Tutela a guiding influence

Happy March! Though the semester is in full swing, many of you are just beginning to start tutoring. This has been an unusual semester in that requests have come in much slower than in past semesters while, at the same time, we have had record numbers of tutors ready to tutor. I have been working hard to make sure that each of you get assignments and am anticipating a jump in the number of requests received as we head into midterm season. We do have a number of "unusual" or single requests that I will post to the listserv periodically.

If you haven't done so already, please make sure that you have turned in your faculty approval form(s). These are very important for us to have on record. If you need additional forms, please pick them up at the office. When assignments are made, please make sure you pick up your folder in the NDIL office and take it with you. Periodically, we go through the tutor file drawers to check to make sure all tutors have received their notice of assignment and have picked up their folders.

Please remember that NDIL will compensate you for preparation time but the time is limited to a maximum of one hour per course and two hours per week -- regardless of how many courses are tutored unless prior approval has been obtained.

Don't forget to check out our new website (http://www.uiowa.edu/~ossp). We are anxious to get your feedback and suggestions. We have a number of events, workshops, and activities planned for the semester. Keep your eye on the tutor listserv and the calendar of events on our website for details.

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Greetings to all and here's hoping everyone had a great winter break! As you are receiving this month's edition of Tutela, many of you have already entered into your tutoring relationships. Assignments have been made, greetings offered, and sessions are proceeding (hopefully) with a flurry of activity in preparation for midterm. Thus, we here at Tutela feel it timely to offer some advice on picking up where you left off last semester.

Spring semester can be the most difficult semester to tackle with high energy, particularly when the momentum from last fall has begun to wane, and the snow seems as if it will never end. In addition to maintaining my post as Tutela's student editor, I have also begun graduate school. I am finding, firsthand, that keeping motivation high is the key to survival in spring. We'll all face new, exciting, and challenging experiences this spring, this year, and this millennium. So, start your spring on the right foot. Keep pressing ahead with the energy of a thousand years behind you. And most of all, set yourself up for a great semester. --CJ

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When you visit our office in 310 Calvin Hall this semester, you may have the opportunity to meet Support Services Programs' two newest staff members. In mid-February, Patricia Moreno and Terry Ishitani both became part of the SSP family.

After completing her Bachelor's degree in Sociology with a minor in Women's Studies at Iowa State, and later a Master's degree in Spanish Literature at the University of Iowa, Patricia Moreno came to realize her love for teaching and student services. Helping people get an education is of great importance for Patricia. As SSP's newest Academic Planning Counselor, she hopes to provide support to students and help them achieve their academic goals to make the college experience more successful. Patricia hopes that her tri-lingual abilities (English, Spanish, and Portuguese) and her multi-cultural awareness and sensitivity will aid her in providing guidance through the difficulties that face some first-generation college students and minorities. For those students who have not had the opportunities to acquaint themselves with the university culture, Patricia hopes to be a guiding influence in their lives.

Terry Ishitani joins us as NDIL's new Learning Coordinator/Counselor. A graduate of Florida State, Terry holds a M.S. in Counseling and is in the final stages of completing a Ph.D. in Higher Education. Though he has spent time in both career counseling and mental health counseling, Terry has found that his greatest interest lies with work in student affairs. He has spent time directing programs in academic counseling and career development at both Teikyo Westmar College in LeMars, IA, and Marycrest College in Davenport, IA. Since his arrival at the University of Iowa in 1996, Terry has been the teaching assistant for the College of Education's popular course "Making A Vocational-Educational Choice." This has helped him to develop an even greater interest in providing support, services, and counseling for students through Support Service Programs. Welcome, Terry and Patricia!

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In 1968, Dr. Phillip E. Jones came to the University of Iowa with a plan and a vision about improving academic opportunities for all students. Thirty-two years later, he serves as the Vice President for Student Services and Dean of Students. Dr. Jones has also been at the heart of founding such campus organizations as Support Service Programs, NDIL's parent office. First hired as an admissions counselor, Dr. Jones promoted minority enrollment. He soon came to realize that there were many talented students with the ability to succeed at the university, but who lacked opportunities in their background and preparation for university learning. Based on this philosophy, Jones wrote a grant proposal that eventually provided funding for Support Service Programs. Jones also believes there to be two necessary elements of student support, financial and academic/personal. While other offices deal with issues surrounding financial support, Support Service Programs focuses largely on academic and personal support. Students are given the opportunity to receive academic counseling, help with personal issues, and tutoring for classes. Jones stated, "Some of the best teaching happens in tutoring sessions." Each person, tutor and student, is constantly learning and bringing unique levels of expertise into the tutoring relationship. The tutor, expert in the subject matter, is honing his or her expertise in presenting those topics. The student, expert in what he or she specifically needs in order to learn, is perfecting the ability to ask questions and analyze subject matter. In Jones' view, this interpersonal interactive process is key to learning. Jones went on to detail a five-step plan to aid tutors in guiding students to success. The steps are as follows:

GOALS -- The tutor must set high expectations for the student. Also, the student must be made aware of and come to accept these expectations.

RESPECTFUL CHALLENGE -- A challenge to think should be issued. The tutor must strive constantly to eliminate any "notion of patronage" that may exist. The student must take the responsibility of self-respect. That is, by treating the student as an equal partner in learning, tutors can reasonably expect the students to take responsibility for their actions and study habits.

EFFORT -- In the words of Dr. Jones, the "learner must take the pain." He elaborated, saying that learning requires effort and sometimes the need to put forth the necessary effort may be quite difficult for some students to accept. The role of the tutor is to make the student aware of the effort required and remind them should they falter.

COMMITMENT -- Discipline and dedication are critical to becoming an effective learner. Jones suggested that tutors should remind their students of the basic formula for being successful in classes: two hours should be spent studying for each one hour in class. Tutoring sessions should not be thought of as one of the two necessary hours. Tutoring is for refining knowledge and understanding. The responsibility to prepare and attempt to learn still rests on the student.

SUCCESS -- The fifth and final level in Jones' formula for academic achievement is acknowledging the accomplishment. The student is well on his or her way to learning how to be an effective learner. "Success achieved," Jones stated, "is a promise of more."

While this may seem like an impossible task, Jones encouraged tutors not to lose hope. He advises that the tutor is not responsible for the actions of their students. The tutor is only responsible for his or her own behavior. It is essential for tutors to maintain honest communication with students. Perhaps one of the hardest tasks a tutor has is telling a student that their performance was not acceptable. Although sometimes the truth can be difficult to voice, it is essential for the learning process. In closing, Dr. Jones said, "I have a great admiration for the whole concept of tutoring. It is very, very difficult. I give great thanks and appreciation to those who want to be tutors."

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Though for many of us, tutoring is quickly becoming old hat, by no means should it become boring or stale. Many tutors will find themselves faced with the need to regain last semester's motivation while staring down this semester's challenges. Students may enter tutoring relationships with less than optimal motivation levels and weakly defined goals. Tutors may be helpful in guiding students to higher levels of motivation and more challenging goals, while at the same time, leading students to discover their own abilities and value the process of learning. Sound tough? We all know it is.

More often than not, some students are lacking more than motivation and adequate goals. Many of these students may not feel confident in the learning situation. This context-specific self-confidence is known in psychological literature as self-efficacy (Bandura, 1986). An efficacious learner is one who is very confident in his or her abilities to receive, understand, retain, and reiterate new information and concepts. A learner who lacks self-efficacy lacks confidence in one or all levels of the learning process. Unlike stable personality traits, self-efficacy is entirely situation-specific and is quite changeable.

Bandura (1986) suggested that feelings of self-efficacy are dependant almost entirely on four informational sources. They are:

• Past performance accomplishments,

• Vicarious experience,

• Verbal persuasion,

• Psychological interpretation of physiological arousal.

The first, past performance accomplishments, is perhaps the greatest contributor to self-efficacy. This is evidenced by the student whose confidence at the learning game increases greatly after one academic success. Clearly, in succeeding once, that student has learned something about his or her abilities. Hopefully this person will be able to continue on the path of achievement. Conversely, if a student has repeatedly failed at a task (e.g., reading, math, chemistry, etc.) that student will come to believe that he or she does not possess the abilities necessary to succeed. The tutor can attempt to provide tasks appropriate to the student's level of accomplishment. This will increase the opportunities for success thereby building self-efficacy.

Second, vicarious experiences can play a role in building self-efficacy. Bandura (1986) suggests that when individuals see others succeeding in a task, they "persuade themselves that if others can do it, they should be able to achieve at least some improvement in a performance" (p. 399). The tutor's successful experience in a course can demonstrate to the student that others have succeeded. Most, if not all, classes are possible to pass. The level of achievement depends upon the effort put forward by the learner. NDIL tutors have an advantage in tutoring specific classes. Each tutor has taken the class in the past. Therefore, tutors can also share their own experiences in particular classes, and help their students to realize they aren't facing an impossible task.

Third, self-efficacy is encouraged, to a lesser extent, by verbal persuasion. Although encouragement and persuasion are not as effective self-efficacy builders as actual experience, it is imperative that the tutor offer frequent positive reinforcement, new challenges, and encouragement for reaching those challenges. Without these small words of support, the learner may never feel encouraged enough to take the steps toward making an accomplishment. The tutor, however, must use words judiciously. Empty praise, positive reinforcement without cause, can be more damaging than a lack of reinforcement. Words of encouragement can also take the form of simply providing information for the student. Learners need to know when their effort is well directed and appropriate for the task at hand and when it is not.

The fourth and final source of information for self-efficacy, the interpretation of physiological arousal, is perhaps the weakest. If learners acknowledge the "butterflies in their stomachs" before a big exam as a sign that they are under-prepared or even stupid, self-efficacy can be damaged. If they interpret their nervousness in a more positive light, self-efficacy can be maintained or even enhanced.

By encouraging efficacy in their students, tutors can help them feel more in control of their studies and more competent in dealing with the academic environment. This will certainly aid in their future motivation to succeed. Deci and Ryan's (1985) Cognitive Evaluation Theory of motivation suggests that two types of motivation exist: extrinsic and intrinsic.

Extrinsic motivation occurs when the learner is motivated by sources other than the simple value of the task and can be either controlling or informational. For instance, extrinsic motivation (controlling) is displayed by a learner who pursues a college degree simply for greater employment opportunities. This learner may come to feel controlled by the pressure to augment his or her employment options. This form of motivation is the least effective in motivating the learner in the long run. The reward may eventually loose its luster and the learner must seek new motivators or quit learning.

Extrinsic motivation (informational) is evidenced by the tutor who informs his or her student when an approach to learning material is sufficient or not, or gently points out errors and encourages successes. Information like this can help the learner to gain control of the learning process. This heightened sense of control will eventually lead to intrinsic motivation: the motivation to continue learning for the pure value of the task. A sense of control and self-determination will lead the learner to greater intrinsic motivation and, eventually, greater achievement.

Admittedly, making the commitment to guide your students through the learning process, while at the same time maneuvering through your own courses, is neither simple nor trivial. It takes the hard work and dedication that each one of you value so much.

So, pick up your motivation and drive to succeed wherever it left off last semester and have a great spring!

Sources:

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.

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As anyone who has been in Iowa for a winter may know, March is not the most inspiring month on the calendar. In fact, when it seems there is no end to winter and Spring Break is still a week away, March can be downright dismal. This is not good when you have your own classes to think about and the responsibilities that come with tutoring students. So, here are some motivational suggestions to make tutoring a little more, ÉumÉ motivational.

• Develop a knowledge base. The more you know about your subject and about tutoring in general, the more fun the job will be. Tutela, your Tutor Tool Kit, and NDIL's website are all great references for tutors.

• Set realistic goals. This goes both for you and your students. If your goals are neither too high nor too low, learning will always be interesting and fun.

• Select the most supportive atmosphere. That is, find a place where you like to study and like to tutor. Optimally, the place should be relatively quiet yet allow you and your student to communicate comfortably.

• Associate with other tutors. Attend NDIL's great workshops. They are a fun place to meet your colleagues and talk about tutoring experiences.

• Build on your successes. Take time to pat yourself on the back every now and then. Remember that you are doing a good job and providing a great service.

• Set and keep a definite schedule for tutoring each week. It may help to reserve blocks of time that you plan to dedicate to preparing for sessions and tutoring your students.

• Focus on the positives. There will be setbacks and frustrations in tutoring. However, each one of these setbacks is often balanced by achievements and successes. Keep your eye on these positive experiences while dedicating your time and knowledge to minimizing the negative ones.

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1. How many errors are in each sentence?

a. "This sentance contanes one misteak."

b. "Their are three misteaks in this sentence."

2. The Missing Link: A farmer had six pieces of chain of five links each, which he wanted made into an endless piece of thirty links. If it costs eight cents to cut a link open and eighteen cents to weld it again, and if a new endless chain could be bought for a dollar and a half, how much would be saved by the cheapest method?

[Scroll down for the answers.]

Brainteaser Answers:

1. (a) 4 - 3 are spelling errors and 1 content error; (b) No answer is possible

2. 20 cents - Open up all five links of one piece, then use them for joining the remaining five pieces into an endless chain. This would cost $1.30, 20 cents cheaper than the cost of a new endless chain.

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Page last modified April, 2000. Site maintained by University of Iowa Office of Support Service Programs.  Copyright © 2000 The University of Iowa. Creation of OSSP site directed by Ray Mescallado.