Author: Emma Jones

With the semester in full swing and midterms results starting to roll in, demand for quality tutors is no doubt on the rise. But as the workload increases, it may feel like a tall order to recruit enough tutors.

Last week we had five tips to recruit tutors for your program, and this week we have five more so you can fully staff your tutoring program and go back to focusing on what matters.

Tip #1 - Reach out to past tutors

The first step is to go through last year’s roster of tutors and reach out to anyone who hasn’t re-signed on to tutor this year. By sending them a personal email, it’s a great opportunity to let these tutors know how much you appreciated their services last year and open the door to any feedback or questions they may have.

Also consider extending the opportunity to past tutors who recently graduated. They will still know the material quite well and may be receptive to picking up a side hustle as they navigate the next stage in their career.

Tip #2 - Reach out to professors for recommendations

In the academic world, there are few things as flattering as a recommendation from a professor. If you notice you have an influx of tutor requests for a specific course or subject, reach out to the professors in that department to see if they can recommend any past students who did well in the course.

Next, when you reach out to the students the professors recommended, make sure you let them know their professors spoke highly of them! It’s always nice to hear a compliment, and helps the students recognize that they have skills they can offer.

Tip #3 - Invest in advertising

Not everyone reads their emails — and sometimes they may even go to the dreaded junk folder – so it’s important to increase the variety of ways you get the message out.

Social media adverts are a relatively cost-effective way to advertise your opportunity. You can make them as targeted or as general as you want, and connect with students in a more fun, informal way. If you have the time, try getting creative! Have past tutors post short videos of why they like working with your team or make some cool graphics advertising the top perks of being a tutor.

Is the budget too tight this year for paid adverts? Try having professors (or tutors) announce the opportunity at the start of target classes, and reach out to students you interact with to see if they may know anyone who’s interested.

Tip #4 - Reach out to past tutees

Want to know who makes the most empathetic tutors? Students who have been there and who know what it’s like to find a course challenging.

Read through your roster of students who have previously used a tutor, and connect with them to see if they’d be interested in tutoring a class. It could be a great, full-circle opportunity for these students to offer help to the next gen of students who are exactly where they were a year or so ago.

Make sure to let potential tutees know about all the support you offer — from training, to the awesome Nimbus resource folders — for even more of a confidence boost.

Tip #5 - Connect with Nimbus

Did you know that at Nimbus we also hire our own tutors to help bridge the gap? If you’re looking for more tutors, connect with your Partnership Success Associate to see how we can connect you.

At Nimbus, we’re not just rooting for you – we’re actively working to help your program succeed and boost your student retention. If you have any questions or are looking for support while recruiting more tutors (help drafting email campaigns, marketing materials, et cetera) we want to help! Connect with us today to get started.

In this article:

  • Students have generally positive experiences with live, one-on-one chat functions that connect them to their professors
  • Students most often used the chat functions to ask short, succinct questions about upcoming assignments and tests.
  • More complex questions, or questions that students felt might benefit other students success, were asked on the course-wide discussion board or in tutorials.
  • The casual, conversation-like nature of the live chat function helped online students feel more connected to the teaching staff.

We’ve written a lot about fostering a sense of connection in digital courses and how students who feel supported are more likely to succeed in both their courses and in their degree. And, being a tech start-up, we’re always interested to see if a technological solution can help support student communities.

We were thrilled when reading this recent study from Deakin University and the University of Queensland, both in Australia. Researchers asked if students responded well to the live, one-on-one chat functions built into the course LMS – and the answer was a resounding yes.

About the study

Researchers evaluated surveys from 246 university students in Australia, with 155 students taking blended online/on-campus classes and 91 students purely online. Both groups of students were overwhelmingly female (90 per cent for blended and 88 per cent for online) and studying psychology (57 per cent for blended and 69 per cent for online). The average age of blended students was higher than the online students (31 years and 21 years, respectively.)

The research was conducted on a live chat platform that integrated with their universities’ LMS. One-on-one chats were private and not shared with the other students afterwards. That being said, teaching staff could have conversations with more than one student at a time.

Students predominantly used the service to ask about tests/assignments

Most students asked clarifying questions about upcoming assignments, tests and other assessments. They also preferred to keep questions short and succinct, keeping more complex, in-depth questions for the tutorials. That being said, many students noted they liked the private, one-on-one feature of the chat board where they could ask questions without fear of looking “stupid” in front of their peers (words in the responses, not ours).

Students also noted that they appreciated the quick response time for many of their questions, noting it was considerably quicker than course discussion boards.

Roughly one-quarter of blended students did not ask about extensions or question a received mark via the live chat, however, online students did not mention this as a boundary. Half of the students reported they felt comfortable asking almost anything over the chat.

The platform helped online learners feel connected to campus

Online learners also noted it helped replicate the face-to-face nature of a conversation they could have had had they been on campus. Some online students felt as if this helped them develop relationships with their professors and TAs that would have been difficult to develop otherwise. Many responses from teaching staff were also personable and empathetic, helping the students feel connected.

Online chat isn’t the only thing instructors can do to help students foster a sense of belonging online. According to a study published in the Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, there are four key things professors can do to improve students’ sense of belonging online.

  1. Break lectures up with discussions & activities to increase engagement
  2. Create steady, reoccurring breakout groups so students can get to know each other over the weeks
  3. Assign roles & provide discussion questions early to increase student’s engagement
  4. Open Zoom classes 10-15 minutes early and keep open 10-15 minutes after class to allow for casual discussion & questions

Read more about this study on our previous blog here.

Students were cognizant of where a question should be asked

One interesting response that many students communicated in the survey was that students would post their questions on the course-wide discussion boards if it was more complex or if they felt other students would benefit from seeing the answer to their question.

About Nimbus

Peer-to-peer tutoring and mentorship programs can also help students form valuable, lifelong connections to their community — the trick is to make them easily accessible. Nimbus’s platform easily integrates into your institution’s learning management system and can connect students with the support they need in a few easy clicks. With Nimbus’ help, 60% of our partners have been able to expand their current student success programs or add new services that meet students where they are. Our dedicated team can help inform you (and your student interns) on where to focus your marketing efforts and can even provide custom materials and strategies to ensure your program’s success.

Get in touch with us to learn more about how we can help!

Papers cited

Broadbent J, Lodge J. Use of live chat in higher education to support self-regulated help seeking behaviours: a comparison of online and blended learner perspectives. Int J Educ Technol High Educ. 2021;18(1):17. doi: 10.1186/s41239-021-00253-2. Epub 2021 Apr 6. PMID: 34778522; PMCID: PMC8021438.

Sungjun Won, Lauren C. Hensley & Christopher A. Wolters (2021) Brief Research Report: Sense of Belonging and Academic Help-Seeking as Self-Regulated Learning, The Journal of Experimental Education, 89:1, 112-124, DOI: 10.1080/00220973.2019.1703095

Tice, D., Baumeister, R., Crawford, J., Allen, K., & Percy, A. (2021). Student belongingness in higher education: Lessons for Professors from the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 18(4). https://doi.org/10.53761/1.18.4.2

Peer mentorship can be a key tool to helping students excel in post secondary education — including students who are historically underrepresented in higher education, according to a paper published in the journal of Political Science education.

Here, we take a look at the top ways mentorship can help historically disadvantaged students.

Peer mentorship can help students find & connect with formal support

Students from historically underrepresented groups often do not have the built-in network that students from more privileged backgrounds may have. For example, family members who previously excelled in post-secondary institutions or friends in university or professional positions who can act as unofficial mentors.

Mentors can also help students navigate difficult situations they may face throughout their studies.

“Underrepresented students frequently face microaggressions in their programs (Ramirez 2014) and many of these come from advanced students failing to be approachable peer leaders, the authors write. “Academia is a shared experience that affords the opportunity to build networks that can last a lifetime and a peer leader can aid in building those networks.”

Peer mentorship can help with soft skills

While many of the post secondary expectations are clearly outlined – course requirements, for example – many of the soft skills needed to exceed at school are more illusive. For example, how to connect with a professor, social events with upper classmates and how to find non-advertised work placements are all things that are better understood through personal connections.

Peer mentorship helps students develop a sense of belonging

The authors write that peer mentoring programs can address the challenges caused by peer isolation.

Creating a network where students support each other is paramount to developing a community where historically underrepresented students feel they belong. A lack of support can turn into a downward spiral, as students without support may leave the community – either dropping out, transferring, or disconnecting as soon as they graduate – leaving fewer upper classmates to support the next group of students coming through.

About Nimbus

Tutoring and mentorship programs can help students feel like they matter. With our help, program administrators reduce their workload by 52%, which has allowed 60% of our partners to expand current or add new student success programs. Our dedicated team can help inform you (and your student interns) on where to focus your marketing efforts and can even provide custom materials and strategies to ensure your program’s success.

Get in touch with us to learn more about how we can help!

Source: John Burnett, Stephanie L. DeMora, Michelangelo Landgrave, Christian Lindke & Adriana Ninci (2022) How Can We Address Professional Isolation Among Traditionally Underrepresented Students? The Importance of Peer Mentorship, Journal of Political Science Education, 18:3, 425-429, DOI: 10.1080/15512169.2022.2053694

In this article:

  • As many students will arrive on campus for the first time in their post-secondary career, the pressure will be on to rebuild the in-person campus community and support students in all years as they transition back to campus life
  • Peer mentorship programs are demonstrated to have beneficial results on student retention and course success (study)
  • In loosely structured peer mentorship programs, students reported they talk about achieving high academic performance, time management and connecting or collaborating with peers (study) – these are all valuable conversations that can help build a stronger, more resilient community

For more students than usual, this fall will mark their first time away from home. Post secondary communities will be tasked with fostering in-person connections for most of their students, putting extra pressure on student supports to help students feel like they belong.

An easy way to help develop connections between students is through a peer-to-peer mentorship program. These programs offer the opportunity for upperclassmen to develop valuable leadership and communication skills while helping newer students develop academic and coping skills. The end result is a connected student body, where students they belong.

Peer mentorship supports student campus communities

Peer mentorship is also a valuable element of supporting student retention, according to a study published in Life Sciences Education. In this study, 437 first-year biology students met in small groups consisting of six students and one upper-year mentor to talk about study strategies and developing a growth mindset. Through the semester students participated in ten sessions, each 50-minutes long. At the end of the study, students who had participated in these sessions employed more diverse approaches to academic challenges than their peers and were more likely to use other campus learning tools. Students also, on average, achieved higher grades in the prerequisite chemistry class and were more likely to enroll in the subsequent chemistry prerequisite, demonstrating short-term retention.

Peer mentorship doesn’t have to be a rigid, structured program

Less structured peer mentorship programs are also valuable. Preliminary data from the University of Colorado Denver looked at the impact of an Engineering Learning Community in effect at the school. Student mentees are connected with sophomore to senior-level students and connect in “loosely structured” meetings throughout the semester. Researchers report that conversations within these meetings refer to achieving high academic performance, time management and connecting with peers – conversations that can be hugely beneficial to a student body gravely impacted by virtual learning.

Conclusion

Peer mentorship programs are fantastic ways for students to develop interpersonal, academic and leadership skills. These programs also help students develop connections outside of the classroom, fostering a supportive community, increasing retention and helping students feel like they belong.

Want to learn more? Nimbus Learning has developed a detailed white paper full of research on the benefits and challenges of developing a campus mentorship program. Reach out to us if you would like us to send you a copy, or find out more about how we can help build and optimize your campus’s mentorship program.

In this article:

  • Break lectures up with discussions & activities to increase engagement
  • Create steady, reoccurring breakout groups so students can get to know each other over the weeks
  • Assign roles & provide discussion questions early to increase student’s engagement
  • Open Zoom classes 10-15 minutes early and keep open 10-15 minutes after class to allow for casual discussion & questions

On the nimbus blog, we’ve talked a lot about how important a sense of belongingness is to student success and retention. But how can we improve a sense of belongingness in virtual classes, when students are scattered across the country, or even the world?

In virtual learning, because the other aspects of social life like residence life or sports teams are more diffuse, classes become one of the primary ways students can connect with their community and create that sense of belonging. According to a study published in the Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, there are four key things professors can do to improve students’ sense of belonging online.

1. Change the lecture approach

According to the authors, students find it easier to listen to an hour-long lecture when seated in an auditorium with other students. It becomes harder to pay attention to an hour-long lecture on the computer. For this reason, the authors suggest breaking up the lecture into subtopics, interspersing each section with breakout exercises like discussion rooms or videos.

2. Optimize discussion groups for belonging

The authors recommend assigning students to consistent discussion groups that they return to each class, rather than using a random assignment feature often present in video conferencing tools like Zoom. Having students connect with the same group of students a few times per lecture, each week, gives students the opportunity to get to know each other and create connections.

3. Structure discussions to make it easier for students to contribute

In the discussion groups, assign different roles to students each week – devil’s advocate, proponent, et cetera – to encourage the students to practice taking different viewpoints on the subjects at hand. Discussion questions can also be provided ahead of time, so students have an opportunity to consider the questions and prepare.

As not all students learn or communicate in the same way, also consider including different methods of engaging in the conversation. For example, allow students to contribute to the discussion via chat box or mic.

4. Open the Zoom lecture link 10-15 minutes early and stay online for 10-15 minutes after class has ended

This allows students to connect with each other before the class begins.

Conclusion

Although many schools have reopened campuses, it’s likely that remote and virtual learning will continue to be a part of the educational experience on some level.

Peer-to-peer tutoring and mentorship programs can also help students form valuable, lifelong connections to their community — the trick is to make them easily accessible. Nimbus’s tutor management software easily integrates into your institution’s learning management system and can connect students with the support they need in a few easy clicks. With Nimbus’ help, 60% of our partners have been able to expand their current student success programs or add new services that meet students where they are. Our dedicated team can help inform you (and your student interns) on where to focus your marketing efforts and can even provide custom materials and strategies to ensure your program’s success.

Get in touch with us to learn more about how we can help!

Source

Tice, D., Baumeister, R., Crawford, J., Allen, K., & Percy, A. (2021). Student belongingness in higher education: Lessons for Professors from the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 18(4). https://doi.org/10.53761/1.18.4.2

In this article:

  • A study from the University of Victoria sheds light on why students with a higher sense of belonging are more likely to graduate from schools and move onto higher degrees
  • Researchers differentiated between two types of help-seeking: adaptive help-seeking and expedient help-seeking.
  • In adaptive help seeking, students facilitate their own learning process through asking for hints or explanations. In expedient help-seeking, students look for ways to minimize their work by asking for solutions or for someone else to also do part of the work for them.
  • Students who reported a higher sense of belonging were more likely to exhibit adaptive help-seeking, but were not more likely to exhibit expedient help seeking
  • Adapted help-seeking also correlated positively with a student’s confidence in implementing various self-regulated learning skills (self-efficacy for self-regulated learning) and motivation to learn.

It’s no secret that students with a higher sense of belonging are more likely to graduate from their program and move onto higher degrees. A study from the University of Victoria can shed a little bit of light onto why: students with a higher sense of belonging are more likely to seek out help when they need it, utilizing more of the student services that administrators put so much effort into developing.

A sense of belonging & asking for help

In this study, researchers recruited 307 students to take part in a learning strategies course with an aim to help them develop a deeper understanding of factors that influence well-being and academic performance. Students had an average age of 20.5 years, with 40.1% self-identifying as female and 59.9% as male.

Participants were asked to complete two surveys regarding their likelihood to seek help, their confidence in implementing various self-regulated learning skills, their sense of belonging and their belief that the topics covered in this course would be useful. The first survey was administered after the first few weeks of the start of classes, while the second survey was administered towards the end of the semester. Of the original 307 participants, 88.3% (271 students) responded to the second survey.

A higher sense of belonging led to more effective help seeking

The researchers looked at two types of help-seeking: adaptive help-seeking and expedient help-seeking. In adaptive help seeking, students facilitate their own learning process through asking for hints or explanations. In expedient help-seeking, students look for ways to minimize their work by asking for solutions or for someone else to also do part of the work for them.

Across the board, students who reported a higher sense of belonging were more likely to also exhibit adaptive help-seeking, but were not more likely to exhibit expedient help seeking. Adapted help-seeking also correlated positively with a student’s confidence in implementing various self-regulated learning skills (self-efficacy for self-regulated learning) and motivation to learn.

Students who feel like they belong are more likely to adapt to the challenges in front of them by seeking out help from their peers and teachers. This is why a sense of belonging is so important in a post-secondary setting — so students understand help is available to them and fell comfortable putting themselves in the vulnerable position of admitting they are confused by a topic.

Make it easy for students to connect to the community

In our previous blog, we took a look at how Iowa State University is working to improve the sense of belonging in their students through three key areas: Interpersonal relationships, Discipline Identity, and Developing a growth mindset. Through these relationships, students understand where they fit into the wider school community and also how their studies will improve both their lives and the lives of the people around them.

Peer-to-peer tutoring and mentorship programs can also help students form valuable, lifelong connections to their community — the trick is to make them easily accessible. Nimbus’s platform easily integrates into your institution’s learning management system and can connect students with the support they need in a few easy clicks. With Nimbus’ help, 60% of our partners have been able to expand their current student success programs or add new services that meet students where they are. Our dedicated team can help inform you on how to improve tutoring in university and college and can even provide custom materials and strategies to ensure your program’s success.

Get in touch with us to learn more about how we can help!

Paper cited

Sungjun Won, Lauren C. Hensley & Christopher A. Wolters (2021) Brief Research Report: Sense of Belonging and Academic Help-Seeking as Self-Regulated Learning, The Journal of Experimental Education, 89:1, 112-124, DOI: 10.1080/00220973.2019.1703095

In this article:

  • Students who considered dropping out reported a lower sense of belonging than students who wanted to stay in post-secondary education
  • First-generation students had a significantly lower sense of belonging than students whose parents had completed university
  • Students with a lower sense of belonging reported lower levels of enjoyment in their studies and lower motivation than students with a high sense of belonging.

First-generation students and students with only one parent who has attended university may feel a lower sense of belonging, according to new research published in the Journal of further and higher education.

A sense of belonging — the feeling of security and the understanding that individuals can be themselves in their community — is critical to the likelihood that students will finish their studies, according to Iowa State University. When a person feels accepted by their community they exhibit better communication and more motivation, leading to better team dynamics. In an academic setting, students who feel like they belong are more likely to engage with their peers and their teachers in class settings, which creates more learning opportunities.

To understand the motivations for dropping out and how it is impacted by a sense of belonging, researchers collected survey question responses from 578 students related to them completing their degree program.

Researchers found that students with only one parent who had attended university had a similar sense of belonging as first-generation students — both of which were lower than students who had two parents who completed university. Having two parents who finished university had a small but significant effect, leading this cohort of students to report the highest sense of belonging.

Understanding what can influence belonging is important, as the survey also revealed that students with a lower sense of belonging were more likely to report they considered dropping out of their program. These students were also more likely to report lower levels of enjoyment in their studies and lower motivation than students with a high sense of belonging.

Boosting a sense of belonging

To boost a sense of belonging, Iowa State University reports they focus on three key areas:

  1. Interpersonal relationships: Actively encouraging students to develop connections with their peers, professors and administrators. One way to do this is to improve the frequency of connection between these groups, which over time allows for developing deeper connections
  2. Discipline Identity: the university also says they encourage students to find connections with their chosen major, understanding their personal connections to the field and how this will positively impact their lives.
  3. Developing a growth mindset: Students are encouraged to look at how they can grow and improve, rather than subscribe to a fixed mindset (for example: I’m not good at science is a fixed mindset, versus I haven’t had much of an opportunity to focus on science, but may learn if I take classes and apply my knowledge.) This mindset helps students approach challenges they may face, rather than feel as if they are on the outside while their peers are born with innate knowledge.

About Nimbus

Tutoring and mentorship programs can help students feel like they matter. With our help, program administrators reduce their workload by 52%, which has allowed 60% of our partners to expand current or add new student success programs. Our dedicated team can help inform you (and your student interns) on where to focus your marketing efforts and can even provide custom materials and strategies to ensure your program’s success.

Get in touch with us to learn more about how we can help!

In this article:

  • A global survey of 2,000 knowledge workers found 68 per cent of workers toggle between apps up to 10 times in an hour
  • 31 per cent of workers say this constant switching of apps can cause them to lose concentration.
  • A look at how Nimbus centralizes everything you need to run your tutoring or mentorship programs
  • Thanks to the time saved with the Nimbus platform, 60% of our partners were able to expand current or launch new success services since partnering with Nimbus

Apps are great. From data collection to managing the schedules of many different people at once, apps consistently promise to make our lives easier – and for most of our needs, they do just that. However, each app that solves a problem adds to the litany of programs that we must keep track of and integrate into our work ecosphere. Information produced by each app also needs to be integrated with the information produced by other programs which can be a time consuming process.

Surveys have shown that the constant switching between apps costs us valuable time and risks knocking us off track. Instead, institutions looking for ways to increase productivity should consider centralizing apps and programs onto one platform.

Data show the constant switching between apps costs valuable time

A global survey of 2,000 knowledge workers found 68 per cent of workers toggle between apps up to 10 times in an hour, with 31 per cent admitting this constant switching of apps can cause them to lose concentration.

This constant switching between apps and other programs is also annoying, with 52 per cent of respondents saying they found it more annoying than paying bills.

But all is not lost. A majority of respondents (67 per cent) said bringing most of their apps onto one platform would help them develop a better workflow, with 65 per cent also saying it would help them become more productive.

Read more at “App Overload is Creating Chaos at Work and Costing Businesses Billions” by Ring Central.

Nimbus centralizes recruitment, scheduling, program tracking & analytics and reporting

The Nimbus Learning platform offers a seamless experience for administrators, with everything needed to run your tutoring or mentorship program in one spot.

The Nimbus platform carries the following features:

  • Recruitment: Tutor Vetting and Interviewing
  • Scheduling: Making schedules around tutors class and work schedules
  • Program Tracking: Timesheets, Hour tracking
  • Program Analytics
  • Surveying and reporting

The Nimbus team also follows a software as a service model, where we continue to work with and support our partners even after the Nimbus platform is up and running at their institution. Depending on the institutions needs, Nimbus offers tutor management support, including recruitment, interviewing, vetting and training.

We also offer marketing support and customized branding, to ensure your program hits the ground running.

The results of centralizing your program with Nimbus

Our results speak for themselves – interviews with our partners show the Nimbus Platform allows them to:

  • Improve data collection processes so staff have access to more data, while spending less time collecting it.
  • Reduced the day-to-day administrative process, and reduced staff workload by 53%
  • With this time saved 60% of our partners were able to expand current or launch new success services since partnering with Nimbus (ex. Mentorship programs, group facilitated study etc.)

Get in touch with us to learn more about how we can help!