STEM Tutoring Centers: Practical Approaches to Success

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Leaders (left to right and top to bottom): Dabney Dixon (Georgia State University), Alan Craig (Georgia State University), Susan Carver (Cleveland State University), Kelli Wellborn (University of Texas at Dallas), and Justin Boone (Georgia Institute of Technology).

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Leaders (left to right and top to bottom): Dabney Dixon (Georgia State University), Alan Craig (Georgia State University), Susan Carver (Cleveland State University), Kelli Wellborn (University of Texas at Dallas), and Justin Boone (Georgia Institute of Technology).

Type of Project

Research and Implementation

Original Proposal

STEM tutoring is a key tool to help students succeed in their academic careers. Resources are available for student success centers including a rich literature and yearly conferences (e.g., the National College Learning Center Association, NCLCA, https://nclca.wildapricot.org/conference).

However, a tool kit for starting a new STEM tutoring center with minimal resources and efficient use of time is still very much needed. We propose to work together to provide resources in a central, readily accessible website for institutions who want to start a STEM tutoring program or increase the efficiency of their current efforts. This work will build on the resources of Alan Craig, a past president of NCLCA, who has gathered relevant references in a website, http://sites.pc.gsu.edu/acraig/ggc-presentation-872017/.

Much of our focus in STEM tutoring is on peer mentors. Peer mentoring is a key aspect of undergraduate education. The mentees improve in technical proficiency, receive encouragement, increase their social and academic confidence, develop study and communication skills, and make new friends. The mentors reinforce their knowledge of the subject, improve in leaderships skills, increase in confidence, and enlarge their circle of academic friends.

Proposed Deliverables

• · A "how-to" document outlining the steps to create a STEM tutoring center.
• · A compendium of strategies to build bridges between the academic and student success communities.
• · STEM-focused peer-mentor training strategies.
• · An analysis of metrics of mentoring cost-effectiveness.
• · Descriptions of successful publicity and marketing efforts.
• · A website to streamline dissemination of tutoring center data.

NSEC Centers Participating

Georgia State University

Dabney Dixon

Professor of Chemistry, Director of STEM Education Initiatives

ddixon@gsu.edu

Alan Craig

Professor of Mathematics, Perimeter College (retired),

acraig5@gsu.edu

Cleveland State University

Susan Carver

Director, Operation STEM & Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Programs

s.carver@csuohio.edu

University of Texas at Dallas

Kelli Wellborn

Manager of Peer Tutoring

kelli.wellborn@utdallas.edu

Georgia Institute of Technology

Justin Boone

Assistant Director, Tutoring & Peer Learning Programs

justin.boone@gatech.edu