Back to basics: A student-tutor matching program

Abstract

The College of Engineering and Computer Science of the University of Texas at Tyler recognizes the value of peer-to-peer learning and has in recent years established an engineering "learning community" by reserving sections of freshman and sophomore courses like Calculus, Chemistry and English specifically for engineering students. The goal was that ad hoc alliances and support networks that promote peer-to-peer learning would form within the learning community. However, the learning community approach has well-known limitations. The very best students are typically self-motivated to study and are not consistently involved in the community. The remaining students, including those who most need help, can become "the blind leading the blind." It is our belief, however, that structured peer-to-peer mentoring can make up the deficiencies learning community. A formalized system for getting more-advanced students in our programs to tutor students in their lower level pre-engineering courses would be very attractive. Such a structured peer-to-peer mentoring and tutoring program, known as the "Back-to-Basics (B2B) Tutoring Program," was launched in fall, 2005 at the University of Texas at Tyler with financial support of the Texas Workforce Development Commission (TWDC). The goal of the focused tutoring program was to provide support for engineering students in the basic areas of sciences, math and programming to help them survive the first two years of the program. The initiative under which B2B was funded by TWDC envisaged increasing the graduation rate of electrical engineers, but students in other engineering disciplines are welcome to use the services of B2B tutors as well. This paper describes the structure and assessment methods of the B2B tutoring and mentoring program and gives preliminary results. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2006.