How do I take my tutoring session from good to great?

My name is Arvin Arasteh. I am a computer science student, as well as a subject area tutor for the TRIO Student Support Services program at ASU’s Polytechnic location. I tutor math, chemistry and computer science subjects. Let’s talk about tutoring and how to make your tutoring session a great one.

Ask yourself, “How often do I utilize the tutoring resources?” Well, you might say once a month, once a year or not at all. The recommended amount of time to meet with a tutor is at least once a week. Tutors can help you with challenging content. They also can encourage you, motivate you and give you clarification regarding a topic. However, if you decide to go to tutoring sessions, it is extremely important to be prepared with items such as questions, notes and challenging homework problems that you have attempted prior to the session.

Through my experience here as a tutor, I have learned that students will learn challenging concepts better by following the five steps that I outline and explain below.

1) Attend classes

Your tutor will not be able to go over all of the materials that your professor goes over during class. So make sure to attend class and take notes.

2) Review your notes before going to your tutoring sessions

Review your notes and make additional notes of challenging concepts. Take those notes to your tutor to go over important topics.

3) Take notes during your tutoring sessions

Have a few pieces of paper ready for taking notes during your tutoring session. This step will make reviewing challenging concepts easier for you.

4) Be honest with yourself and your tutor

Make sure to always ask questions if you do not understand a topic. Your tutor will explain the concept in a way that you are able to understand. REMEMBER: “There is no such thing as a dumb question.”

5) Review your notes after your tutoring sessions

If you want to learn, you need to review the notes after your study session. This helps with your learning and understanding of challenging concepts. Also, before your next tutoring session make sure to review the notes from the previous tutoring session.

Following these steps will help you learn and get the most out of your tutoring sessions.

- By Arvin Arasteh, computer science, BS ‘21