Andover’s Peer Tutoring program, operated by the Academic Skills Center, provides students with the opportunity to both tutor and request a tutor for STEM and language classes. Based on feedback given by students during interviews, it seems as if the program has found significant success and popularity amongst the student body.
Students can request a peer tutor or apply to be one through the Academic Skills Center in Pearson.
The program’s structure allows students from a variety of academic backgrounds to take part in tutoring their peers.
According to Randall Correa, the Head Coordinator of the Peer Tutoring Program, “some subjects might receive little attention” while others like physics and biology have lately been in high demand. He emphasized that the program doesn’t favor a specific type of student in their tutee selection.
“With recruiting, oftentimes people think that they have to be like a straight 6 A+ student, and that’s not necessarily the case. We do look for tutors that sometimes struggled at the beginning of the course but were able to get a good grade afterwards, because those are the tutors that know what to look for. They know what issues to tackle,” said Correa.
As a new freshman, Devin Akyali ’29 was encouraged by his twin sister — a Lower — to sign up for a peer tutor before academic challenges escalate. Through the help of his peer-tutor, he’s noticed improvements in his performance in Bio 100, a course which he’s characterized as having a “huge volume of information.”
“I definitely feel more confident approaching the material, because I already have a good base understanding of it. It’s really good for that,” said Akyali. “He [the peer tutor] used the stuff he learned last year, the notes, and he just basically made sure like I didn’t have any gaps in my knowledge and I had a complete understanding which is great.”
Crispin Black ’28 is the peer tutor for Akyali ’29. He explained that his motivation to join the program came from his own experience struggling in the class last year. After improving his understanding, he decided to help others facing the same challenges.
“I was kind of struggling in bio last year in the fall, and then I decided once I picked it up and I understood it more in the winter and spring, I decided that I should help other people who might have been struggling with it in the fall, like I did,” said Black. “Andover can be a very challenging school, so if you need help, then peer tutoring is definitely a place you can get it.”
Math Study Center peer tutor Bruce Ru ’28 described tutoring as a two-way learning process, emphasizing that explaining material to others deepens his own understanding and helps promote good study habits.
“Being a math peer tutor is a learning experience for both the tutor and the tutee,” said Ru. “The only way to be able to explain something well and concisely is by knowing a lot about it. It helps me understand what my strengths and weaknesses are as a mathematician, so that is kind of my personal motivation.”
He continued, “My main value isn’t so much that I can provide people with the path to an answer, but good study habits, and how to effectively utilize the resources given to you as part of your course.”
Similarly, Spanish peer tutor Ronal Dominguez ’28 pointed out how his experience in tutoring improved his own understanding of the language. Through tutoring, he saw Spanish as flexible and heavily conversation-based as opposed to a rigid subject.
“What people in the Spanish department emphasize is that you have to learn it because it’s a living language,” said Dominguez. “[Peer tutoring] transformed the way that I usually see language, as kind of like this axiomatic way of teaching language,” said Dominguez.
Correa spoke on how the best part about peer tutoring is seeing how students acknowledge when they need help and the generosity of their peers.
“I think it’s really beautiful to see someone that wants to be in a leadership type role or be in a role that wants to help someone and then to see someone that’s asking for help. I think it’s really beautiful to be that convener, the person that brings people together. I also think it’s really nice to see people [who] maybe do need help with something, but they’re struggling to get that assistance or are a little shy or nervous. To be able to help them get out of their shell and be like, ‘yes, I do need help with chem, I do need help with math,’ and being able to connect them with someone that’s able to offer that assistance to them, is really cool,” said Correa.
