Smarthinking: Expert academic support for students – anytime, anywhere
Helping you drive student retention and success
Studies show that Smarthinking has a positive effect on both student success and retention, with more than 20 years of proven results and over 10 million students having used the service across 1000 institutions worldwide.
Our approach to online tutoring and writing services has been proven effective for students and is valued and respected by faculty. Educators benefit from using Smarthinking as an extension of office hours to help with the demands on their time – complementing in-house support and enabling their attention to be focused on the areas that will make the greatest difference.
Smarthinking tutors use a pedagogical method tailored to individual student needs to help, encourage, and involve them in understanding the subject matter; they do not edit or correct student work. Instead they focus on expanding students’ understanding of good writing techniques – including grammar, structure and spelling – helping them to improve and develop the confidence to handle future assignments on their own. Universities have visibility of every interaction between their students and Smarthinking tutors, including all archived sessions.
This video walks through the experience of Smarthinking for students and educators.
This shows how students:
- submit work
- receive feedback
- and get help through the virtual whiteboard.
Access
Access to Smarthinking is through mobiles, tablets or laptops, allowing students to get support exactly when they need.
Students log in through their VLE or via our website or app (Android™ and iOS) to submit an essay for review, ask a question or work through a question with a tutor in real time.
Data
Keep track of progress and identify knowledge gaps via a dashboard that lets you see how the service is being used, view tutor feedback and identify common issues.
This data can also be used to examine trends for planning and conduct detailed studies on the impact of online tutoring.
Service options
Students access a range of services 24/7, either by scheduling appointments or requesting immediate help with writing or exam questions.
This includes live 1-2-1 or group tutor support sessions, writing reviews and careers support. Tutors use a virtual whiteboard with students.
Implementation
Simple to integrate into your existing VLE, such as Moodle or Canvas, we work with you to create a tailored plan - rolling out Smarthinking effectively to your staff and students.
After implementation we help you focus the service to meet your institution’s specific needs, offering out of hours support.
Faculty training
Our team offers training on campus as well as webinars to make sure you get the best from Smarthinking. We will carry out demonstrations, set up student logins and are on hand to answer any questions.
Your institution will be given a dedicated Pearson staff member to help you set up Smarthinking as well as supporting you as your students use it.
Tutors you can trust
Smarthinking tutors are highly qualified educators and professionals. Ours is the only service of its kind to have 90% of our tutors educated to Masters or PhD level, with each averaging nine years of teaching and/or tutoring experience.
Smarthinking has over 1500 tutors located across the globe to ensure the service is staffed around the clock and to ensure quality metrics and services levels are met for all subjects.
Research shows that the quality of tutor training makes a differencein the impact of tutoring on students. All of our tutors go through an intensive training programme and tutor certification specific to online, one-on-one tutoring, including:
- effective teaching methods
- student management
- our proprietary whiteboard technology
- subject-specific advising.
Tutors are also reviewed for quality assurance and effective educational practices on an ongoing basis.
Success stories
"The tutor’s feedback was spot on per my teacher. Great job. Because of my revising, I made my paper stronger and received an A."
— Student, Broward College, USA
Who are the experts behind Smarthinking?
Smarthinking has been developed over the last 20 years by professionals in the fields of online tutoring and academic writing
Please get in touch using the form below to find out more about Smarthinking.
If you are a student interested in the online tutoring or academic writing support provided by Smarthinking, please forward this web page to your course tutor or a member of your institution's Study Skills department.