Currently, Tutor Corps has over 150 tutors working with students online and over half of those tutors are working in STEM, from tutors ensuring that their 1st-grade math students have mastered their foundational skills to tutors working with AP Biology students and preparing them for their upcoming exams. We’ve been so proud of the work our STEM tutors have been doing this year, as they have fluidly adapted to the online format and made sure that the technology helps their students thrive, rather than hinders their learning experience.

Here at Tutor Corps, we believe strongly in the importance of using digital and physical materials so that students are engaged across media and still getting the great hands-on learning that facilitates educational growth. As such, we encourage all students (especially our STEM students) to utilize document cameras so they can share their work live with their teachers. We also send hands-on materials directly to students and tutors so that they can engage in learning beyond the screen and equip our teachers with archives of resources so that they can model concepts through multimedia formats.

I checked in with our STEM tutors recently to see what was working especially well for them. While each tutor approaches tutoring in their own unique way, there were a lot of commonalities in their responses. So, what’s helping our STEM tutors and their students make such great gains this year?

Tips from tutors:

Jerry, a tutor who specializes in 8th grade math, has noted how important communication has been to him and his students in their online work. Diligently communicating with parents and students before and after the session (to make sure students share resources ahead of time so Jerry can upload them) helps maximize their tutoring time so they can cover ground more efficiently. 

Chris, who tutors high-level math and chemistry, has also been experimenting with ways to make STEM tutoring as efficient as possible online. He loves using the Zoom annotation function with his writing tablet. That way he can write directly on the screen and demonstrate concepts live for his students. This helps him communicate more effectively and ensure his students’ success. Our tutor Kelly does something similar, logging into the session on her iPad as a third participant so she can use that to quickly demonstrate problems live. 

Our math tutor Josh agrees about the importance of live demonstration. He’s found that it is vital for students to work with a document camera. That way, they can share their own work live and he can redirect and give feedback in real time. He also finds it incredibly useful to draw from digital videos and resources when demonstrating concepts. 

Karla, like many of our K-5 math tutors, also believes strongly in the importance of resources. But, for her younger students, she skews more towards hands-on resources. As such, we make sure that Karla and her students each have dual copies of materials such as base-ten blocks and other manipulatives. Karla then lets her students’ parents know which materials to have on hand prior to the lesson so that her student can manipulate them in real time with her (while the students can show off what they’re doing via the document camera). 

The common refrain that comes up time and again with our STEM tutors is this: math and science students thrive when effective communication combines with digital and hands-on tools to promote learning. As more and more tools become available, we are excited to keep innovating in the realm of virtual STEM instruction. 

If you’re looking for more tools to expand your virtual learning experience, we highly recommend starting with our following favorites:

• Favorite document cameras: The Hue, the IPEVO, and the Inswan

• Favorite writing tablet for live annotation: the XP-Pen and the Wacom 

• Favorite hands-on manipulatives for K-5 students: Fraction tiles, pattern blocks, and base ten blocks

Happy tutoring!