Tutoring

Tutoring at OMSA is extremely helpful in the transition from high school to college and offers much more than what students have come to expect of tutoring encountered during their K-12 experience. It supplements the material gained from textbooks and lectures, and is not a remedial service. College tutoring offers an interactive way of helping students review, synthesize and process material in a one-on-one or group study session.

Many students utilize tutoring to achieve better grades than they would have by studying on their own. We provide tutoring primarily for the 100-level, high-risk courses that most freshmen are required to take, especially math, chemistry, physics and foreign languages and have tutoring for more than 50 courses. Tutors are students who have already taken the same course and received a grade of "A" or "B." Students matched with a tutor meet for at least one hour each week throughout the semester. Walk-in (or drop-in) help is also available for most math, chemistry and physics courses. Schedules for walk-in tutoring are posted at the beginning of each semester. Students can check the TutorTrac™ login page to find out what the walk-in hours are for the subject in which they are interested.

Requesting a matched tutor is easy. Just sign up through our TutorTrac™ system.

Drop-In Tutoring Schedules

Supplemental Instruction

Supplemental instruction provides enhanced preparation for many required courses. This instruction is done in small groups and, as with tutoring, these groups meet for one regularly scheduled hour each week. In addition, leaders attend lectures, take class notes and do the required reading for the course, all of which aids in the goal of helping students acquire critical thinking skills and study skills that are appropriate and effective for the particular course and subject area. Supplemental instruction has been provided for economics, chemistry, math, psychology and sociology, but offerings may change from year to year. Students who regularly attend these sessions usually receive a final course grade that is one-half to one grade point higher than non-attendees.

Structured Study Groups, Workshops or Other Events

Structured study groups are similar to regular tutoring in that they are a form of collaborative learning. However, this is a more informal instructional approach in which students of varying abilities and interests work together in small groups to solve problems, complete a project, or achieve a common goal. OMSA facilitates the study groups and offers meeting space for these groups in the Academic Services Center.

Review Sessions

In addition to review sessions held by UI teaching assistants and professors, we offer course-specific sessions to assist students in preparation for final exams. Students in the OMSA database will automatically be notified regarding these final exam review sessions. Students should look for review session details in OMSA email messages and may browse our calendar for additional information.