[nabs-l] Tutoring, and College Success

Sun Jul 29 16:00:30 UTC 2012

Hello,
We should do this!
If the tutors do like a [please take a look at this] [pore?] {good? 
Something better]
and stuff like that in the brackets I believe that would keep plagiarism 
down.
As for Astronomy and other science topics, they should do like a Skype study 
session.
Thanks,

Brandon Keith Biggs
-----Original Message----- 
From: Arielle Silverman
Sent: Saturday, July 28, 2012 9:29 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Tutoring, and College Success

Hi Mary and all,
I think that if NABS were to set up a tutoring program, there would
need to be some clear guidelines in place to prevent plagiarism. For
example, at the athletic center where I tutor, we are not allowed to
write comments directly on a student's paper, but instead must provide
feedback in verbal form during the meeting. This may or may not be
practical for long-distance tutoring, but we could make a rule that,
for example, tutors cannot directly revise students' papers, but must
only use the comments feature in Track Changes to offer suggestions.
Similar rules should also govern math tutoring (not solving a problem
for a student but guiding them through calculations).
That said, I think volunteer tutors will be less tempted to overhelp
their students or do things bordering on cheating than will paid
tutors, who may be concerned enough about their jobs to want to ensure
their students are successful. Also, I don't think professors care
much about who is tutoring their students, or are even aware that
their student is getting tutoring sometimes. Obviously if a student's
performance suddenly becomes excellent, a professor may get
suspicious, but if the student and tutor are truly working together in
a non-cheating way, the student should be able to justify the use of
the tutor regardless of where the tutor comes from. Students often get
support from tutors who are not affiliated with their college or
university.
I agree that it is generally wise to start by looking for tutoring
"in-house" but I also think that blind tutors can offer a lot more
than sighted tutors can, for certain subjects, because they can
provide guidance in the alternative techniques used to handle the
course material in addition to the course material itself.
Best,
Arielle

On 7/27/12, Mary Fernandez <trillian551 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi All,
> I think tutoring is an essential part of learning, and if it available
> in your school, you should take full advantage of it. Even if you get
> straight A's you can only improve your writing or math skills if you
> sit with someone else who can look over your work and give you
> constructive feedback.
> As for having some kind of volunteer tutoring system...
> I do think this is a fabulous idea. However, having attended a
> university which was so concerned about plagiarism, and what they
> consider to be plagiarism, I think that it would be wise to clear this
> idea up with individual professors. Especially if your university
> offers in house tutoring, I think many professors would be hesitant to
> ok an outside source, unless there is some clear advantage, or this
> source has specialized knowledge. For instance, Arielle is great at
> SPSS, and though you might get tutoring on SPSS in school, most of
> these tutors have never even heard of screen access software. In this
> instance, it makes total sense for Arielle to be your to-go person.
> But for English and foreign language classes, if there is in house
> tutoring, make sure to clear up the outside consulting idea.
> Thanks.
> Mary
>
> On 7/25/12, Wasif, Zunaira <Zunaira.Wasif at dbs.fldoe.org> wrote:
>> I think that's a wonderful idea! So many of my clients need tutoring and
>> don't get it because state rehab doesn't want to pay for it.  Maybe we
>> can set up a volunteer tutoring system where people can get community
>> service hours or something.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Koby
>> Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2012 9:50 PM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Tutoring, and College Success
>>
>> Arielle,
>> Would It be possible for you to tooter me In my English class at
>> college?
>>
>> Right back soon,
>> Koby.
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Jul 24, 2012, at 7:29 PM, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi all,
>>> First, I'd like to share a few thoughts on the other side of the
>>> tutoring desk. I have been a part-time tutor for the athletic
>>> department at my school for the past year and a half. I originally
>>> signed up for the job to make a little extra cash, but now that my
>>> expenses have gone down substantially (living with my boyfriend helps,
>>
>>> :)! the primary reason I keep tutoring is for the joy of being able to
>>
>>> help students succeed. Most of my students are freshman athletes who
>>> are required by the university to have subject tutors, so there is no
>>> stigma associated with having tutors for them. If you go to a tutoring
>>
>>> center, everyone there will be working with tutors and so you won't
>>> stand out. I know athletes are stereotypically supposed to not be that
>>
>>> smart. Based on my experience with a dozen or so students, they vary
>>> in their grasp of the subject matter, but most are motivated and
>>> serious about their studying. It is really nice to work with students
>>> who are motivated and the best thing is to have a student who is
>>> struggling or has weak study skills at the beginning of the semester
>>> and to watch them get better over time. I don't think anyone should
>>> worry about being judged or laughed at by a professional tutor at your
>>
>>> school, and if they are rude or impatient with you, they probably
>>> shouldn't be in that job and you have a right to complain.
>>> I think it would be great if NABS set up a volunteer tutoring service
>>> where advanced blind students could offer free tutoring to other blind
>>
>>> students in their subject area, i.e. an English major could tutor
>>> someone in freshman English. My offer still stands to tutor any of you
>>
>>> in psychology or statistics for free over the phone or to look over
>>> papers or provide general research advice.
>>> And, to Beth and Desiree: I don't know much about your career goals,
>>> but it might be good to sit down and think about what your abstract
>>> goals are for what you want to do with your life, and then figure out
>>> if a college degree would help make those goals happen. These goals
>>> could be something as general as "earn enough to get off SSI" or as
>>> specific as "make a lasting positive impression on the education of
>>> blind children in this country". If it would, then please don't let
>>> fears about "what-ifs" stop you from getting one. Keep the long-range
>>> goals in mind throughout the process, and if you fail or come upon
>>> some obstacles, think about what you can do differently to clear them
>>> out of your way.
>>> Desiree, what happened to you during your elementary education sounds
>>> awful and unacceptable. A blind child's right to use a Brailler in
>>> class should never be determined by other kids' preferences. However,
>>> I truly believe that you can recover from these early setbacks with
>>> hard work and determination, if the prize--your ultimate life goal--is
>>
>>> something you want badly enough. I hope you will continue to dialogue
>>> with us blind students as I have found that the support of other blind
>>
>>> folk is one of the best defenses against the negative attitudes of the
>>
>>> sighted public. I am happy to talk off-list about any specific issues.
>>> Beth: If your long-term goal involve college, and it sounds like it
>>> does, then think hard about what went wrong before, and how these
>>> things can be changed. You mentioned difficulties with research; we
>>> can give you resources and suggestions to help you deal with these
>>> issues. If it's bipolar stuff, can you find a different doctor, or try
>>
>>> a different combination of meds, to mitigate the problems you were
>>> having before?
>>> Best,
>>> Arielle
>>>
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>>
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>
>
> --
> Mary Fernandez
> Emory 2012
> "A pioneer is not someone who makes her own soap. She is one who takes
> up her burdens and walks toward the future."
> --
> Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
>
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