Tutoring Guidelines
Dr. Rebecca Forrest
University of Houston, Department of Physics
Learning Center Rules

Be on time.
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Swipe in/out with your UH ID card.
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Wear your ID on your lanyard while on duty.
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If you’ll be late, or are ill, find a substitue and email Jennifer ChinDavis.
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Make sure doors are locked if you are last to leave.
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Keep the room clean.
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Get supplies from the Physics office: paper, markers …
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Let Dr. Forrest and Jennifer Chin-Davis know of any problems.
University Policies
Students with Disabilities
Provide appropriate accommodations for your student. These
may involve moving equipment, rearranging the room
furniture, or modifying an activity. Applies to lecture halls,
labs, Learning Center, and your office.
Student Privacy Rights:
• It is a violation of student privacy rights to allow students to see the
grades of other students or to discuss their grades in the presence
of other students.
• FERPA (Family Education Rights Privacy Act): You may not
share information about a student with their parents, siblings,
spouse or children. This includes grades, attendance, and even
class enrollment. If you are asked for this info and the individual
will not take NO for an answer, refer them to your course instructor.
Academic Dishonesty
1. Confiscate any evidence of suspected violations of
academic honesty and report it to the course instructor.
Do not return the confiscated work to the student(s).
2. Let the Instructor know, they’ll deal with it.
3. Do NOT deal with the incident in front of the entire class.
4. If a student(s) is/are cheating on a quiz or exam, issue a
reprimand. If the behavior continues, move the student to
another seat and report the incident to the instructor.
Physics Learning Center
Policies
E-mail Etiquette
Use polite, professional language
Copy Faculty member on all emails sent to students,
rforrest@uh.edu
Respond within 24 hours
Do not forward responses from instructors to students when you
have asked for assistance. Reword the response and send the message
in a new e-mail.
When e-mailing more than one student, put the addresses in the
blind-carbon copy box.
Conflict of Interest
•Maintain student-teacher distance and professional appearance.
•Do NOT date the undergraduates you are teaching.
Medical Emergencies
1.
Call 911 from your cell phone.
2.
Have another student call 713-743-3333 (campus
police) to alert them to the situation.
3.
Send a student to find a faculty or staff member.
i.e. Fleming 115.
Fire Drills
(or maybe not a drill)
• Evacuate the classroom
• Be sure all your students are accounted for.
Disruptive Behavior
 Refusal to comply with direction
 Behavior that distracts the class
 Loud, distracting or erratic behavior
 Overt hostility, defiance, insults
 Verbal or physical threats to self or others
 Sexually explicit language or behavior
 Physical intimidation
Dealing With Disruptive Behavior
 If student is dangerous, call 911.
 If not, promptly address student privately and calmly
◦ If disruptive behavior continues, allow both parties to calm down
and speak again, after a “pause”
◦ Do not let the student get the best of your emotions
 If serious, Refer incident to your supervisor
• Document the situation: witness or other students’ statements, any
supporting documentation, description of behavior, direct quotes.
For Mental Health Consultation
 Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
 All currently enrolled students, UH staff, and faculty are eligible for
services
• Crisis intervention, Consultation, Referrals
 Student Service Center 1, 2nd floor
 (713) 743-5454
 http://www.caps.uh.edu/
Tutoring Guidelines
Basic Tutoring Guidelines
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Your job is to help students understand physics and learn
how to solve physics problems for themselves.
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The role of the tutor is not to give students answers, but to
help the students learn to find answers. Tutors, of course,
do answer some questions directly, but in doing so, they
model appropriate thinking and language for the particular
subject.

http://www.viterbo.edu/uploadedFiles/services/learncenter/TutorTrainingManual.pdf,
accessed 8/29/2013
Basic Tutoring Guidelines
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Respect your students.
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Respect yourself.
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When students repeatedly ask simple questions, remember that the
only stupid question is the one that was not asked.
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Patience. Patience. Patience.
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If you do not know the answer, ask another tutor, lab director,
supervisor, or instructor; remember that the only stupid question is the
one that was not asked.

Respect diversity: ethnic, cultural, gender, gender preference, religious,
etc.
http://frank.mtsu.edu/%7Esmcdanie/ACA_3000F/TutorTrainingHandbook.htm#Basic%20Tutoring%20Guideli
nes, accessed 8/2012.
Tutoring Do’s
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Be Honest: Don’t hesitate to say that you do not know about a
particular concept. Trying to bluff your way through will only hurt the
student and your reputation in the long run.
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Show Enthusiasm: If the tutor does not display a love for the subject
they are tutoring, how can they expect the student to enjoy it? Come to
the lab with a positive attitude that will rub off on the students.

Be Prepared: Make sure you are familiar with the textbooks and the
computer software that is available to students. This may take some
time while you are not on the clock.
http://frank.mtsu.edu/%7Esmcdanie/ACA_3000F/TutorTrainingHandbook.htm#Basic%20Tutoring%20Guideli
nes, accessed 8/2012.
Tutoring Do’s

Listen: The tutor should develop good listening skills so that they will
better understand students’ misconceptions and errors. Don’t interrupt
them.

Ask Good Questions: The tutor should ask the student questions in
order to evaluate a students understanding (more later).
 The student should do most of the talking!
 The student should do most of the writing!

Encourage independence: You do not want the student to rely on you
at all times. Let them know that they must put forth an effort to benefit
from tutoring. Show them where in the book to find answers.

Have Good personal hygiene: If you smoke, you may want to use a
breath mint. Use deodorant.
Tutoring Do’s
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Be Mobile: Walk around. You should move quietly about the room at
least 4 times during a 1 hour lab session. This helps the students get
easier access to the tutor.
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Introduce yourself and wear a name tag.
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Provide encouragement: ”Well done!”
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Do allow for periods of silence, “think time”. Don’t feel like you have to
interrupt a moment of silence by talking. Allow the student time to
think and reflect. Use this time to think about the problem yourself!
Tutoring Do Not’s
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Do not think of yourself as the dispenser of all truth and knowledge. Try
to relate to your students as equals.
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Do not judge someone's ability or intellect based on appearance or
age.
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Do not use the tutoring lab as your personal dating service. This could
do more than just hurt the students' grades; it could jeopardize your
future.

Do not let one student monopolize all of your time. Remember that
you are trying to enable students to be independent thinkers. This
can't be done if they use you as a crutch the entire time.
Tutoring Do Not’s
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Do not introduce fancy ways you learned in your upper level classes to
help the students solve their problems. Stick as close as you can to the
way the instructor did it.

Do not just sit in the chair staring out the window or at a computer
when there are students in the lab. This discourages students from
asking you questions.
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Do not do the students' assignments for them. Help them with the key
concepts, help them to do it themselves.
 The student should be doing the writing.
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Anger and harassment have no place in the tutoring environment.
Do Ask & Lead,
Don’t Answer & Lecture
Asking Good Questions
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First, you need to find out what the student already knows.
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Second, instead of telling the student how to do the problem, try to
lead them to find the answer themselves. This won’t always work, but
it is your goal.
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For both of these, you need to ask good, guiding questions.

"Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I
understand.”
http://www.viterbo.edu/uploadedFiles/services/learncenter/TutorTrainingManual.pdf, accessed 8/29/2013
Tutoring Strategy

Sometimes a student has a specific question or problem.
 “I got parts A and B of this problem right, but I don’t know how to
solve the equations in part C.”
 If you believe the student understands the basic physics concepts,
you can just help them with their specific issue.

Sometimes a student is confused and their question or problem is
vague.
 “I don’t understand how to do this problem.”
 You need to determine what concepts they understand, and lead
them through the rest with good questions.
Physics Problem Solving
Interview Questions

Understand the Problem
 What kind of problem is this?
 Can you restate the problem?
 What are you solving for?

Describe the Physics
 Draw a diagram for the problem.
 What physical quantities have you been given, i.e. are known?
 What is the physical quantity you are solving for?
 Write these down, giving each a variable name.
(Use variable names that make sense, such as mb for the mass of a
ball.)
 Can you write down equations that relate these quantities?
Physics Problem Solving
Interview Questions

Plan a Solution
 How can you use these equations to determine the target quantity?
 Are all of the units consistent?
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Execute the Plan
 Can you explain your solution to me?
 How did you find this quantity?
 What is your final answer?
Physics Problem Solving
Interview Questions

Evaluate your Solution
 Does your result answer the original question?
 Is your result complete?
 Does it make physical sense?
 Do the units make sense?
 Could someone else find your final result on your page, and
understand what you did?
Now go be great tutors!
The End