By: Pierry Parmera
The Algonquin Peer Tutoring program is set to be available online in the near future in order to open the program to more students, especially to off campus learners.
Student Support Services manager, Jeff Agate, hopes that online access will solve the problem of availability of some tutors which is known to be a big problem.
“The limitation for peer tutoring is that students have to come to campus; not all of them can do that,” said Agate.
Agate also addressed the issue of the availability of the tutors, saying that he would like to it make easier for students to get tutors in every program and courses because that is simply not the case presently.
“There are 70 tutors available for students in need this semester so far,” he said.
Despite a few issues, Agate and the other program coordinators have been largely satisfied with the direction that the program is taking.
“If students keep coming back, it’s because it is helpful,” said program coordinator Louise Legault.
The success of the program is determined by the reported improvement of the tutees. Many of them do much better in their quizzes and tests because of the benefits the one-on-one learning.
“I am tutoring 20 students,” said peer tutor Dhruven Patel, 24. “And they all come back and thank me because their marks improve after my lessons.”
Natalia Potera, 18, a pre-nursing student and one of Patel’s tutees, entered the program a few months ago because she was struggling with math, now completes four to five hours of lessons every week with her tutor.
“It was difficult for me to find the right tutor at first,” she said. “But once I did, there was improvement.”
Her personal success in the program has urged Potera to recommend the program to other students in need of extra academic help from a tutor.
“It’s fun and it’s a great way to meet new people,” Potera said.