Math Lab face-to-face tutoring to resume, implementation of new app

Since the start of the pandemic, there has been a noteworthy decrease in attendance in the Math Lab.

“Attendance has dropped significantly since the pandemic forced us to go fully online,” said David Ramsey, who leads the Math Lab. “Regrettably, this drop in demand has forced us to reduce the maximum number of hours available for tutors to work.”

However, face-to-face tutoring is soon to resume. Certain steps will be taken to ensure that students and tutors will be protected.

“We should be going back to face-to-face tutoring next week sometime, as soon as the protective screens are put in to safely separate student and tutor,” said Ramsey. “Of course, students will always have the option of face-to-face or online sessions.”

The lab will also be implementing the use of a the Penji app to schedule appointments and to learn what courses are most popular among the students.

“This idea was to make it easier for students to contact tutors for online sessions,” said Ramsey. “However, we will also use it for face-to-face tutoring sessions. This will help us keep track of trends in students’ use of the math lab, such as what courses are being requested the most and what times students tend to prefer.”

The app will also allow students to provide feedback about their experience in the lab.

“We really want to hear what students think about their tutoring sessions both in terms of what worked for them and what they think could be improved. This should allow us to better see what we want to accentuate and what we want to change in order to make the math lab as helpful for students as possible,” said Ramsey.