The start of October marked Tutor Appreciation Week. This is a fitting time. As we move along this fall term, students develop an awareness of their course and academic strengths and weaknesses.
Tutoring is one conduit of academic support–tutoring provides students with the opportunity to engage with and review content in a supportive environment.
Tutors help to improve understanding and performance. What’s more, students often feel more comfortable asking questions in a 1:1 situation, and our tutors’ kind and student-centred approach instills a feeling of academic confidence in a safe space.
Studies point to a trend in the relationship between academic supports and students’ passing their courses and staying in college.
We are grateful to have over 50 peer and staff tutors who support over 200 courses. Our writing tutors, EAL specialists and academic coaches, round out an extensive level of support for our diverse student body. For a look at the courses covered, visit Courses We Tutor In.
Alex’s story: how a tutor changes lives
Alex has always held a keen interest in the education field. This interest, combined with a highly influential tutoring experience in Israel, paved the way for Alex to support hundreds of RRC Polytech students in a myriad of programs including Civil Engineering, Business Administration, Trades, Electrical Engineering Technology, Nursing and Early Childhood Education.
Alex Shatokhin, tutor, reviewing Business Finance with a student
At 12 years old, Alex’s parents wanted to send him to a school with strict admission requirements. Alex didn’t pass the admissions test math component. So, Alex’s parents found a tutor for him.
This tutor was part of a team of professors at the University of Tel Aviv who developed standardized math tests. The tests were more challenging than grade 12 advanced placement tests. If you–as a 13-year-old–passed these tests, you were eligible to start working on your bachelor’s of math. Yes, you read that correctly!
After two years of tutoring under this professor, Alex took his first university course (at age 15). Alex attributes many aspects of that tutoring experience to his success in math. He was taught to learn the big picture in math and after that, learn in a focused, piece-by-piece way in areas such as logic and calculus.
Now, Alex has taken on the role of tutor. He supports students in areas such as math and accounting, statistics, and statics and strengths. Alex is a calming presence. He is quietly confident in math and science and has exceptional observational skills. He excels at sitting with students and seeing what they are writing down, understanding their facial expressions, and identifying their needs and approaches to course content.
When asked what he likes most about tutoring, Alex will share example after example of students going from a failing grade to a B+, or successfully helping students who have one try left to pass a course. It’s these results, when students’ grades improve, indicating increased understanding, that Alex appreciates the most. Alex strives to bring positive value to students’ academic life.
If you were to ask students what they appreciate about Alex you’ll hear, “he cares.” Furthermore, he has a way of breaking down problems into simpler/smaller steps, thus reducing anxiety. With reduced anxiety, comes higher clarity and capacity to work on course content.
Perhaps the lessons from his tutor back in Israel influenced Alex’s tutoring style. What we know for sure, is that Alex’s style speaks to our diverse population of students. Tutors like Alex play an important role at our college. They bring patience, commitment, and understanding.
An opportunity to pause and express our thanks
“Students depend on our tutors each day to help them perform well and succeed in their academic career and College journey.”
Kerry McDonald, Director, Library and Academic Services
As Kerry McDonald, Director of Library and Academic Services states, “We welcome the opportunity to pause and express our thanks to our tutors. Students depend on our tutors each day to help them perform well and succeed in their academic career and College journey. A BIG thank you to our tutors for all the support and guidance you give to students and for the kindness and compassion you show with each student interaction. We appreciate you and are glad to have you on our Team!”
A Final Note
To end, remember to share supports such as Tutoring at the Academic Success Centre with your students, and take a moment to thank the staff and faculty around you as we are all part of a supportive campus community.
Reference
Casazza, M. & Silverman, S. (2013). The Path to College Completion – Meaningful Access and Support. Council of Learning Assistance and Developmental Education Associations, p. 15.
Submitted by Dayna Graham, Student Case Manager and Faculty Liaison(Academic Success Centre)
It’s a few weeks into the school year, so it’s time to get to know all the awesome services, spaces and resources the Library offers to help you achieve your academic goals.
Whether you’re coming into the Library for the first time, you haven’t been to a library in a while, or you’ve never used the library as a post-secondary student, find out all the ways you can be an RRC Polytech Library power user.
1. Find your spot and get comfortable Use the Library’s spaces whenon campus
First, find the Library, and get to know the space. We recently posted a great virtual tour of the NDC Library space, give it a read-through and you may feel more prepared to come in for the first time. Get comfortable using the space to meet your needs; study independently, attend your online classes (using one of the available headsets or webcams), and meet with classmates to work on projects. The Library has two locations, one each at the Notre Dame and the Exchange District campuses, both with great study spots to discover and settle into.
2. Ask Questions! There are no silly questions, and we offer lots of ways for you to ask them!
Come find us at the front desks in the Library, a Reference Technician is ready to help you figure out anything from printing, finding your way around campus, using the Library website, to getting started with an assignment and better understanding the information resources involved in academic research. Not on campus? You don’t need to come in person, there are lots of ways to connect with the Library! Call us (204) 632-2233. Text us (204) 400-2463, or find us on the Library’s web pages during open hours by clicking the Ask Us bubble to start a chat. After hours? No problem, email library@rrc.ca.
3. Get to know OneSearch Found on the Library homepage, OneSearch is how to search the Library’s many physical and online resources.
The Library has an ever-expanding digital and physical book and media collection which can be searched using our OneSearch system. If you’ve heard an instructor tell you to search the catalogue or search for articles, this is what they mean.
Getting started is very easy, using searches that resemble how you use google. Once you have started with some search terms and you are viewing the search results, you can take different steps and adjust settings to create more accurate results. Find out more about navigating OneSearch, the basic and advanced search options, as well as the use of Boolean operators and filters to amp up your searches.
4. Find the Guide you need Starting a research project or program of study and unsure where to get started?
Interested in broader topics and just areas of interest? There are Student Success Guides on topics including intercultural competence, employment Skills, and using Statistics Canada.
Having trouble figuring out how to use a specific database in your research? The Library’s Database Instruction Guides have step-by-step instructions for how to use many of the different databases subscribed to through the Library.
5. Use the right Database The Library subscribes to different databases that support the colleges many schools and programs.
Available databases range from software tools, searchable collections of codes and standards within an industry, and other reference collections, diagrams, and industry reports.
When looking at the A-Z list of databases, remember that databases marked with the OneSearch icon, are searched collectively when you use OneSearch. Databases missing that icon, need to be searched and used individually.
6. Discover Academic Success Centre supports Find the Academic Success Centre in the top banner of the Library homepage.
The Academic Success Centre’s services make up a big part of the academic support’s the Library has available to students, and is where students can access a variety of services including:
At the NDC campus, the Academic Success Centre has a new tutoring space called ATLAS – an acronym for Active Tutoring and Learning Achievement Space
Find the Academic Success Centre when entering the NDC Library by taking a right and following the signs for ATLAS.
At EDC you will also find the Academic Success Centre inside the library, when entering through the northern entrance of the Library, the ASC is located through the opening in the wall to the right.
7. Book Equipment before you need it The Library has an assortment of equipment available from both the Notre Dame and Exchange District Libraries.
8. Use streaming video services Videos are a great tool in online learning and instruction, and the right videos from the right sources can be cited and used as resources in your academic writing.
9. Export citations and keep them organized with RefWorks RefWorks streamlines research, data organization, and academic writing by providing an easy-to-use tool for citation, bibliography, and reference management.
10. Know about academic integrity and how it affects you Academic integrity hinges on six fundamental values, as defined by the International Center for Academic Integrity: Honesty, Trust, Fairness, Respect, Responsibility, and Courage.
As a critical piece of the learning environment and a fundamental core value of any academic institution, academic integrity directly links the credibility of an institution’s scholarship, research, certificates and diplomas. Academic integrity is essential to ensure students’ investment in their education is protected. To find out more, check out the Academic Integrity Guide for Students.
11. Explore other eLearning resources The Library website offers many types of online learning resources that you can access and use as study aids, or in your own supplemental learning.
Check out Hybrid LEARNing Modules, a suite of self-directed tutorials housed in LEARN that provides relevant and helpful resources.
The Academic Success Centre has compiled the review materials for specific business math and accounting courses into one central location to help you easily access these resources at any time: Business Math & Accounting Review Self-Enroll LEARN Courses
…And finally: Follow the Library on social media Stay up to date on the latest by following the Library on Social Media!
The Library is on Twitter and Instagram with daily tips, study hacks, events and other great need-to-know information.
Library staff love to hear from the College community about our collection! Feel free to connect with us in person at the Notre Dame and Exchange District Campus Libraries or through Ask Us Chat at library.rrc.ca.
Written by Artemis Hedrich – Library Technician, Information and Program Delivery
The Academic Success Centre (ASC) is partnering with Career Services to provide a comprehensive, interactive workshop series on the development of employment documents and skills for students.
The series will be a combination of presentations by the Career Services team supported by ASC workshops on complementary topics including: Job Search Strategies and Networking, LinkedIn Profile Development, Resumes and Cover letters, and Interview Strategies. By attending all workshop, students will gain the knowledge and skills they need to succeed with their job search. The series complements Math, Science, and Communication’s (COMM-2172) Communication for the Workplace course.
These workshops will be designed for students in business related programs. All students are welcome to attend and adapt the information to their field.
Planning for Fall? It’s a Great Time to Incorporate Our Supports
Spring is often the time to update course content and plan for fall, and it’s also a great time to incorporate supports offered by Library and Academic Services. In this article, we highlight popular ways we can help you and your students succeed at RRC Polytech. For future reference, we encourage you to bookmark our Faculty Support page which contains links to the complete range of services and supports we offer.
In-Class Workshops
The Academic Success Centre and Library offer online in-class workshops for student cohorts at the request of faculty. Our suite of workshops includes Academic Skills, Writing Skills, Technology Literacy Skills, Library Instruction, and Copyright.
To request an in-class workshop, please click the links below:
The Academic Success Centre and Library have developed a suite of Hybrid LEARNing Modules. The purpose of these modules is to offer learning strategies and resources that faculty can share with their students to further develop foundational skills for success in their studies. The modules feature self-directed tutorials in LEARN and facilitated live sessions via Webex (or MS Teams).
While the ASC is primarily a student service unit, our staff have found that partnerships with faculty are the best way to support students. Partnerships can take many forms, including customized and embedded academic supports in programs, in-class workshops, diagnostic assessments, and the sharing of our learning resources.
The primary purpose of the Library’s collections is to support learning, instruction and research at RRC Polytech. If you have suggestions for a new title or resource to add to our collection, you may fill out the Suggest a Purchase form. Our subject specialists are available to discuss subject area gaps in the collection as well as Open Educational Resources (OER) options with you.
Guides
The Library’s Guides are curated lists of resources on specialized topics. We can help you find which guides are most relevant for your students or work with you to develop a new Guide to meet your needs. The benefits of Guides are far-reaching for both students and instructors. Below are a few success stories resulting from instructors utilizing Guides.
Also, you may be looking for information, either for your own research needs, course development, or course readings. Library staff are skilled at locating and referencing information, and it would be a pleasure to assist with that. To connect with a Library staff member, visit us in person or through our Ask Us chat during regular Library hours.
Copyright
Copyright plays an important role when instructors are building content and creating course materials. Our P7 Policy provides guidance around copying but there is also a suite of library-directed copyright services to support and assist faculty in navigating copyright.
The Library’s Copyright Officer supports faculty with the following services:
You can:
Check your copying decisions against our policy using our self-serve Fair Dealing Tool.
Contact the Copyright Officer with questions, or to request services and support.
Connect with Us!
More information about our services and supports is available on our website. You may also connect with us through Ask Us chat, our Ask a Question form, or visit one of our service desks during regular Library hours.
Written by Ebony Novakowski, Linda Fox, and Melissa Coyle – Library and Academic Services
Students from a range of college programs were asked to share their thoughts on the tutoring and coaching supports they’ve received from the Academic Success Centre since making the move to online bookings.
Watch this short video to hear what they had to say:
The Academic Success Centre will continue to offer online tutoring and academic coaching via Webex and MS Teams this term to help students with course content, study skills, writing assignments, and English as an Additional Language support.
For more information or to book an appointment with a tutor or academic coach, visit our webpage or contact tutoring@rrc.ca.
The Library re-launched two guides early this year. In partnership with the Academic Success Center, we have enhanced and expanded these guides with new content and updated resources.
The new Academic Writing and Citation (https://library.rrc.ca/academic_writing) guide expands on the previous Getting Started with Academic Writing guide. It now incorporates original content from the ASC Writing Centre (https://library.rrc.ca/writing_students) as well as content from the Citation and the Moving from APA6 to APA7 guides (now retired).
This guide can assist you in understanding how to write your papers better, increase your fluency with APA 7 and other citation styles, and learn about plagiarism and how to avoid it.
The updated Academic Study Skills (https://library.rrc.ca/academic_skills) guide builds on our original Study Skills guide with original content from the ASC’s Academic Coaching and Study Skills pages.
Here you will find strategies for time management, reading and note-taking, study skills, and test-taking. This guide can help to increase your understanding of course material, improve your marks, and make learning a little less stressful.
Each guide contains tons of helpful advice along with links to books, ebooks, videos, streaming videos, websites, self-directed tutorials and much more.
A big thank you to Nora Sobel, Nick Schroeder, and Dayna Graham for working with myself and Fatima DeMelo to update, release, and promote these fantastic resources.
Students from a range of college programs were asked to share their thoughts on the tutoring and coaching supports they’ve received from the Academic Success Centre since making the move to online bookings.
Watch this short video to hear what they had to say:
The Academic Success Centre will continue to offer online tutoring and academic coaching via Webex and MS Teams this term to help students with course content, study skills, writing assignments, and English as an Additional Language support.
For more information or to book an appointment with a tutor or academic coach, visit our webpage or contact tutoring@rrc.ca.
In this wave of the COVID-19 pandemic you may find yourself with less time on campus and more time studying at home. The RRC Polytech Library is here to help. This post will cover some of our supports and some tips to keep you on track with your studies.
This Library is Open
The library is open at the Notre Dame Campus: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 AM – 3 PM
The Library is open at the Exchange District Campus: Tuesday and Thursday from 10 AM – 3 PM
RRC Polytech Libraries have an extensive collection of ebooks allowing students from all campuses (including regional ones) to access our collection via the internet.
When searching for a journal or article, from the results page, you can use the filters to limit by ejournals or online article by selecting (available online).
Need something that is only available in print from our collection? We are happy to make a partial copy for you. You can request any print article from our collection or a chapter from a book through the Digitization service. Our library team will make you a copy.
Did you know that the library has streaming video services? Our collection is designed to serve our students. Explore our video databases as well as curated collections for special topic areas.
Adjusting your Study Habits
image source: pixabay
Studying is hard at the best of times. Just like your instructors, your routines may have to adjust during this wave of the pandemic. Here are some suggestions for how to swap your old habits for new ones
Campus Well-Being is now offering fitness and lifestyle consultations to staff and students.
Looking for some expert fitness advice? Not sure where to start on your journey to better overall health? Book a free, virtual session with one of our certified fitness professionals.
Your consultation will will take 30 to 40 minutes and can be done over the phone or via MS Teams. Your coach will ask you some questions about your current health, fitness, and lifestyle before collaborating with you on a plan to take concrete, actionable steps to better your health.
Take Care
Your well being and mental health matter. January 29th is Bell “Let’s Talk”. The day focuses on destigmatizing, building awareness, acceptance, and action in mental health. Of course, events will look slightly different this year, but continuing conversations about our mental health is more important than ever. To engage with RRC events for Bell visit the Campus Well-Being website.
The Academic Success Centre (Library and Academic Services) will be delivering a series of “Motivation Mondays” online workshops throughout the month of January. Starting January 10th – bright and early – we’ve scheduled four 30-minute workshops to support students during their first month of Winter term.
Our facilitators will provide students with active learning strategies and tools to enhance their academic success and pose discussion questions to encourage self-reflection and goal setting for the term.
If you would like to encourage your students to attend these sessions, please instruct them to pre-register using the links below:
Our new Anti-Racism Training aims to support students in acknowledging how racism has shaped their thinking and actions, enhancing their knowledge, and speaking out against racism and systemic barriers.
The online training on December 17 via Webex will consist of the following schedule and content:
Morning session (9am-12noon)
Module 1 – Understanding Race and Racialization: Students will gain a foundational understanding about the connection between socio-cultural identities and the concept of race, and the effects of the process of racialization in creating privilege and different forms of racism.
Module 2 – Understanding Systemic Racism: Students will identify uncover different myths related to race and racism, and gain a foundation understanding about the three levels of systemic racism.
Afternoon session (1pm-3pm)
Module 3 – Acknowledging Systemic Racism in Canadian History: Students will learn about the effect of Canadian narratives about racism, and the profound trauma on stories of racism in Canada related to colonialism, assimilation, segregation, and discrimination.
Module 4 – Identifying Systemic Racism in Canada Today: Students will enhance their understanding of the three levels of systemic racism, applied to current situations in Canada.
