An academic tutor assists students in achieving their academic objectives. An academic tutor’s responsibilities usually include assessing students’ knowledge and skills, teaching subject-specific content, and keeping track of their progress. Tutors work in a variety of settings, including elementary schools, high schools, colleges, universities, tutoring centers, and private homes. Academic tutors’ salaries vary greatly depending on their level of knowledge, skill, experience, and academic setting.
Academic tutors are frequently used to help students who are having difficulty in school. Some of the challenges for which students seek academic tutors include passing an academic subject, becoming more comfortable with test taking, and gaining in-depth knowledge of a subject. Tutors usually work with students individually or in groups to achieve these objectives.
Academic tutoring responsibilities differ depending on the setting. If a tutor is hired to assist a junior high school student with math homework, the tutor may come to the student’s home several times a week to review math problems. He might be asked to help a group of students improve their writing skills if he tutors in a community college writing lab. In a tutoring center, an academic tutor may be required to assess students’ academic skills, which may include the use of computer-aided instructional tools.
An applicant must demonstrate mastery of required subjects in order to work as an academic tutor. Depending on the employer, these requirements may differ. If the prospective tutor is tutoring a geometry student, for example, he can show a report card demonstrating that he completed and excelled in geometry. Although tutors are not expected to know everything there is to know about a subject, they must be capable of successfully guiding students through the learning process.
Some tutors are expected to assist students with other aspects of learning in addition to content-specific guidance. One aspect could be to teach students time management techniques. Another is dealing with the difficulties of taking tests. Introducing effective test-taking strategies is one way tutors can help. Helping students anticipate test questions ahead of time or teaching them to breathe and relax during test time are examples of these strategies.
Academic tutors work in some settings, particularly colleges and universities, in exchange for college credit. They are usually required to tutor students for a certain number of hours each week in this situation. Academic tutors may be evaluated on a regular basis by university staff or through written evaluation forms completed by students in some cases.