How do you guarantee that your tutors will be effective at teaching the material?
We select based on rigorous criteria, and also offer extensive training.
We review transcripts and only hire students that have achieved straight-As, not just in the course they wish to tutor, but in all courses. Our tutors are all upper-year students who have demonstrated that they understand how to do well in challenging programs.
Once the grade threshold is met, we interview and hire based on a tutor's ability to communicate and teach. The tutors we hire then undergo a training process that teaches them how to work with students one-on-one to identify their barriers to success and overcome them.
We also continually solicit feedback from students to make sure our tutors are effective, and to fine-tune our approach.
Why not just attend Professor/TA office hours or visit the Math Help Centre?
We find that students who are doing reasonably well, or top students, will often make use of office hours to ask questions. However, many average students and most struggling students are too embarrassed to speak to a professor or TA for help. They feel that they will be taking up too much time, feel that they are too far behind, or are ashamed that their study habits might be the cause of their present difficulties.
Math Help Centres can be a very useful resource. However, students can find it difficult to get appointments when they need them (especially around midterm or exam periods), to book enough appointments to really make a difference, or to find effective help in higher-level courses.
We provide a non-judgmental environment where you can get extensive peer-to-peer help. Because of this structure, there is an element of role-modeling that we can incorporate, to help students overcome their challenges. We also help hard-working students who are disappointed to get average marks, to learn study skills that will make their study time more efficient.
Why not use free, voluntary peer-to-peer tutoring?
Fundamentally, we want to help students and create opportunities for tutors.
Just as the University must charge tuition to maintain world-class facilities and attract top professors, we believe that the for-profit model is necessary in order to attract and retain top talent and maintain a consistently high level of support for both tutors and students.
Top students are extremely busy. Many are not able to dedicate the time and focus it requires to be a great tutor on a voluntary basis, especially if they are also juggling extracurriculars and/or a part-time job. Some do voluntary tutoring, but can only offer one or two hours a week in total. Students can find it challenging to access these tutors as a result.
We offer a very competitive wage to our university tutors and give them full flexibility to set their own hours, to accommodate their course work and other commitments. We also invest in developing tutor training and resources, student resources, and a scheduling system that is easy for students and tutors to use.
How are you different from other on-campus tutoring companies?
Other tutoring companies might be more accurately described as "cram schools". The focus is on distilling the course information to bare essentials and teaching students this basic information so that they can get by in upcoming tests or exams. There is value to this approach but it is not as personalized or intensive as one-on-one sessions.
Of course, we also want to help you learn the material as efficiently and painlessly as possible. We also want to help you understand the unifying principles behind the concepts in your courses and help you develop stronger study habits through role modelling and coaching.
The work we do can help you do better in all of your courses!