Special Tutor Category?

T

Ted

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What do you guys think about a special user category for "Tutors?" I think it might help users focus on responses from more reputable sources, but I have a number of concerns. Would people expect more from someone labelled as a Tutor? Would they hold you accountable if you made a mistake? And finally, would it discourage other people from answering questions, essentially preventing us from getting any new regulars?

I could go either way on this, so I thought I'd ask those of you who would actually be affected.

Ted
 
It would certainally give more confidence to help submitted by tutors. I just wonder if it will make people think that only the tutors are reliable and not people like myself that are new to the board but like to help people out.
 
I'm leaning towards not doing anything for the time being. We'll see as the site grows whether we need to change.
 
While many of us can answer most questions, there are areas of expertise where the best answers come from one of us can do it most easily and confidently. We watch each other and I think that very few errors make it through the group review. There is such a varity of levels that anyone who visits could probably help someone. In short, if it works, don't fix it.
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Gene
 
Why do you think the cute little pencils do not provide sufficient information?
 
It's just a suggestion I've heard personally from a couple of users, and I know there are other sites with that approach of having "certified" tutors. I think I've talked myself into thinking its a bad idea now ;)

Back to the studying.... anyone want to take a differential equations final for me next week? ;)
 
I know this is old.. but, just an idea. Instead of having the only way of judging ones reliability being the number of pencils one has, how about setting up something so that registered users can leave feedback about someone who helped them. Maybe a simple x/10 stars type thing...
 
Why would I, personally, be quite against that idea?

I think I am exceptionally reliable, but often that means reliably irritating. :)
 
Hah. Well then, it may help you be less irritating knowing that they can grade you :wink:

Anyway, this type of thing could be optional. That is, up to the person if they wanted to be able to be rated. It could then again be optional to have the ratings be displayed publicly (for self improvement) and the ratings can be shown in the form:

0-2 stars - Needs improvement
3-4 Stars - Getting there..
5-6 Stars - Good tutor
7-8 Stars - A-Class tutor
9-10 Stars - Super Tutor

You get the idea...
 
That's they joy of being a volunteer. I DON'T get a grade. Note: This is NOT to be construed as lack of trying to be less irritating.

Maybe three scales, one for math skills, one for teaching style, and one for personality. Only other tutors would grade the "math skills". Anyone could contribute to the other two.

Math Skills - A Hierarchical Scale
0 - What ARE you doing?!
1 - Clues in Algebra.
2 - Shows some depth in the pre-calculus series.
3 - Not bad with univariate calculus.
4 - If you can ask the question...

Teaching Style - A Spectrum Without Value Judgments
-5 - Dumps answers in their entirety
+5 - Never answers anything. Only asks leading questions.

Personality - A Spectrum With Value Judgments
-5 - Totally abrasive.
-3 - Won't put up with foolishness.
0 - Is there a personality here?
+3 - Will tell you when you are wrong.
+5 - Makes you feel good about yourself every moment.

Of course, someone will have to write the software...

OK, enough dreaming. Let's get back to work.
 
There are sites that allow "students" to "grade" the tutors. But this almost uniformly means that tutors who try to help students learn get "poor" grades, while those who just do the students' homework for them get "good" grades.

The "tutoring" quickly degenerates into "here are my forty homework problems, and here's my fax number; make sure you show all your work, or I won't get full credit; oh, and do it in the next forty minutes, because the bus is coming, and I'll flunk if you don't do it right". Yes, I've really seen posts like that.

I'd hate to see that happen here.

Eliz.
 
I am of mixed mind on student evaluations. I have directed an entire rewrite of a evaluation process. As a part of that effort, I went to several national workshops on evaluation. While I agree with what Eliz wrote above, all the research says it ain’t true. On the other hand, having been a department chair having the review student evaluations of faculty each term, I know that Eliz is right, “(those who) try to help students learn get "poor" grades”!
I have a personal story that haunts me. As an undergraduate there was one mathematics faculty member who I would have given the lowest marks (we did not have evaluations). He was not organized, he mumbled, he blackboard work was messy,… . However, I remember more from his courses than I do from any other member in that department. Was he a good teacher or not?
 
pka said:
Was he a good teacher or not?
Click to expand...
...and there are thousands of such stories. The initial opinion is, in my view, RARELY (if ever!!) the eventual opinion. It is the teacher of most helpful influence that is the best teacher. That is a very, very, very, very hard thing to measure by the end of a semester or certainly by the end of a single worked problem.

Organization MAY help.
Precise elocution MAY help.
Classroom maintenance MAY help.
Beautiful handwriting MAY help.
A soothing personality MAY help.
What a student perceives as respect MAY help.

Of course, there is no substitute for knowledge of the subject.
 
tkhunny said:
Of course, there is no substitute for knowledge of the subject.
Click to expand...
And this is something that, by the very act of coming here for help, the student has announced that he does not have. Thus, putting "evaluation" of (the wonderful!!) volunteers into such hands seems to me to be confusing, at best, and misleading and discouraging, at worst.

Eliz.
 
Just wanted to let yall know that I am reading this topic and I am very interested in some of the opinions. It reinforces my notion that I don't want any sort of feedback or tutor rank because it could have unexpected consequences, and would probably be of little value to the one-time visitor anyway.
 
I've got it! (Sorry, found myself a bit bored this evening...). Instead of allowing for the possibility of a disgruntled, lazy student leaving a bad "score" because they weren't give the answer outright, why not make the system a postive-only one. For example, a person whom you've helped can give you a "help-point." No help-points may be subtracted. Also, similar to post-counting, we can give some sort of graphical measure of how helpful one has been.

Whether one wants to be viewed as a helper could be an option in the CP, or Ted can make this a pre-approved status.

Daon
 
That's an interesting idea. Thank you!

Eliz.
 
I think that this would be a great idea, although you had some great points I would be looking at it and asking myself the question. " Would it benifit more people if I did it ?" I think that daon had a good idea about the "help points" thing but that would make it a little to complicated, plus then it would sort of turn in to a contest to see who could get the most "help points". I think that maybe you should just try testing it out and see what happens. Test it out how you origanally planned it and mess with it until it works. You could also try making the forum and then posting a sticky with a "suggestions".
 
Maybe you should have them have status like....volunteer, helper, recruite,jr.tutor,then tutor. I don't know if that idea has already been posted. But like make it like a pre-aproved status like with levels or you combine daon's "help points" idea with the status idea and make it quick,simple and easy
 
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