CAPS STEM Team Training

Spring 2017 STEM Team Module Training

Module Purpose

You will be provided with disciple specific trainings to hone your content skills, communication training to hone your methods, and professionalism training to advance your career.

This module will give you insight into CTL and CAPS, your role, and skills to successfully support students.

Food for thought: your role as a STEM tutor is to provide academic support to UNM’s diverse undergraduate population. Some student who use services will be STEM majors. Others will not. We must treat every student with respect, empathy, and understanding in a comfortable and judgment free space. This module will give you tools to understand your role and support

students. It is my hope that you will bring energy and empathy to this process and this position.

Outline

Program Mission, Vision, and Goals Team Structure Services Resources Tutor Toolbox Mock tutoring sessions Training Structure Expectations for you as a tutor

STEM Mission and Vision

STEM Mission and Vision

The CAPS STEM Program will develop a learning community of critical thinkers and self advocates who utilize resources, ask questions, and correlate content to their individual academic and professional goals while decreasing math and science aversion across the academic spectrum.

The mission of the CAPS STEM Program is to provide an interactive, collaborative peer tutoring environment that encourages students to ask questions, take ownership of their education, and experience individual success in the math and science core curriculum.

What does this mean for you as a tutor?

Your role as a peer tutor…

Be positive, empathetic, and encouraging to all students. Provide a learning environment that is open to all and welcomes

UNM’s diverse student population. Facilitate conversations related to content and encourage students to

ask questions and become advocates for their own education. Assist students so they can complete similar problems on their own Know your strengths and never be afraid to ask for help

STEM Team StructureSTEM Management Team Overview

Team Support Structure

Callie French: STEM Program Specialist Xavier Quintana: Assistant Coordinator Gabriella Dalton: Student Support Services Center, Location Manager Alexandrya Leeds: Algebra and Statistics, Student Manager Mario Esparza Perez: Calculus, Student Manager Shannen Ramey: Chemistry and Biology, Student Manager

Positions

Callie French, STEM Program Specialist: Oversees all hiring decisions Maintains funds, budget, and STEM schedules Develops new UNM initiatives with STEM Support in mind Outreach to students, faculty, and staff Bring awareness to UNM student needs and advocate for academic equity Publish articles to better the field of STEM education Build the personal and professional skills of each tutor through mentorship Design, build, and facilitate trainings

Positions

Xavier Quintana, Assistant Coordinator Graduate Assistant promoted from within STEM team Oversee schedule changes Mentors tutors and student managers Create training materials Oversee drop-in lab

Student Managers Develop content trainings related to their field Mentor tutors Oversee drop-in lab

Services and Locations

ServicesCAPS provides academic support at a variety of locations on campus in a variety

of ways.

Zimmerman Individual Appointments Drop-In Tutoring M-R 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, F 9:00 am – 2:45 pm Faculty Office Hours

Student Union Building (SUB) Drop-In Tutoring M-R 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Student Support Services Center (SSSC) Drop-In Tutoring Su-R 6:00 pm -9:00 pm

Math Connection (High School Math Tutoring) Online Tutoring TR 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Drop-In Tutoring Su 2:00-5:00

STEM Courses Supported The STEM Team is broken into 5 main teams for academic support:

Algebra and Statistics Calculus and Upper Level Math Physics Chemistry and Biology Multi-Discipline

We welcome students from any UNM class which contains content related to these areas. For example: students from Psychology 200 often come to the drop-in lab

for statistics support or Environmental Science students come to drop-in support for chemistry support.

Every day and every interaction will be a brand new challenge! You will quickly learn to think on your feet and diversify they way you discuss content!

Resources

Caps provides resources for tutors to utilize while in interactions with students. The following resources may be checked out from the front office and must remain with you, the tutor, the entire time they are checked out. No resources are to be left with students unless noted.

Textbooks and Manuals Calculators Laptops (students may check out laptops) Chemistry model sets Portable white boards and markers Scratch paper (and lots of it!) Sample Problems and worksheets made by fellow tutors or faculty members

If there are resources not listed that you feel you need, please inform your Program Specialist, Callie French

A Typical InteractionKnow Your Tool Box Tactics

Tutor ToolboxThe tools below can be used to facilitate content conversations with students. These tools will be incredibly valuable to you during the semester.

Prompting-This involves helping the student by providing some information or asking questions that will help point them in the right direction.

Probing-This allows you to determine if the student is struggling with what they are currently studying or if they are missing some background information that is hindering their progress with new concepts/problems.

Metaphors/ Analogies- Relating concepts and problems to something concrete the student is familiar with helps them to understand and think about a problem logically.

Wait-Time- Gives the student time to ponder the question you just asked or make a connection between points A and B.

Assigning Tasks- This gives the student a chance to apply what you just discussed and solidify their understanding of the concept.

A Typical InteractionA typical tutoring interaction will follow the outline below. The tools from your toolbox will assist you in the investigation, evaluation, and problem solving sections.

Introduction- Tutors are expected to introduce themselves to students prior to jumping into tutoring.

Investigation- Tutors ask probing questions in order to try to get the student to identify the type of problem they are working on and what they need help with.

Evaluation- The tutor identifies where the knowledge gap is occurring for the student and how to best help meet their needs.

Problem Solving- Tutors help students break down complex problems, determine what they know and what they need to know, and assist them with using resources effectively.

Recap and Farewell- Tutors are expected to check for understanding rather than simply solve problems.

Mock Tutoring Interactions

The videos to follow illustrate both positive and negative tutoring interactions.

Use your Tool Box and the Outline we previously discussed to follow the interactions.

Next you will watch a few short tutoring interactions. You will be asked to answer the following questions when the videos end. What does the tutor do well? What could they do better? What would you do differently?