Study Up North Campus, There's a New Tutoring Space in Town

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Video by Jenny Wells/UK Public Relations and Marketing.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 14, 2014) — After providing almost 24,000 peer tutoring sessions last year at The Study in the Kirwan-Blanding Complex's Commons, University of Kentucky Academic Enhancement has opened a new location for free peer tutoring this semester in the first floor of Champions Court I. The Study North will meet the student demand for a location on north campus, as well as provide the university with a space designed specifically with tutoring in mind.

With UK's main tutoring service offered on south campus, it was not surprising when 50 percent of UK students began voicing through surveys and focus groups that they would be more likely to utilize free peer tutoring if there was a location near them on north campus. In response to that request, Academic Enhancement, part of UK Division of Undergraduate Education, looked at the addition of new housing on north campus as an opportunity to meet a need.

"UK's campus is pretty big, so having a peer tutoring program available and available in the evenings close to a student's dorm, close to where a student hangs out, close to where a student studies is a really big part of getting them to walk in that door the first time," said Anna Sharpe, assistant director for peer tutoring and a geography doctoral candidate. UK students who use peer tutoring tend to use it at least five to seven times.

Integrated strategic communication junior Jordan Mason, of Louisville, Kentucky, agrees that the second location is going to be convenient, not only for those living on north campus but even for students living in nearby apartments. "I really love the idea of The Study North. It's in a great location, right across from the Student Center. Living off campus, it's a lot closer to where I live now, and I won't have to make that walk to south campus."

The mission of Academic Enhancement is to enhance the academic experience of all UK students by providing programs and services that support students in mastering the skills needed to become successful lifelong learners. Services are student-responsive and programs are purposefully student-centric and intentionally designed to foster interactions that promote learning strategies and attitudes toward academic life that are characteristic of successful college students.

Academic Enhancement's goal of providing a second space dedicated to peer tutoring started becoming a reality beginning this month as The Study North had a soft opening offering tutoring 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Champions Court I. Less than a week from now, the facility will expand its services from eight to 24 hours a week and be fully operational on Oct. 20. The UK campus is invited to a grand opening open house hosted by staff from The Study North and Presentation U! North from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29.

Mason hopes her fellow students will check out the new space. "I think it is a really great place. It really helps to have a peer tutor, someone who knows what they are talking about but is also around your same age group and really knows the subject in and out."

After the full opening, peer tutoring will be offered from 3 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Tutoring will be offered in 12 subjects at The Study North including:

·       accounting,

·       Math 110,

·       Math 113,

·       Math 114,

·       Math 123,

·       Math 162,

·       Math 213,

·       Chemistry 105,

·       Chemistry 107,

·       economics,  

·       Physics 231, and

·       Physics 232.

Many of these courses were selected to meet the needs of Living Learning Program participants in the residence halls nearby. In addition, basic supplies are on hand from textbooks to construction sets for organic chemistry.

In creating a new space for tutoring, Academic Enhancement looked at interior design options they could select to better serve students including items requested specifically by peer tutors and students using The Study. Instead of having to offer multiple rolling white boards to tutoring groups, The Study North features modular DIRTT wall systems with floor-to-ceiling writable surfaces and 55 inch built-in monitors for collaboration. In addition, the space is furnished with brand new furniture in The Study’s signature colors, including seats that are capable of charging students' many electronic devices.

"There are some purposefully built spaces for seminars, there is a 24-seat classroom there that we will use for Study Smarter Seminars and other things. There are also some purposefully built smaller areas for students to get together in groups of four or five, so that they can organize their own study sessions," said Benjamin C. Withers, associate provost of Undergraduate Education.

Aside from new furniture and technology, The Study North also shares their space with two other entities to benefit students. Noting the undeniable connection between studying and coffee, The Study North was specifically located next to the new campus location of Common Grounds Coffee Shop.

"There is also a stage that's halfway in between The Study and the new coffee shop, in the hope that students will be able to use that stage to present perhaps activities that arise from UK Core courses. I can envision a guitar concert there, or I can envision a theatrical performance. A way to enliven the space and show the students that the academics they experience in the classroom can also be enjoyed outside of that classroom environment," Withers said.

They also hope the social space featuring the stage and the coffee house will also help bring students and faculty together outside the classroom for meetings, events and even office hours.

The Study North is also home to a satellite location for Presentation U! (aka Presentation U! North), a program developed to help UK students enhance their multimodal communication (oral, written, visual) skills for projects and presentations. Presentation U! North is open from 3-9 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The primary location, Presentation U! @ the Hub in the William T. Young Library, opened Aug. 27.

And those who have used The Study will find probably the most important component will be at both locations, as the two facilities will share an amazing staff of approximately 150 student tutors recruited by Academic Enhancement. All of the peer tutors are undergraduates with at least a 3.0 GPA, who earned an A or B in the course(s) they tutor. They all are also recommended by a faculty member. In addition, tutors are thoroughly trained. Academic Enhancement's peer tutoring program is College Reading and Learning Association certified. Tutors are trained in QPR (Question, Persuade and Refer), pedagogical methods, and university policy and procedures.

"Really what makes the space is our peer tutors. That sounds really basic, but it's the people. It's the way that they smile at students when they walk in the door, it’s the green t-shirts that point out who the tutors are in the space, and it's our student program coordinators who are there to answer any questions and address any concerns that students might have about the peer tutoring program," Sharpe said.