• General MSLC Policies
• How it affects you
• What ifs
• Resources and Contact Information

• The Mathematical and Statistical Learning Center (MSLC) provides free tutoring to undergraduate students in Mathematics and Statistics.
• Refer to the MSLC website for the location of the tutor room for Statistics 133, 135, 145 and 245 and for Statistics 420, 421, 427 and 428.
• Refer to the OSU campus map for the location of Cockins Hall, the Statistics Department building.
• TAs for the aforementioned courses are to hold office hours in the respective tutor rooms.

As a TA for any of the following courses— Statistics 133, 135, 145, 245, 420, 421, 427, 428— you are required to hold a certain number of office hours depending on your appointment. Your duties include:

• Showing up on time
• Signing in and out of TutorTrac (the electronically managed log) as a tutor.
• Wearing the MSLC tutor badge.
• Making sure students sign into the electronically managed log (this is very important to keep track of tutor room usage).
• Being enthusiastic-look like you want to be there.
• Trying to answer student questions (that are relevant to Statistics).
  • Be helpful-work on one or two problems at a time, and then move on. Do not do their work for them.
  • Help the student learn. Don’t just provide the answer.
  • Provide opportunities for discussion and exploration.
  • Be patient.
  • Be clear-take different approaches.
    • For example: Say you are trying to explain to a student how to find the P-value from a z-score, and the student is absolutely not understanding what P(Z>z) means. Try a different approach. Draw a picture of what the P-value means.
    • See the sections on teaching the different courses. They offer helpful ideas.
• Making arrangements for someone to cover your office hours, in case you need to miss them for some reason (Fill out an “absence of duty” form and notify Richard Brown. See section on “Absence of Duty Forms”).
• Being courteous to all present. Treat every student with the same respect.

Note: Do NOT tell someone you cannot help him/her because you work with another course!!!


What the MSLC expects from its student visitors: Student should:

• Have tried the problem/s.
• Have some questions in mind when they arrive.
• Work on problems while waiting for a tutor.
• Talk with, work with, and help other students who are also waiting.
• Give feedback to MSLC on how the tutors are doing and what could be improved.
• Treat all tutors with respect.

Below is a list of ideas that have been found to be helpful by other TA’s

• Introduce yourself, and make the student feel at ease.
• Be familiar with the material.
• Be positive.
• Try to answer all questions, but don’t do students’ work for them - give the students enough hints that will be helpful in solving the problem, point out to them the relevant material and examples in the book, but don’t do their work/homework/ assignment for them.
• You don’t have to teach them the material - remember the tutor room is NOT a substitute for lecture or recitation.
• Don’t spend too much time with one student if there are others who require help.
• Be professional - remember IT IS your job to help the students.
• Be patient - the students don’t know as much Statistics as you do.
• Have students explain the question to you - it really helps them understand the problem, and helps you understand what kind of help they need.
• Listen to them - it goes a long way in figuring out how to help.
• If possible, have people from the same class sit together. Encourage them to work together-people learn more from their peers than from anybody else.
• Be approachable - don’t hide behind a pile of stuff and appear to be unwilling to help. Talking with other TAs in the tutor room is fine, but don’t exclude the students - check periodically with students to make sure that they are doing okay and are being attended to.
• Do not spend time checking your email, browsing the internet or doing your own work when there are students in the tutor room. Students may feel that their questions are unwelcome.
• If you cannot answer a certain question because of unfamiliarity with the material, ask another TA if possible. Do NOT give out wrong answers. Suggest that the student ask his instructor. It is okay to say “I don’t know.”

• Situation A: It is a busy day in the tutor room where you have been diligently helping a group of four students who are struggling with the same homework assignment. You have been working with these four students for about 15 minutes, but every time you attempt to move on to help some other student, one of these four students asks you another auxiliary question. Being the kind and helpful person that you are, you just can’t seem to break away from this group that is monopolizing your time. The 15 minutes stretch to 30 minutes.
  
  Several frustrated students who have received no help in the tutor room during your stint, take their complaints to the course coordinators, Department Chair, and higher authorities.
  
  What do you do?
  
  Solution: It would be best if you could avoid such situations. Make sure you help all students in the tutor room, to the best of your ability. If there are students who tend to take up most/all of your time, and there are others who are waiting for help, very politely excuse yourself. Saying something like, “That’s a great question. How about you give it one more try, and I’ll get back to you in a couple of minutes?” should be okay.



• Situation B: Exam days in the Statistics tutor rooms are unlike anything you have experienced previously. Besides the usual tutor room regulars there are likely to be an extremely large number of students you may not have seen in the tutor room before (perhaps not in class either). Many of the students seem desperate, some are panicky, a few are sobbing, and they all demand your immediate and undivided attention.
  
  What do you do?
  
  Solution: Take in a couple of deep breaths. You have to deal with it. At the same time, you have to be professional and courteous. Try to coordinate with the other tutors (if any) who work the same hours as you do. Try to organize the students into small groups according to their courses, and areas in which they need help. Remember, you are not there to teach them the material. You can only help clear up concepts.

See the Main Resources page for the Department Education Specialists contact information, and the MSLC website for the MSLC contact.

MSLC
148 Cockins Hall
1958 Neil Avenue
Columbus,OH 43210


For the location of the tutor rooms.

For the location of Cockins Hall.