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ABOUT
PEER TUTORING
Becoming a Peer Tutor
What is peer tutoring?
Peer Tutoring is students helping
other students with their coursework. The Dean of
Harvard College has delegated authority to the Bureau of
Study Counsel to oversee all such tutoring. About 9,000
hours of peer tutoring takes place each academic year.
Most tutoring is one-on-one, but occasionally Peer
Tutors also work with groups of students.
Why do students sign up for a Peer Tutor?
Students seek formal peer tutoring
from other students for many reasons: to review
material they already know; to refresh their mastery of
material they have forgotten; to prepare for a test,
exam, or presentation; or simply to get academic
assistance beyond the help provided by the course
faculty and teaching fellows.
Who
are the Peer Tutors?
The Peer Tutors include about
350-400 talented students each year, with varied
backgrounds and interests. Peer tutoring could be a
wonderful experience for you, if you:
-
have earned a B+ or better in
the subject(s) you want to tutor
-
are interested in helping other
students
-
would like to share your
enthusiasm for a particular subject
-
are sensitive to others'
difficulties with their coursework
(Note
that first-year students are not ordinarily eligible to
be Peer Tutors, although occasionally they may begin in
their second term.)
Students
with a variety of career goals find peer tutoring to be
a valuable experience. Students with career interests in
teaching or other helping professions appreciate the
opportunity for hands-on practice, and students with
other career interests appreciate the opportunity to
work and play with the concepts and materials of their
field. One of the unexpected benefits of becoming a
Peer Tutor can be the discovery that helping your peers
contributes so much to your own learning.
In which courses are Peer Tutors needed?
Most peer tutoring requests are in
the maths and sciences and in the large economics and
statistics courses. (See Most Frequently Requested
Courses below) Students who can tutor one or more of
these courses usually get regular work. But we receive
requests for Peer Tutors in over 190 different courses
each year, and we never know what request may come our
way next, so Peer Tutors are needed in every subject.
Most Frequently Requested Courses
for Peer Tutoring
| Chemistry 17 |
Math
1b |
| Chemistry 20 |
Math
21a |
| Chemistry 27 |
Math
21b |
|
Economics (Social Analysis 10) |
MCB
169 |
| Economics 1123 |
MCB
52 |
| Economics 1010a |
Physics 11 |
| Economics 1010b |
Physics 15 |
| Economics 1011a |
PS 1 |
| Life Sciences 1a
|
PS 2 |
|
Life Sciences 1b |
Sci A-47 |
|
Math 1a |
STATS 100 |
How
do I get assigned tutees?
Students come in to the Bureau and fill out a tutor
request form letting us know what sort of assistance
they are looking for. You’ll get an email or call from
us asking if you would like to take on the job. Once
you have agreed to take a job, we give you and the tutee
one another’s names and phone numbers and you take it
from there.
Who
schedules my sessions with my tutee?
It is up to you and your tutee to
determine where, when, and for how long you meet. You
can set a weekly time or meet on a per-session basis.
If your tutee needs to cancel an appointment, he/she is
required to notify you 24 hours in advance, or else you
have the right to charge for one missed hour. By
advance mutual agreement between you and your tutee, you
may also charge for one hour of preparation time for
each tutoring session.
How
much are Peer Tutors paid?
Peer
Tutors earn $14/hr. Peer Tutors in the Award
Peer Tutor Group (see below) are paid $16/hr and are
expected to attend a weekly group supervision
meeting.
What
if my tutee needs more help than I can provide?
One of the challenges of being a
Peer Tutor is knowing your own limits and also knowing
about the other wonderful resources available to your
tutees. As you and your tutee get to know one another,
it may become clear that your tutee needs help beyond
what you can provide — your tutee may need writing help
or instruction, English Language training, financial
assistance, or personal counseling. Your tutee might
also make requests that are beyond the scope of peer
tutoring. Your role then becomes to help your tutee
connect with the appropriate university resources. Your
fellow Peer Tutors and the staff at the Bureau of Study
Counsel will support you in this important role.
What if it’s not working out so well?
Whatever the reason, if the
tutoring is not working out, please let us know so we
can advise you and/or make a new tutor/tutee match. We
welcome your feedback on any aspect of your peer
tutoring experience.
Confidentiality.
Peer Tutoring is confidential, in keeping with
the Bureau’s confidentiality practices. For more
information about confidentiality, visit the
“About” page on the BSC
website or call the Bureau and speak with a counselor.
The
Two Peer Tutoring Programs
On-Call
Peer Tutors (OPTs)
By far the largest group of tutors
work on an “on-call” basis. There are no pre-requisites
beyond a good knowledge of the course content (exhibited
by a grade of B+ or better). On-call tutors are
required to attend a training session, preferably at the
beginning of the academic year. After that they can
accept as many or as few tutoring commitments as their
schedules allow. In addition, during the year, all
on-call tutors will be asked to attend a one-hour
discussion about tutoring with other tutors, facilitated
by a Bureau counselor.
Award
Peer Tutors (APTs)
APTs have an interest in the
process of teaching and learning. An eagerness to pass
on their area of academic specialty to others. They
commit to tutoring at least two students at all times
during the academic year and to attending weekly
meetings to discuss their work with each other and a
supervisor. APT candidates are ordinarily nominated by
faculty or have served previously as on-call tutors;
about 15 are selected each year. Applications are
accepted in spring and early summer.
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How To Be A Wonderful Peer
Tutor
Be responsive and responsible about
communications and meetings
Your tutee has reached
out for help. Answer emails or calls
promptly, so your tutee will get the
assistance they need in a timely way.
Most tutoring takes place at times of the
year when both you and your tutee are very
busy. Be clear and honest about your
limits, and let your tutee know about any
deadlines or constraints you might have so
you can plan ahead to have sufficient
meeting time.
Help your tutee be specific about what they
need
The more
comfortable your tutee is in expressing
their needs, the better you can help them.
Invite their suggestions and feedback about
how you can use your time together most
productively.
Respect
your tutee’s time
Be clear about meeting
time and places, and always be on time
for
appointments. Make sure you and your tutee
know how to reach one another between
meetings. If you need to cancel a meeting,
give your tutee ample notice. Remember,
while both of you are busy students with
your own deadlines and demands, your
tutoring/consulting meetings are an
important commitment for both of you.
Guide your tutee to additional resources as
necessary
Though you
are eager to be of help your tutee, you are
not expected to have all the answers.
Remember, there are many other wonderful
resources available on campus for help with
writing, coping with personal issues,
understanding the course materials, etc.
Part of being a Peer Tutor is being aware of
your own limits, knowing what other
resources are available on campus, and
helping your tutee connect with other
sources of support as needed.
Keep track of your sessions
Keep track of
the dates and length of your sessions as
they occur, so that you can accurately
report your hours to the Bureau. You may
bill your tutee for a missed appointment or
for an appointment cancelled without
24-hours notice. By mutual agreement, in
advance, you may also bill your tutee for up
to one hour of preparation time per meeting.
Don’t go it alone!
You have lots
of support available to you in your efforts
to be helpful to your tutee. Don’t hesitate
to speak with a member of the Bureau front
office or counseling staff about any issues
that come up for you in your relationship
with your tutee — whether practical matters
or teaching/learning issues or interpersonal
concerns. And join us for the Peer Tutor
meetings at the Bureau, where you can talk
things over with other Peer Tutors. |
How
Do I Apply?
On-Call Peer Tutoring (OPT)
To be eligible to become a tutor,
you must be a Harvard College undergraduate student and
have earned a B+ or higher in the course you wish to
tutor. Eligible Harvard College students will be
receiving an email in August 2008 with details of how to
apply to become a tutor. You may also click on the links
to our application form below:
OPT EMPLOYMENT Application Form PDF 2008-2009
OPT EMPLOYMENT Application
2008-2009.doc
Please call 617-495-2581 or e-mail
bsc@harvard.edu if you have any questions or to get more
information.
Award Peer Tutoring (APT)
Applications are accepted in late
spring and early summer for this special tutoring
group. In addition to submitting an application,
candidates may also be interviewed by Bureau staff.
Those selected for the groups are
notified during the summer. |
