Online Tutoring: Strategies to Increase
Student Success, College Readiness,
Persistence Rates
Jim Sigman, Vice President, Smarthinking
Pearson’s Common Core and School Improvement Symposium,
Oahu and Maui, March 5-6, 2012
Smarthinking
Tutoring Works
Tutoring from Highly Trained/Monitored Tutors Works Better
Tutoring from Trained Tutors at the Moment of Need and According to Specific
Instructional Strategies Works Best
A Just-in-Time Academic Resource
DEMO
Three types of Smarthinking online tutoring:
•Live on a Whiteboard
•Question submission on a Whiteboard
•Online Writing Lab
Smarthinking’s Tutors
•90% of tutors Master’s or PhD in subject area
•Average 9+ years teaching experience – instructor level tutoring
• Over 1600 trained tutors available
•Tutors trained and monitored to deliver academic tutoring
SMARTHINKING Tutors will
Engage students in problem-solving strategies to build critical thinking skills.
Encourage students with constructive criticism.
Help students see areas where their work can be improved.
SMARTHINKING Tutors will not
Complete assignments for students.
Re-write student papers.
• Student questions and student papers submitted to Smarthinking tutors
will necessarily align with Common Core content provided by Pearson
Available Subjects
writing
• Essay Critique
• Grammar & Mechanics
• Pre-Writing
• Documentation (APA, MLA)
• Research Strategies
reading
• Reading
Comprehension
• Vocabulary
• Pronunciation
mathematics
• Basic Math
• Algebra
• Liberal Arts
Math
• Geometry
• Trigonometry
• Single-Variable
Calculus
• Statistics
• Math for Spanish
Speakers
• Math Beyond Calculus
II
• Advanced Statistics
science
• Biology
• General Chemistry
• Organic Chemistry
• Physics
• Introduction to Anatomy & Physiology
business
• Accounting
• Economics
• Introductory Finance
• Statistics
Other Available Subjects
computers & technology
• MS Word 2010
• MS Excel 2010
• MS PowerPoint 2010
• MS Access 2010
• Windows 7
English for speakers of other languages (ESOL)
• Essay Center
• Math in English/Spanish
Spanish
• Spanish Essay Center
• Grammar Questions
Smarthinking’s Service Levels
• Up to 24/7 service
• Wait times for all subjects less than 5
minutes; mean wait times for math is 30
seconds
• Turnaround times for papers and submitted
questions less than 24 hours
• Student Archives of tutoring sessions
• Technical Support
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS
School has access to reports that show:
• Number of Students who accessed online tutoring
•How many tutoring hours used with each type of tutoring offered:
Live Tutoring, Question Submittal and Online Writing Lab
• Subjects accessed and amount of tutoring hours used in each
subject area
• Report by individual student: amount of time used and archive of all
sessions
Composite Report for Hawaii Department of Education
available
STRATEGIES
Drop-In or On-Demand Online Tutoring
Access
• Sheltered Instruction for struggling students to provide
additional resource to help them understand a Common Core
lesson
• A Differentiated Instruction model, distinct from both
classroom based instruction and computer-based, self-paced
resources. Some students will embrace online tutoring and be
comfortable in the text-based, anonymous format where
tutors will use Socratic method for live tutoring and ‘critique’,
rather and proofread or edit papers in the Online Writing Lab
• Self-directed learners.
Consistent Quality and Resources across Schools/Districts
STRATEGIES
Prescriptive or Required Online Tutoring
Mandating Tutoring as an Assignments
• Writing, key to College Readiness and workplace
• Point recovery math strategy
Promotion of Tutoring Early in Program or Academic Year
• Introduction to the academic resource
•Instructional benefits
•Confidence builder
•Indicator of engagement
Increased Contact Hours of Instruction, Improved Time-onTask
STRATEGIES
Using Online Tutoring to Promote Parental and Family
Support of Students in Meeting Academic Achievement
Goals and College Readiness
Parent/family access to Smarthinking account; Up to 15
hours of tutoring per year
Creating a bridge between home and school
Homework help for the family; working hand-in-hand with
learner, and engaging in the process
Notification, ongoing flyers, emails workshops about the
resources
Smarthinking Implementation and
Support
•Technical Integration; single sign-on or other convenient
access
•Instructional design support with Pearson teams
• Customized training for faculty, advisors, LRCs; Parents and
Family
• Ongoing Webinars
• Support with Data Reporting and Analysis
• ‘Marketing’ resources, strategies
• Surveys and survey results
Smarthinking and the Hawaii Community
College System
• Smarthinking services available at all 7 community colleges;
Hawaii, Honolulu, Kapiolani, Kauai, Leeward, Maui, Windward
• System-wide agreement
• Individual campus and system reporting
• Coordinated implementation services
• Focusing services on at-risk courses and at-risk students
Strategies
Drop-In or on-demand tutoring
•
Access
•
Accreditation
•
Consistent High Quality resource across Schools/Districts and
Systems; Online.
Prescriptive Tutoring
•
Tutoring assigned, primarily to strengthen process-of-process
writing
•
Promote Early in Program: introduction to tutoring, instruction and
confidence builder, indicator of engagement
•
Increased Contact Hours of Instruction, Improved Time-on-task
Pan-Pearson Solution
•
Financial: pan-Pearson services, content and products
•
Academic: Instructional Design and easy access to tutoring
resources; reporting to help direct resources to at-risk
•
Technical: SSO from Pearson products and any LMS
EFFICACY
Statistically Significant
Impact on Student
Academic Achievement
and Outcomes
Washoe County School District, Reno, NV
• Smarthinking at all 44 middle and high schools; 2009-2011
• Study at Vaughn Middle School; demographically diverse, with 78%
of students qualifying for free lunch; categorized a low achieving on
state standardized tests
• Extensive Smarthinking implementation support and faculty
participation. Students used Smarthinking as a teacher directed
assignment and were encouraged to use drop-in tutoring
DISTRICT RESEARCH
The more students used Smarthinking, the better the
student scored on state standardized tests in reading, math
and writing.
PUBLISHED CONCLUSIONS: “Students who used Smarthinking the most were significantly more likely
to achieve higher scores on the reading portion of the CRT (Criterion Referenced Test) than students
who used Smarthinking less often….Students who used the online tutoring services the most were also
significantly more likely to achieve higher NAWE (Nevada Analytic Writing Exam) scores than students
who used the services less often.”
Study: Kapiolani Community College, HI
Average Grades: Spring 2003 – Spring 2005
Subject
Average Grade
English 22 - Others
2.09
English 22 – With Smarthinking
2.42
Success Rates Spring 2003 – Spring 2005
Grade Distribution
English 22 – Others
English 22 – With
Smarthinking
A
B
C
D
F
Total
Succes
s Rate
388
480
454
202
437
1961
67.4%
70
72
59
33
33
267
75.3%
Note: English 22 – Others include students who did not use Smarthinking initially, but then used face-to-face
tutoring at the CC Tutoring Center
The Journal of Applied Research in the Community College, Fall, 2007
Study: Kapiolani Community College, HI
Average Grade as a Function of Number of Online Sessions
Spring 2003 – Spring 2005
Number of
Sessions
Sample Size
Average Grade
1
66
2.03
2
60
2.35
3
49
2.53
4
51
2.55
5
23
2.83
6+
17
3.12
The Journal of Applied Research in the Community College, Fall, 2007
Study: Antelope Valley College, CA
AVC is a 2-year college in Lancaster, CA
Study – Online Writing Lab (OWL)
2 Cohort Groups to Compare performance in
Eng 095, Eng 097, Eng099, and Eng101
Over 95% of incoming students are placed in
a Basic Skills course.
Study measured % of students who passed
the aforementioned English classes
Research
Lead:Non-Smarthinking
Aaron Voelcker
TERM
Users
Smarthinking
Users
Summer 2009
43.7%
86.1%
Fall 2009
48.0%
75.3%
Study: Broward College, Florida
Pass Rate Comparisons
Students Using Smarthinking vs. All Other Students
Smarthinkin
g Students
66%
All Other
Students
49%
Elementary Algebra
Intermediate
Algebra
College Algebra
College
Trigonometry
Pre-Calculus
Introduction to
Statistics
Composition I
52%
36%
16%
50%
40%
10%
58%
46%
12%
88%
68%
20%
81%
59%
22%
71%
63%
8%
76%
66%
10%
Composition II
Developmental
Writing
76%
71%
5%
76%
57%
19%
Course
Pre-Algebra
% Difference
17%
Study: Northwest Florida State College
NWFSC is a 4-year college in Niceville, FL with 7,556
students
Study - 2 High Enrollment Courses in which students
experience difficulty: Composition I (ENC 1101) and
Intermediate Algebra (MAT 1033A)
Study performed during the 2007-2008 academic
year
Research Lead: Iris Strunc, Coordinator of Educational
Support Services
Students Not Using ST
has proven
Tutoring worthwhile in
Percentage
Percentage
Difference in
assisting
students
Number
of
Number of
Course
Earning A, B or
Earning A, B
Percentage
Students
Students
C
or C
Points
StudentsCost
Using of
ST Tutoring
Conclusion:
Service
ENC 1101
395
71.8
1,240
63.2
8.6
MAT
1033A
194
60.3
554
43.7
16.6