GROSSMONT COLLEGE – Students who need help with courses in math and statistics can find tutors at the Math Study Center on campus.
Shawn Hicks, math instructor, and Kathleen Flynn, lab specialist, and other tutors are available from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Monday to Thursday and until 3 p.m. on Friday. The center is located inside the Tech Mall in Room 112 of Building 70.
The procedure is as follows: Students use their Grossmont Identification Cards to log in, thereby providing proof to their math instructors that they used the service, and documentation to state authorities who keep track of usage in order to determine qualification for funding.
Students begin studying by themselves or with friends or other students who seek help. When students raise their hands, they are assigned available tutors. The hours between 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. are the busiest, so students needing extensive help are advised by Flynn and Hicks to come to the center later in the day.
“Anything taught here at Grossmont, in relation to math, the tutors can help with.” Hicks said.
On any given shift, five tutors work with individual students and one is assigned to work with a nearby class.
Randa Ayyath, who has been tutoring at the center for eight years, stressed that patience is important, “I feel bad when students aren’t getting the material and they’re frustrated with themselves, I know that all I have to do is to stay patient with them.”
Flynn said it was unfortunate that there aren’t any tutoring sessions available to students on weekends due to budget cuts. The shortage of time is exacerbated by the fact that the center has grown increasingly more popular, creating more competition for tutors’ time.
Tutors are experts in in Calculus 1 and Statistics too.
Hicks noted that the Center offers workshops in such subjects as algebra, statistics andtrigonometry. Reviews also are offered of the mathematics needed by biology and chemistry students, Hicks said.
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Burke is news editor of the GC Summit. He may be contacted at [email protected]
