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A few years ago, because of budget constraints and the tutoring volume, we went from an all appointment-based system for math tutoring to drop-in. At first I was very concerned and apprehensive about what we would be giving up. I was very surprised at what happened. The students coming in for tutoring became less dependent on the tutors because their time with the tutor was more valuable and there was less of it. Another twist, students began to come in and work with other students while waiting for the tutors to get to them. We were helping students create informal study groups so that they were becoming more independent of the tutors and more interdependent in seeking help from other students. We have continued to encourage this over the years. Students will often spend hours in the center working on their homework, socializing with friends and tutors and another phenomena is happening. Some of our instructors are also stopping by to see what their students are doing (volunteering time before and/or after class). The center bustles with positive learning energy at almost any time of the day. We may have 35 students working in our math center with only 3-5 tutors supporting them because most of them are working on their own or with other students or passing by instructors. When they need help they simply raise their hands. The tutors do not simply answer their question, but take the opportunity to help them at that exciting teaching moment. We have white boards lining the wall of the math center and it is not uncommon for a question to spur a student to the white board and a whole discussion led by the student and others pitching in their thoughts as to the solution with the tutor there as support as they work through the question raised. We also have some small rooms that students and instructors can reserve for study groups or review sessions and we find those being used more now too. As students enter we let them know that generally people sit from the lower level math to the higher level math in our open math center. We also have a separate room just for the developmental math we call our Math Lab. Students taking Arithmetic Review and Beginning Algebra are in there. Those in Intermediate Algebra have a choice whether to work in the math center or the math lab (most stay in the Math Lab) and those in College Algebra and above, have no choice--they need to be out in the math center. The math lab has a higher tutor-to-student ratio, manipulatives, less noise, less distractions, more personalized attention. Our Writing Center in the LSC is the only thing we still have for appointments--which works well for it. Everything else is now drop-in. I don't know if this will work in your situation John. I know you said walk-in, rather than drop-in, and you mentioned signs in the tutorial rooms which sounded different than a central area, so it may be very different than what I was describing. I just wanted to share how I was pleasantly surprised at how a change we dreaded but made, evolved into something great. We used to strive for it to be a quiet space, but now we enjoy the buzz of conversations and shared enthusiasm of students and tutors. Thanks. Rick Sheets http://www.pvc.maricopa.edu/lsc/ Cleveland, Prof. John P. wrote: > Hi all, > > I run a walk-in tutoring center, but I have been concerned about students who come for extended periods of time for tutoring help. I am also concerned about a problem student who stays for hours. While I do not currently have a time-limit policy, I do have posters in the tutorial rooms that say that the average tutoring session time is one hour, hoping that students will get the hint. Do any of you who have walk-in tutoring centers limit tutoring time? If so, how do you enforce the limit? > > Thanks, > > John Cleveland > > John P. Cleveland, M.T.S., M.A. > Director, Tutoring Center > Center for Academic Excellence > & Adjunct Instructor of Philosophy > Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies > Pace University > 41 Park Row, Room 204 > New York, NY 10038 > 212-346-1407 > 212-346-1520 (fax) > [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> > www.pace.edu/tutoring<http://www.pace.edu/tutoring> > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > To access the LRNASST-L archives or User Guide, or to change your > subscription options (including subscribe/unsubscribe), point your web browser to > http://www.lists.ufl.edu/archives/lrnasst-l.html > > To contact the LRNASST-L owner, email [log in to unmask] > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To access the LRNASST-L archives or User Guide, or to change your subscription options (including subscribe/unsubscribe), point your web browser to http://www.lists.ufl.edu/archives/lrnasst-l.html To contact the LRNASST-L owner, email [log in to unmask]