Students may make arrangements to work with tutors for most courses by:
We strongly recommend that students request tutoring sessions as early as possible so that they can receive the most effective feedback.
Each student who requests assistance from the CTL will be matched with a tutor from a list of faculty-endorsed tutors. If there is no tutor curently hired for a particular class, the content tutoring supervisor will contact the course instructor andmake every effort to identify and hire a capable tutor. This process may take several days. If you are informed by the CTL that we do not have a tutor hired for the course in which you need assistance, please make an appointment with the course instructor to get help before a tutor is hired.
All students may consult with writing tutors about any writing project: course papers, from Freshman Studies assignments to honors projects; graduate school and job applications; and stories and poetry.
The writing peer tutors are selected from among the most outstanding students at Lawrence. They are recommended by faculty and screened by the Assistant Dean of Student Academic Services. They participate in training sessions on writing and tutoring, and they continually evaluate their tutoring experience. Most importantly, they are interested in assisting their peers to become better writers.
While all writing tutors can help students with most tasks, some tutors will have had more experience with certain classes or writing assignments (e.g., lab reports, research papers, foreign languages, English as a Second Language). The CTL will make every effort to match a student with the tutor who may be most helpful to a particular student and his/her assignments.
Students may work with peer oral communication tutors to develop more effective strategies for public speaking, class presentations, and other oral communication tasks. Communication tutors, like writing tutors, are nominated by faculty and take part in on-going training and assessment designed specifically for this type of tutoring. Tutors can work with both individuals and groups of students, and they can arrange for video- or audio-taping of practice sessions. A tutor can assist students with the content, organization, and delivery of speeches, class presentations, and other public speaking projects. Communication tutors can also help students better prepare for and participate in class discussions or work on study strategies for oral exams. Additionally, tutors can offer support in the area of developing and using effective visual aids, including PowerPoint. Tutors are also trained to work with students who speak English as a second language in order to improve fluency, pronunciation, and listening skills.
The CTL maintains a growing library of books, videos, and other materials about public speaking, discussion skills, and argumentation. We offer short workshops every term on subjects such as controlling anxiety in public speaking situations, better organization of presentations, and the challenges of intercultural communication. Students interested in these workshops should consult the CTL Online Calendar or contact the CTL for additional information.
Students may request help from peer tutors about any type of quantitative reasoning skills including problem solving, critical thinking, and logic. These skills are used in word problems, calculations, and in systematic thinking.
Workshops on specific topics are planned each term on topics such as graphs, algebra or word problems. These quantitative workshops and tutoring are designed to be helpful to students in any discipline. Students may contact the CTL for further information on the workshops and on quantitative tutoring in general.
In addition, the CTL houses a quantitative computer lab consisting of both Macintosh and PC computing stations with access to some of the most frequently used software on campus (including SPSS, Minitab, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Dreamweaver, and iMovie), and tutors are trained to offer help using many of these programs.
Quantitative tutors offer group tutoring sessions for many of the quantitative GER courses at Lawrence. More information about the times, dates, and locations of these sessions is available by contacting the CTL or consulting the CTL Online Calendar.
Content tutoring referes to tutoring in a a particular course. One of the most significant features of content tutoring is the “subject specific” study skills and learning techniques which tutors experienced with the course can offer.
In addition to content tutoring from CTL tutors, the content tutoring supervisor is interested in setting up study groups and “study buddy” pairs of students who are in the same class and who would like to get together to go over course material, review lecture notes, and prepare for exams. If you are interested in this service, please contact Julie Haurykiewicz .
CTL academic skills counseling helps students explore subjects which have an impact on academic success at the college level through individual consultations and workshops designed to encourage students to discover the most effective personal strategies for excelling in their studies at Lawrence.
CTL staff members assist students in solving particular academic problems and strengthening or developing scholastic abilities. Topics include: time management, reducing academic stress, improving test performance, using critrical reading and note taking methods, improving memory, discovering personal learning styles, and related issues.
Students find out quickly that managing time is a very important college (and career) skill. The CTL staff can assist students in making and refining a schedule to control their time and busy lives. Interested students may select among individual tutorials, small group seminars, and workshops. The primary format is individual consultation. Students interested in working to improve academic skills should contact CTL Director Julie Haurykiewicz. Students interested in academic skills group sessions should consult the CTL Online Calendar for dates, times, and locations of upcoming workshops.
A number of writing and oral communication peer tutors have received additional training in addressing the linguistic needs of students for whom English is a second language. When requesting any type of tutoring, the student should mention any ESL concerns or issues so appropriate tutors can be suggested. Additional questions regarding ESL tutoring should be addressed to Cecile Despres-Berry.