En Route to Learning: THINK TANK Academic Skills Tutoring
At THINK TANK, we see students in all stages of their academic career. Many are new to the university, while others are coming back after time away, or preparing to graduate and working through their final requirements. Just as each student is in a different place, they also bring their own goals and strengths to their coursework. There is no typical student journey, and there is no cookie-cutter approach to helping students thrive, so the Academic Skills Tutoring program at THINK TANK provides a space for students to sit down with a trained peer, explore their needs, and consider various tools that can propel them closer to their academic and career goals.
Academic Skills Tutors (ASTs) focus on the big picture skills that help students get the most out of their courses – and flourish beyond their academics. Common themes that arise are time management, effective and efficient study strategies, public speaking, and working with professors. These broad, tangible skills align with THINK TANK’s larger goal to help students master the skills needed to become successful lifelong learners.
ASTs host online drop-in hours every week and are trained to help students with specific academic skills such as managing dates and deadlines, planning for self-care and student-work-life balance, or creating plans for final exams. The Weekly Planner and Semester on a Page are among the popular tools our students appreciate. The Weekly Planner is utilized to help students visualize their seven-day week in one-hour increments. From there, planning meals, study time and sleep comes naturally as the student and AST are able to identify optimal times for all responsibilities. Semester on a Page provides visualization of all major dates and deadlines of the semester on one page. With this, students can identify times to expect light or heavy assignment loads. Not on campus? No problem, as mentioned above ASTs are available online via Zoom so students can drop-in virtually and receive the help they desire.
Meeting one-on-one with students is just one way ASTs serve the campus. ASTs also facilitate requested workshops for various departments to spread knowledge to classes and student organizations alike. These workshops incorporate research and facts about how people learn into facilitated interactive activities, ensuring students walk away with new knowledge and tools to integrate into their daily lives. ASTs also host open workshops in person and online that individual students are welcome to attend.
Regardless of where students are in their UArizona experience, Academic Skills Tutors can provide a space to reflect on their current strategies and explore new options for managing life, learning material, and engaging with their courses in a way that works for them.
THINK TANK also offers a multitude of other services for Wildcats. For our full programming please visit thinktank.arizona.edu.