Students seeking help at one of the seven campus living-learning centers at The University of Memphis are not the only ones whose lives can be changed. Just ask Robin Yow.
“I love that I can help students who think that they will never figure out solutions to their academic problems,” said Yow, a senior education major.
This summer, Yow has been a tutor at the Academic Enhancement Center in Mitchell Hall. She helps students primarily in developmental math, geography and Spanish.
Yow uses group interaction and team problem solving by grouping students according to the problems they’re having in a specific course.
“When they come for tutoring, students do not work in isolation,” Yow said. “They learn the college way of working together.”
Dr. Barbara Bekis, coordinator of the Educational Support Program, agreed. She said freshmen especially should seek help from Yow and other tutors early in their college careers.
“Freshmen have a tendency to do what worked in high school, until they find out their way is not effective,” Bekis said. “When they realize this, then they’ll seek help to learn to do it the college way.”
Bekis warned incoming freshmen of thinking their classes are easy.
“What I tell new students at orientation is if you start the semester and think a class is really easy, come see me because you may be missing something,” Bekis said.
Bekis said everyone can benefit from the free academic help for students provided by the ESP.
Although the program is used most by freshmen and seniors, students of all levels use the program’s services. Some 9,272 students received help from July 1, 2004 to May 1, 2005.
The ESP includes seven learning centers that offer free tutoring for specific courses, individual tutoring for students who need personal help, seminars and workshops, supplemental instruction and tutor training for students who want to become tutors.
Last year, more freshmen used the ESP’s services than ever. Bekis said she credits the 12.4 percent increase in freshmen using the services to the HOPE Scholarship, which requires students to maintain a minimum GPA. Bekis also said she still sees the same problems each year as new students struggle to adjust to college life.
“Students new to college suddenly have all this free time they are not used to,” Bekis said. “They expect to get all they need during three hours a week of class time, but they soon find out that more is required outside of class to do well.”
Micah Austria, a freshman chemistry major who has been a tutor for two semesters, said he sees the importance of helping new students quickly adapt to the greater freedoms of college life after a more structured high school routine.
Austria, who mostly tutors chemistry and lower division math, said his job sometimes involves teaching basic study habits to less-confident students.
“They know what to do,” Austria said. “They just basically need someone to stand beside them and nod like a bobble-head.”
Bekis said she wishes the ESP could be successful for all students who come to one of the learning centers. She pointed out, however, that many students try to seek answers rather than guidance. She warned students not to expect tutors to give them the answers to their assignments.
“It’s the student’s responsibility to learn the material, not the tutor’s,” Bekis said. “If a student waits until right before an exam to ask for help, there is usually little that the tutors can do to help.”
Bekis also reminded students that it is never too early to ask for help. Students should ask for assistance as soon as they think they need it.
“If they do not wait until it is too late in the semester, students who regularly take advantage of the learning enhancement centers see a noticeable improvement in their grades,” Bekis said. “The learning centers see the greatest increase in the number of students who are in search of academic help right after many undergraduates take their first exam for the semester.”
Bekis said that it would be beneficial for new students to attend one of the many seminars the ESP offers in the fall. Each covers a different topic, such as strategies for learning, reading, effective planning and time management.
“The fall seminars we offer are meant to help new students become familiar with some of the more simple learning and studying strategies,” Bekis said.
Whether a student prefers to attend seminars or seek help from one of the seven learning centers on campus, the ESP can assist the people who seek help, Bekis said.
Many of the ESP’s tutors insist they have gained just as much as the students they help.
Yow, the education major, said that becoming a tutor changed the direction of her life. Although she has dreamed of becoming a teacher, her experience with ESP changed her teaching philosophy.
“Let’s put it this way,” she said. “When I graduate, I don’t want to teach. I want to tutor.”
