By Dylan Bradley/ne news editor
The NE Campus math lab expanded services to include three dedicated physics tutors, raised the number of group tutoring sessions and gained a new overflow room this semester.
The increase of tutors and space stems from students being turned away last semester. Physics instructional associate Mike Manzanares was the only physics tutor until this semester. Tutoring physics is not like tutoring math, he said. Not anybody can just go in and tutor.
“It used to be, ‘Come back when he’s here,’” math department co-chair Cathryn Miller said.
Math lab manager Tai Vo said that two part-time physics tutors have been hired, so a dedicated physics tutor is always available.
The extra space is in NTAB 2206, next door to the lab, in what used to be a testing center. Student traffic has risen from 3,000 to 4,000 students per semester to more than 10,000 since students began signing into the lab with a computer, Vo said.
“We don’t want to use that as an excuse to say no to students,” Vo said. “We can use a table in the hallway.”
Another service offered this semester is group study sessions. This semester marks the start of the newly structured developmental math courses TCC offers. Instead of three developmental courses, only two exist. This caused some students to be moved into credit classes who would otherwise have been placed in lower-level courses.
In anticipation of an influx of students, the lab started with one group study session for MATH 0361, 0363 and 1314. Since the beginning of the semester, it has added four sessions for 0361 and 0362 and three sessions for 1314.
“They’re helping me with integrals in Calculus II. Boom, now they’re in trigonometry. Then they move to the next student, and they’re doing parabolas,” NE student Terry Stickels said. “Math is a contact sport. You gotta get bloody.”
In addition to the study groups, the lab has added five more math tutors, bringing the number of tutors from 20 last semester to 25 this semester.
Students interested in math or physics tutoring should visit the math lab (NTAB 2204) to speak with an employee. For more information regarding the group study sessions, contact the lab at 817-515-6753.
