Here at Tutorial and Academic Coaching Services, we value collaboration, feedback, and questions from instructors.
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A typical tutoring or coaching session has the following structure:
Adapted from MacDonald, R. B. (1994). The tutor cycle [Figure]. In The Master Tutor: A Guidebook for More Effective Tutoring. Williamsville, NY: The Cambridge Stratford Study Skills Institute.
Our Purpose
Mission: We work with students to build academic skills, confidence, and independence.
Learning Support Specialists (LSS) provide free learning/course-content support to NorQuest students in for-credit courses/programs (both in-person and online).
Service Delivery
Drop- In Sessions (In-person or Online)
How we help students with course material
Learning Support Specialists work with students to build academic skills, confidence, and independence. This takes the form of providing resources for students to fill gaps in their prior knowledge or further review current course concepts, assisting students with homework, and helping students learn successful study skills such as time management and organization.
Learning Support Specialists do the following:
Only one or two concepts will be covered in any given session. More than one session might be needed if a student has multiple concerns. We will often work with a student to get them started on an assignment and advise them to work alone for half an hour before signing up again.
Learning Support Specialists only work with NorQuest students on course material from NorQuest. When working with a student on a specific assignment, the focus is on helping students build their skills over the long term. The focus is on the student as learner, first and foremost, rather than just on the assignment.
Our role is also to ensure that academic integrity is upheld. Therefore, we do not do the following:
How we help students with writing
The goal of Tutorial and Academic Coaching Services is to help students develop their overall writing skills, recognizing that writing is a process, not a product. As a result, our focus when working with students is to help them develop writing skills over the long term rather than perfecting a specific piece of writing:
Learning Support Specialists:
Work with students on various aspects of their writing: developing thesis statements, organization, proofreading skills, and more. Students are encouraged to come at all stages of the writing/research process, from brainstorming and forming a research question to planning, drafting, revising, and proofreading.
Cover only one or two aspects of the student’s writing in any given session. More than one session might be needed if a student has multiple concerns.
Learning Support Specialists do not do the following:
If students have questions about research and/or APA/MLA citation, we are happy to refer them to a Librarian for assistance.
What about confidentiality?
Tutorial and Academic Coaching Services respects the privacy of all students accessing the service. Any personal information collected is done so in adherence to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act. This obligates the Tutorial and Academic Coaching Services staff to collect information required only for educational and related purposes, and to maintain its security.
Tutorial and Academic Coaching Services does not disclose the names of students who use the service unless a request to do so is made by the student.
All student work and communications shared between students and Tutorial and Academic Coaching Services staff are kept confidential except in cases where it is believed that the student may be at risk of harming themselves or someone else.
How do we address academic integrity and plagiarism?
Academic integrity is actively promoted by Tutorial and Academic Coaching Services. Plagiarism problems are addressed directly with students in the context of educating them on how to paraphrase and cite sources correctly while avoiding plagiarism as defined by NorQuest’s Academic Misconduct Procedure (2016).
If plagiarism is suspected, Learning Support Specialists treat these cases as “opportunities for learning” (Gentile, Arzt & Riedinger, 2005). Plagiarism is addressed with the student and appropriate explanations and/or referrals to library staff are provided (on paraphrasing or quotation, citation, etc.). It is the student’s responsibility to make changes before submitting the paper.
References
Gentile, J., Arzt, J., & Rieinger, B. B. (2005). Etutor guidelines: Step-by-step procedures for the etutor. Retrieved from http://www.etutoring.org/university/default/docs/StepbyStepGuidelines.pdf
NorQuest College. (2016). Academic Misconduct Procedure. Edmonton, AB: Author.
It is helpful for students to receive a reminder of what we provide at Tutorial and Academic Coaching Services through a class visit. The presentation is approximately 10 minutes. We usually begin contacting instructors in the second week of term to offer visits because we do not want to overwhelm you (or your students) at the very beginning of term.
However, please feel free to contact us at any time at tutorial.coaching@norquest.ca, and we will be happy to set up a class visit to suit your schedule.
What is the procedure for requesting exams? How does it work?
Student requests to review exam with Learning Support Specialists.
Learning Support Specialist sends the instructor a request via email.
The instructor provides Tutor-Coach permission to access the student’s exam on Moodle.
What happens when a Learning Support Specialist reviews an exam with a student?
Learning Support Specialist reviews exam and draws out learning strategies that students could improve on.
Learning Support Specialist does not share exam questions with students.
Students can take notes on how to improve their test-taking strategies.
Learning Support Specialist works with students on weaker concepts indicated on the test.
Can the student take the exam home or take pictures?
Tests are not shared digitally with students, so students are not able to take pictures or obtain a copy.
How long does a tutor coach hold on to an exam?
It is dependent on the length of time the access is granted by the instructor.
Student Technical support homepage
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. 
