Transcript OnlineTutoring-An Anytime/Anywhere Resource to Improve
Online Academic Support Anytime, Anywhere
For Math (Basic Skills through Calculus II) Physics
Organic Chemistry
Statistics
Biology Anatomy & Physiology
Chemistry Economics
Accounting
Finance Spanish Computers and Technology
Writing
Reading
ESOL
Nursing & Allied Health Online Tutoring-An Anytime/Anywhere Resource to Improve Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
Barry Berman, PhD November 8, 2012
Topics
What is Smarthinking Smarthinking Student Walkthrough Q & A
What We Do
Smarthinking helps high schools, middle schools, colleges and universities improve student learning success (at the moment of need) and retention through a network of tutors available up to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Up to With Smarthinking you can: Connect with an expert educator for live tutoring and homework help.
Submit your Writing to our Online Writing Lab for review and critique.
Submit a Question and receive a reply the next day.
Schedule a personal , one on one session with a tutor.
Potential SMARTHINKING Usage at Your Institution?
• • • • • • • • • Help improve student class completion rates, grades, persistence rates, retention rates and reduce dropout rates Complement, supplement and augment the work of faculty tutors, peer tutors, volunteer tutors and professional tutors by providing tutoring assistance to students: – when on campus tutoring centers are closed or when tutors aren’t available. (Smarthinking math Tutoring is offered 24/7 and most students use Smarthinking from 10pm to 2am.) – when not enough tutors are available.
– – in subjects not covered by the tutors.
who work and can’t make it to see tutors. Help your institution be in compliance with the SACS requirement that services offered to students taking online courses are comparable to services offered to on-campus students Provide assistance to student athletes, particularly when they travel.
Provide support for students in your institution’s TRIO, Continuing Education, Dual Degree, Dual Enrollment and Freshman Experience programs.
Help those students who are reluctant to use face-to-face faculty tutoring because they are embarrassed Provide assistance to students who span the spectrum from at-risk students to AP students. Assist students studying for College entrance exams.
Provide support for faculty, particularly for those who assign essays
The Model •
Tutoring Works
•
Tutoring from Trained Tutors Works Better
•
Tutoring from Trained Tutors at the Moment of Need Works Best
Sources: Maxwell, 1990; Boylan, Bonham & Bliss, 1995; Mandernach, 2005.
What Do Students Want?
• • • • •
24/7 service Wait times less than 5 minutes Turnaround times less than 24 hours Archives of tutoring sessions Technical Support
This Is What Smarthinking Does Not Do !!
“ hi, i am taking college algebra right now. I need your services. what i need to do is fax you a set of 21 questions. and i need for you to answer all the questions within a 1 to 2 hour time limit. when you have answered them i need you to fax the answers back to me. i will pay you how much ever it costs. but i will need them answered within the 1 to 2 hour time limit. can you help me and do this for me? get to me asap. thanks.”
Expert Educators Smarthinking Tutors
will
–
Engage students in discussion through Socratic dialogue.
– Engage students in discussion and problem-solving strategies.
– Encourage students with constructive criticism.
– Help students see areas where their work can be improved.
Smarthinking Tutors
will not
– Complete assignments for students.
– Provide the students answers.
– Re-write student papers.
Available Subjects • • •
writing
Essay Critique Grammar & Mechanics Pre-Writing •
reading
Reading Comprehension • • • •
mathematics
Basic Math Algebra Liberal Arts Math Geometry • • • • • •
science
Biology General Chemistry Organic Chemistry • •
business
Accounting Economics • • • • • • • Documentation (APA, MLA) Research Strategies Vocabulary Trigonometry Single-Variable Calculus Statistics • • • • Pronunciation Math for Spanish Speakers Math Beyond Calculus II Advanced Statistics Physics Introduction to Anatomy & Physiology Introductory Finance Statistics
Available Subjects • •
computers & technology
MS Word 2010 MS Excel 2010 • • MS PowerPoint 2010 MS Access 2010 • Windows 7 •
English for speakers of other languages (ESOL)
Essay Center • Math in English/Spanish •
Spanish
Spanish Essay Center • Grammar Questions • • • • • •
nursing & allied health
Medical-Surgical Nursing Pathophysiology Pharmacology Nursing Care Plans OB/GYN Pediatrics • • • • • • Anatomy & Physiology Medical Assisting Medical Terminology Oncology Geriatrics Mental Health & Psychiatric Nursing • • Essays Nursing Administration
Education Management Team – All Educators !!
• • • • • • • • • • • • • Christa Ehmann Powers, Ph.D.
– Senior Vice President and Chief Education Officer Kirk Benningfield, Ph.D.
– Vice President, Education Operations Allyson Fetterhoff, Ph.D.
– Executive Director, Writing & Humanities Andrea Kilkenny, M.A.
– Director, Writing Julie Radachy, M.Ed.
– Academic Coordinator, Writing Linda Bush, Ph.D.
– Director, Mathematics & Science Kendra Douglas, Ph.D.
– Associate Coordinator, Spanish Michael Wilson, M.A.
– Efficiency Specialist, Writing Brenda Douglas, M.B.A.
– Associate Coordinator, Accounting & Finance Randy Russell, Ph.D.
– Associate Coordinator, Economics Amy Stuber, Ph.D.
– Academic Coordinator, Writing Denise Woodson, M.A., M.T. – Associate Coordinator, Health Professions & Nursing Karen Vos, B.A.
– Administrative Coordinator, Writing
Who are Smarthinking’s Tutors?
• QUALIFIED – Over 1,600 tutors. Over 90% have a Masters or a PhD degree in their given or related field; average tutoring and/or instructional experience is 9.2 years. Tutors are Smarthinking employees ensuring quality control. Only 10% of applicants are hired.
• VERIFIED – Screened by Smarthinking’s in-house Education Team • TRAINED – 4 module online training program (12-15 hours) plus “practicum” • MONITORED – All interactions with students are saved. Our in-house Education Team evaluates performance and provides professional development.
• BACKGROUND CHECKS - We now do basic, criminal background checks on all ST tutors. Conducted by Kroll, the background check is a Federal Criminal National Records Search. (no finger prints, no state or county level search)
Fall Schedule – 2011 – Access Is The Key
Live Tutoring Hours
Math (Basic Skills – Calculus II) 24/7 Bilingual Math Sunday through Thursday noon to 2 AM ET Friday and Saturday noon to 6 PM ET Chemistry, Physics, and Writing Sunday through Thursday 9 AM to 2 AM ET Friday and Saturday noon to 6PM ET Accounting, Statistics Sunday through Thursday 12 PM to 2 AM ET Friday and Saturday 12 PM to 6 PM ET Economics Sunday through Thursday 3 PM to 1 AM ET Friday and Saturday 12 PM to 6 PM ET Biology, Intro to Human A&P, Finance, and Organic Chemistry Sunday through Thursday 9 PM to 1 AM ET Spanish Sunday through Thursday 9 PM to 11 PM ET Nursing and Allied Health Sunday through Thursday 8 PM to 12 AM ET
Online Writing Lab Essay Submission:
24/7
Submit a Question (all subjects):
24/7
Schedule a Personal Session:
24/7
Exceptional Service Levels 2011/2012
•
91%
of students would recommend Smarthinking to a friend • Average wait time for on-demand tutoring:
< 2 min.
• • • • • Average essay return time:
19.6 hours Over 4 million tutoring sessions
to date Implemented in
in over 1,0000 institutions More than 2.5 million
essay reviews
70%
of live sessions occur after 5pm and before 8am (e.g. outside of traditional business hours)
Spring 2012 • •
Whiteboard Exit Survey Results
–
Since 2005, survey response rate has been 38%
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Ratings on a 1-5 scale, 5 is highly recommended
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88% favorable tutor rating (Ave. 4.2)
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87% favorable technology rating (Ave. 4.1)
–
91% would recommend ST to a friend (Yes/No answer choice) Ratings are holding steady semester over semester
www.facebook.com/smarthinking
Independent Research
SMARTHINKING Works Research Based Research Proven
Study: Broward College, Florida Pass Rate Comparisons Students Using Smarthinking vs. All Other Students
Course
Pre-Algebra Elementary Algebra Intermediate Algebra College Algebra College Trigonometry Pre-Calculus Introduction to Statistics Composition I Composition II Developmental Writing
Smarthinking Students
66% 52% 50% 58% 88% 81% 71% 76% 76% 76%
All Other Students
49% 36% 40% 46% 68% 59% 63% 66% 71% 57%
% Increase in Pass Rates
35% 44% 25% 26% 29% 37% 13% 15% 7% 33%
Study: Kapiolani Community College, HI Average Grades: Spring 2003 – Spring 2005
Subject
English 22 - Others English 22 – With Smarthinking
Average Grade
2.09
2.42
Success Rates Spring 2003 – Spring 2005
Grade Distribution A B C D F Total
English 22 – Others English 22 – With Smarthinking 388 70 480 72 454 59 202 33 437 33 1961 267
Success Rate
67.4% 75.3% Note: English 22 – Others include students who did not use Smarthinking initially, but then used face-to-face tutoring at the CC Tutoring Center
The Journal of Applied Research in the Community College, Fall, 2007
Study: Volunteer State Community College, TN Volunteer State Community College is one of 13 community colleges in the State of Tennessee, serving 9,000 students.
Vol State has a diverse student population, with a significant number of first-generation college students. Over 50% of incoming students are tested into Learning Support courses in math, writing and reading. With new state rules basing funding on student outcomes, Vol State recognized that rapid improvement in student success was needed.
RESULTS: Students Using Smarthinking’s Online Writing Lab were 8 times More Likely to Successfully Complete Their Course USER SATISFACTION: 94% of students said Smarthinking was “very easy” or “easy” to use and 88% said it was helpful. Seventy percent (70%) of faculty respondents found Smarthinking “very useful” or “useful.”
Study: Antelope Valley College, CA • • • • • • AVC is a 2-year college in Lancaster, CA Study – Online Writing Lab (OWL) 2 Cohort Groups to Compare performance in Eng 095, Eng 097, Eng099, and Eng101 Over 95% of incoming students are placed in a Basic Skills course.
Study measured % of students who passed the aforementioned English classes Research Lead: Aaron Voelcker
TERM
Summer 2009 Fall 2009
Non-Smarthinking Users
43.7% 48.0%
Smarthinking Users
86.1% 75.3%
Study: Florida College System • • Commissioned by the Evaluation Unit of the Division of Florida Colleges Examined the use and impact of Smarthinking’s online tutoring services throughout the System. (Note that 27 of 28 Florida State Colleges use Smarthinking) • Study showed that among students who are taking either developmental education courses or first college-level courses in math or English, those using Smarthinking’s services received higher grades. •
Study showed that scores of study participants and non-participants on the College Preparatory Test, a pre-assessment required of all incoming students, were similar, proving that the higher grades of Smarthinking students do not appear to be a result of self-selection.
• Almost 76,000 Smarthinking tutoring sessions provided to 21,400 Florida students from July 2009 –July 2010.
Source: Florida College System, “A Review of the Use of Smarthinking Tutorial Products in the Florida College System,” 2011
Study: Northwest Florida State College • • • • • NWFSC is a 4-year college in Niceville, FL with 7,556 students Study - 2 High Enrollment Courses in which students experience difficulty: Composition I (ENC 1101) and Intermediate Algebra (MAT 1033A) Study performed during the 2007-2008 academic year Research Lead: Iris Strunc, Coordinator of Educational Support Services Conclusion: Cost of Service has proven worthwhile in assisting students Course ENC 1101 MAT 1033A Students Using ST Tutoring Number of Students Percentage Earning A, B or C 395 194 71.8
60.3
Students Not Using ST Tutoring Number of Students Percentage Earning A, B or C Difference in Percentage Points 1,240 554 63.2
43.7
8.6
16.6
Study: Open Universities Australia • •
Assumption: Using SMARTHINKING increases success rates, course completions, and retention Study Profile
– Stage 1: 1,312 students in 3 courses used the Smarthinking Online Writing Lab (OWL) over a 3 month period (Fall 2007) – Students submitted essays for individualized critique and review.
Study: Open Universities Australia • • •
Results
Achievement — 80% of students using SMARTHINKING passed — — 34% of non-users passed Students who used Smarthinking were students of limited academic background Retention — “SMARTHINKING users are more likely to re-enroll than non-users” ST users re-enrolled at rate of 54% Non-user re-enrolled at the rate of 43% Depending on the group studied, retention rates increased from 10% to 17.4% Quality — 93% of students were satisfied or highly satisfied with the OWL
Study: Old Dominion University, VA • • • •
Outcomes in Pre-Calculus Fall - 2008
Out of 900 students who had math needs prior to taking calculus, 188 students used some type of intervention: F2F peer tutoring, group tutoring, ST Student Pass Rates: With Intervention = 60.1% With No-Intervention = 49.2% Pass Rates by Intervention Type: F2F Tutoring = 59.3% Group Tutoring = 61.5% Smarthinking Tutoring = 67.7% These statistics are impressive since the University had many years of previous experience with F2F and Group Tutoring, but had less than one year of experience using Smarthinking.
STUDY:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
July 18, 2011
Community-College Students Perform Worse Online Than Face to Face
By Ryan Brown
Community-college students enrolled in online courses fail and drop out more often than those whose coursework is classroom-based, according to a new study released by the Community College Research Center at the Teachers College at Columbia University.
The study, which followed the enrollment history of 51,000 community-college students in Washington State between 2004 and 2009, found an eight percentage-point gap in completion rates between traditional and online courses. Although students who enrolled in online courses tended to have stronger academic preparation and come from higher income brackets than the community-college population on the whole, researchers found that students who took online classes early in their college careers were more likely to drop out than those who took only face-to-face courses. Among students who took any courses online, those with the most Web-based credits were the least likely to graduate or transfer to a four-year institution.
………….
The report suggests several ways to improve online courses, including increased technological support for students and more extensive training in online-teaching methods for faculty. The research was backed by the Lumina Foundation for Education and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Schools in Georgia That Use Smarthinking • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Altamaha Technical College Atlanta Technical College Atlanta Metropolitan College Georgia Virtual Technical College Central Georgia Technical College Southeastern Technical College Ogeechee Technical College Okefenokee Technical College Southwest Georgia Technical College Savannah Technical College Gwinnett Technical College University of West Georgia – eCore University of West Georgia Georgia College and State University Georgia Gwinnett College Georgia Perimeter College Savannah State University Piedmont College
Partial List of K-12 School Districts in the United States That Use Smarthinking • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Capitan High School Dexter High School Goddard High School Hagerman High School Hondo High School Lake Arthur High School Loving High School Mescalero/Apache School Roswell High School University High School Roswell High School Tutoring Program Mississippi Gear Up Program State of Florida Halstrom High School Mt. Pleasant Area School District, PA Milliard Public Schools Insight Schools – Washington and Wisconsin Nash/Rocky Mount Public Schools, NC Washoe County Schools, NV Anson County Schools, NC Osceola County Schools, FL
A Small Sampling of the over 1,000 Schools That Use Smarthinking University of Alaska - Anchorage Troy University, AL Open Universities, Australia University of California - Davis University of Georgia eCore George Washington University, DC Gallaudet University, DC University of The District of Columbia Florida Institute of Technology University of Northern Iowa Moorhead State University. KY Louisiana State University McNeese State University, LA University of Louisiana, Lafayette Fayetteville State University, NC Pfeiffer University, NC Union University, TN Tuskegee University, AL Boston University TriCounty University, MA MNSU - Minnesota State Colleges Universities Elizabeth City State University, NC Minot State University, ND University of North Dakota Thomas Edison State College, NJ Eastern New Mexico University University of New Mexico Empire State College, NY Ohio University University of Cincinnati Youngstown State University, OH University of Tennessee Regents Online Degree Program Bethel University, TN Tennessee State University, TN The University of West Alabama Duquesne University, PA Middle Tennessee State University Baylor University, TX Sul Ross State University, TX Texas State University Texas Women's University The University of Texas Medical Branch University of North Texas University of Northern Virginia Central Washington University Glenville State College, WV West Virginia State University Old Dominion University, VA Western Carolina University, NC Appalachian State University, NC The University of Alabama The University of South Alabama
Reports
SMARTHINKING Provides Substantive Reports to Help Schools Monitor Usage
• Usage Report • Usage Summary • Registered Students • Usage by Student
What Is Desirable About Smarthinking?
• • • • • • • Institution can purchase by the hour, by the FTE student or attached to a purchase of Pearson products Institution only pays for services at the times they are used Some students prefer the anonymity of SMARTHINKING Clients report that their face-to-face tutoring has increased after they implement Smarthinking Institution can choose student usage limits, subjects available, and logo and colors Single Sign-on Access through Angel, Bb, WebCT, Moodle and other LMSs A Smarthinking Implementation Specialist will work directly with you to set up service and train faculty and students
Thank You from Your Smarthinking Team Barry L Berman, PhD Sales Director 9635 Huntcliff Trace Atlanta, GA 30350-2615 Office: 770-587-2082 Cell: 678-521-8622 E-mail: [email protected]
Danny Clark Implementation Specialist Cell: 727-424-0325 E-mail: [email protected]
David Cashwell Vice President 6001 Silkwood Way Raleigh, NC 27612 Office : (919) 803-4681 Cell: (919) 623-3328 E-mail: [email protected]
Live Demonstration