What We Do and How We Do It

Tutoring is an engaging type of instruction and support in which a student learns from a more experienced person. In contrast with attending a class, where an instructor delivers material information and provides space for some practice or questions, tutoring is geared more to the individual student. At tutoring you can get specific help in a way that is best for you, by working with tutors and professionals to find approaches to solving your unique academic challenges.

To prepare for a tutoring session, you should identify what you want to work on.

• Do you need help with starting homework or solving difficult problems? Try to do as much as you can, and then work with a tutor who can help you the rest of the way.
• Do you need help understanding course material? Review your notes or other materials to identify what you understand, then work with a tutor to fill the remaining gaps.
• Not sure which kind of help you may need? Come talk to with a tutor or your professor/TAs to find the best starting point.

The best way to get tutoring is to simply show up!

• We are a student-centered, student-friendly tutoring center, as we seek to maximize the full academic potential of all NYU-Tandon undergraduate students.
• We provide quality tutoring by deploying active and student-engaged pedagogical practices that allow students to capitalize on their strengths and improve upon what they may not understand so well.
• Our tutoring method is built upon active learning.  To that end, we interact with our students employing a question-and-answer, back-and-forth style that is meant to provide students with a solid grounding in what they are learning and how they are learning it.
• We position ourselves as mentors to students, modeling and encouraging them to develop both help-seeking behaviors and mature learning strategies that they can deploy throughout their academic, professional, and personal lives.
• We position ourselves as an extension of and supplement to the primary instructional space (lectures and recitations) for the courses we support.

• Our tutoring method is designed to be student led, so it is important that our students be prepared to articulate their thoughts as they actively engage in the problem-solving process. Our tutors do not lecture or re-teach material. Rather, they are trained to help students pinpoint areas of confusion and guide them through the process of getting “unstuck.”
• We expect our students to have already attempted their homework or other assigned material and come with specific questions for the tutors.
• We encourage students to participate actively with the tutor in their tutoring session.