WIP: Impact of Peer Tutoring on Student Success

Work in Progress – A peer tutoring program executed at the department level to benefit first-and second-year students, is described. After identifying seven classes with relatively high failure percentages, the department established a peer tutoring program whereby junior and senior level students tutored first-year and sophomore students. Tutoring was offered for differential calculus, integral calculus, calculus of two variables, multivariable calculus, mechanics, differential equations, and mechanics of solids courses. The tutoring program involved holding weekly office hours and review sessions before major exams. The average failure percentage of department students in the differential calculus course in the seven years prior to implementing this initiative was 8.7%. There were no failures in the two semesters when tutoring was offered. For integral calculus, the corresponding numbers were 3.6% and 0%. Similarly, department failure percentages in mechanics of solids decreased from 3.8% to 2.4%, differential equations from 10.3% to 3.1%, calculus of two variables from 7.8% to 2.5%, multivariable calculus from 7.8% to 3.5% and mechanics from 6.2% to 1.4%. When tutoring was not conducted in Spring 2024, the failure percentage for the mechanics course increased to 3.5%. The results indicate beneficial effects of peer tutoring programs held at the department level on student success. Several results were statistically significant with low p-values supporting the hypothesis that tutoring is beneficial. The tutoring initiative also provided professional development and employment opportunities to senior and junior students.