listening to this in our community. Thank you again, David, and we hope that you enjoy the information we're providing you from Matt and I and our advising team here. Thank you again, David, and please make sure that you do follow subscribe to our CSUSB advising social media. We are on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, and now our podcast, platforms and again, thank you so much for joining us. Have an amazing time. Take care.