Joseph Marshall, a 2023 spring graduate student with a dual major studying Finance and American Studies, concurrently pursuing his MBA at Penn State Harrisburg
- Have you sought any help at the Learning Center before?
I have sought help previously for math tutoring at the learning center during my freshman year as well as writing tutoring recently this year for a class in the MBA program. I had 2-3 math tutoring sessions that were non-sequential stop-in appointments to assist my understanding in a calculus class, including asking about questions that I got wrong on a few homework assignments. Recently, I received writing tutoring for an Information Systems class for a research paper, as I wanted proofreading, including towards evaluating my citations.
- What made you and how did you become a tutor at the center? For how long?
I believed being a tutor at the center provided several benefits. First, it allowed me to transfer my knowledge to other students in an effort to support professors, who have limited time to address questions of students, as well as students that needed help outside of the classroom. Secondly, being a tutor required me to become more comfortable with concepts that I had learned in foundational classes towards my major in finance, which helped me rehash what I had learned in those courses and better prepare myself for higher level courses. Lastly, the tutoring center provides excellent flexibility of hours, which worked great with my schedule. I was a tutor throughout my sophomore year of college from October of 2020 through May of 2021.
- Whom you worked most during the one-on-one tutoring sessions? Most domestic or international students? Have you ever worked with any Chinese students?
I worked primarily with domestic students. I did not have experience with any Chinese students. Perhaps this is due to the small hours that I worked, due to less interest of Chinese students in tutoring services, coincidence, or another reason.
- What have you learned from the tutoring experience personally?
As a tutor, I learned interpersonal skills, including how to communicate information effectively, how to react to the different learning styles that different tutees had, and how to engage students through a remote setting, as I was tutoring entirely over Zoom.
As a tutee, I learned specific class concepts, but also recognized the great benefits that tutors can provide and that using the Learning Center is very useful for anyone that has questions or concerns related to their classes. The Learning Center is a free service provided to students, and it is wise for students to take advantage of it, along with the advising center, the campus librarians and CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services, as per necessity.
- What’s your advice to those incoming new students (especially international students) in terms of utilizing the Learning Center?
I would advise to be open to going to the Learning Center, as many students feel hesitant, whether due to unfamiliarity, nervousness of the experience or even embarrassment of receiving tutoring, among other reasons. Additionally, it is good to act quick, as some services can become backlogged, especially towards the end of the semester, such as the writing services. Lastly, it is good to prepare for tutoring sessions by organizing one’s thoughts. It can also be helpful to send tutors a synopsis of the concepts a tutee wishes to have addressed in the tutoring session, as well as sending any documents that will be relevant to a session (for example a study guide for an exam that a tutee is concerned about).
I would say everything above applies to international students, but in addition to this, it would be good if international students know others who have gone to Learning Center appointments to help ease the discomfort or hesitancy they may have towards attending a Learning Center session.
