Try this one study hack: Peer Tutoring
This fall, nearly a thousand Tar Heels got help from fellow students through this free Learning Center program.
Zhamia Greer, who hadn’t studied Spanish since high school, quickly realized she needed a refresher to help her master a third-level language class at Carolina this fall.
Her professor suggested the Peer Tutoring program, run through the Learning Center in the College of Arts and Sciences.
“I’ve been coming here ever since the beginning of the semester, twice a week,” said Greer as she waited for a one-on-one session at Dey Hall, six days before her Spanish final.
Peer Tutoring offers students like Greer free help from their fellow Tar Heels in nearly 150 classes, from foreign languages to chemistry and biology, statistics and computer science, business and economics, and subjects in between.
This fall, 947 students used the program, attending 1,958 appointments — on Zoom and in-person at Dey Hall and Student and Academic Services Building North — according to Robin Horton ’10 (MA), ’18 (PhD), the Peer Tutoring specialist at the Learning Center.
The 80-plus tutors who helped them are also students. They have all earned a high grade in the subject they tutor and have taken (or are enrolled in) Horton’s EDUC 387: Peer Tutoring course.
Tate Schwalm, a student tutor on staff at the Learning Center, directs a student toward their Peer Tutoring appointment at Dey Hall. Schwalm, who tutors in Spanish and Portuguese, enjoys helping students, especially those he works with regularly. “Those are probably my favorite sessions because if you know they’re coming in again, you can set small goals with them and hold them accountable.” (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)
‘The best and brightest at Carolina’
EDUC 387 covers topics like learning strategies, study skills and ways to share concepts and resources.
“Tutoring is not teaching,” Horton said. “This is kind of surprising for a lot of them in the beginning. They’re encouraged to ask questions, help guide the student and redirect them to resources so that they have long-lasting support after the appointment.”
In other words, the students receiving help still do their own work, but they benefit from a peer’s guidance.
“They don’t tell you the answers,” Greer said. “You have to put in the work yourself. I like that aspect of it.”
Helping Greer was Sierra Flynn-Nesbeth, a junior currently taking EDUC 387. A Buckley Public Service Scholar, Flynn-Nesbeth was drawn to the course and being a tutor for two reasons: to earn APPLES service-learning credit and to hone her already strong Spanish skills by working with others.
“It’s rewarding when you see the concept finally clicks” with a student, she said.
Other students take Horton’s course for experiential education credit. Many are there because of a professor’s encouragement, like Diya Kalyanshetti, who lends expertise in statistics and Spanish.
And some, like Kara Forslund, who received help from tutors in chemistry and biology, decide they’re interested in tutoring others.
“I was like, ‘Oh, I really like this. This is super helpful,’” Forslund said. “Then I just looked up how to become a tutor on the Learning Center website.”
After taking Horton’s course, she was asked to become one of the 20-plus paid tutors on staff. Now she tutors others in the same subjects that brought her to Peer Tutoring for help.
What keeps the job fun and worthwhile? Forslund enjoys the challenge of tailoring her approach to each individual.
“You might come across a student where you have to try to navigate something differently than you thought was going to work and then try a couple different ways to go about something,” she said.
Horton has overseen the program since 2019. One constant has been the professionalism and brilliance of the hundreds of student tutors she’s worked with and taught.
“They tend to be some of the best and brightest at Carolina,” she said. “They work hard and are really responsible.”
Greer can see the finish line in her once-daunting Spanish class. She thinks others can benefit from this peer-to-peer program.
“It’s been really helpful,” Greer said. “I would recommend it.”
Robin Horton (left) oversees the Learning Center’s Peer Tutoring program. Horton teaches EDUC 387: Peer Tutoring, which each of the 80 student tutors she works with have either taken or are enrolled in. Kara Forslund (second from right), took Horton’s class after previously receiving tutoring through the program and has since become a staff tutor. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)
