Smarthinking online tutoring enhances student success and persistence
Pearson | December 10, 2021 in Meaningful Outcomes
by Pearson
Smarthinking enhances student success
In 2017, Valencia College in Orlando, FL, partnered with Pearson to investigate the impact of Smarthinking™ on student success and persistence.
Key findings include:
- Students who used both face-to-face and online tutoring had the highest success rates.
- Students who used tutoring of any type appeared more likely to be retained while students who used both types of tutoring appeared to have the highest rates of retention term-to-term and year-to-year.
- Students identified the prompting of an instructor as the most influential factor in their seeking tutoring assistance.
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Why did Valencia College adopt Smarthinking?
Annually, Valencia College conducts an Academic Initiative Review, a thorough evaluation of one area of the college. In 2017, Valencia’s Learning Leadership Council elected to focus on all
aspects of tutoring, including face-to-face tutoring, campus writing centers and math labs, and Smarthinking online tutoring.
How was Smarthinking implemented?
Smarthinking online tutoring services are available to all Valencia students through LMS single sign-on and the student portal. In addition, face-to-face tutoring is offered at every campus in the form of drop-in tutoring centers, math labs, and campus writing centers.
Did Smarthinking impact student performance?
Data analysis was commissioned by Valencia’s Institutional Research team and independently verified by Pearson. It shows:
- Smarthinking is an important component in students’ overall academic support program.
- Students who engage with tutoring services of any type achieved higher rates of success and persistence.
A faculty member states, “Responses from the most frequent users of tutoring services reveal that instructors are far and away the most influential in terms of prompting students to access tutoring services.”
