Yes, the dreaded ‘M’ word! The most recent marker of your achievement in your courses! Everything that you've learned this semester has been leading up to this moment! Are you prepared?

We’re sure some of you have already signed up for weekly appointment tutoring (you can now do so through our Facebook page! Just click the sign up button). We know some of you have been regularly visiting our Math Lab and Writing Center (now in one convenient location).

But for those of you who have the option, have you tried S.I.?

Supplemental Instruction, or S.I. for short, are peer assisted study sessions conducted by S.I. leaders. S.I. are trained students who have taken the class before and passed with a high grade. At an S.I. session, leaders will guide students through core concepts of the course and will share the strategies they used to be successful in the course.  The study sessions are informal seminars where students review notes, discuss readings, develop organizational tools and prepare for examinations.

 

S.I. is designed for courses that have been considered historically difficulty. Currently, S.I. if offered for the following courses:

If you are currently in any of those courses, check out the S.I. schedule to find the best session for you!

Happy studying!

This post goes out to all you wonderful STEM majors and you wonderful Arts, Humanities, and Social Science majors who are just trying to fulfill your Math and Science GEP requirements. The semester is really picking up! Most of you have had your first quizzes and some of you have even had your first test. Hopefully, everything went well. If so, great! If not, this post is for you!

If you haven't already heard, the Learning Resources Center operates a walk-in Math Lab where you can get help with many 100 level and 200 level Math courses! We also offer limited walk-in science tutoring if you have quick questions and don't want to commit to our weekly appointment tutoring (which is pretty awesome, by the way).

Are you on the fence about visiting? Have a few questions? Hopefully, this post will answer them all!

The Math Lab has moved! We are currently located next to the Writing Center in the A.O.K Library. We're open Monday through Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

It might be easier to list the Math courses that we don't tutor! We offer: MATH 100, MATH 106, MATH 131 (during the semesters that it is offered), MATH 132 (during the semesters that it is offered), MATH 150, MATH 151, MATH 152, MATH 155, MATH 221, MATH 225, MATH 251, and MATH 301. We also have tutoring for STAT 121 and STAT 355. Some of these courses are only tutored at certain times. Check our website for more information.

We dabble. We offer tutoring at certain times for CHEM 101, CHEM 102, CHEM 351, PHYS 111, PHYS 112, PHYS 121, and PHYS 122. We also offer tutoring for ENES 101, ENME 110, and ENCH 215, for all you engineers out there. 

Is the Math Lab the same thing as the Math Gym?

Not exactly. While both places can offer you help with Math, the Math Lab tutors you based on what questions you have for the current class material. The Math Gym helps you strengthen your basic Math skills through supplementary work. Both offer different things, but they both are designed to help you succeed in Math. We definitely recommend both!

Have a question that wasn't answered by this FAQ? Post it in the comments or on our Facebook page!

 

Hi Retrievers!

We are officially in the fourth week of the semester, which means it’s time to talk about one of the LRC’s lesser known programs! The Early Alert Program (formerly known as the First Year Intervention) is one of the many services that the Learning Resources Center offers UMBC students. The purpose of the program is to let students know that they are in danger of receiving a D or F in a certain course. From now through March 30th, you may receive an alert in myUMBC. So before you panic (and please don’t panic!), we are here to answer some of your questions about alerts!

Uh oh! Your professor sent you an alert because you are in danger of receiving a D or an F in that course. The first thing you should do is to contact your professor to figure out what your exact grade is and what you can do about it. Next, visit our Action Resource Center to see if there’s any services at UMBC that can help you improve your grade.

It is possible, but you could just barely be passing. If you are in a course that has a second level to it (such as MATH 150, or BIOL 141), you MUST receive a C or higher to move on to the next level. If you are trying to fulfill your GEP requirements with a course, you MUST have a C or higher for it to count. This is why we ask professors to let you know if you are in danger of receiving a D.

So remember, if you get an alert, don’t panic! Talk to your professor and figure out what you need to do to be successful in your course.

Did we miss a few questions? Ask them in the comments section below, or you can post them on our Facebook page!

Greetings Retrievers!

You all know that the Learning Resources Center offers free tutoring for UMBC students. You know that we have weekly appointment tutoring available to you for pretty much every 100-level and 200-level course at UMBC. You know about our awesome Writing Center and our amazing Math Lab, now in its new location on the first floor of the library. But do you know about our tutors? The exemplary UMBC students who devote their time and use their skills to help students just like you? Well, now’s your chance to get better acquainted!

Welcome to our new monthly feature called “Get to Know a Tutor!”

Our first profiled tutor hails from Ocean City, MD! Meet Maura Smith!

So, Maura, tell us a bit about yourself and what you’re studying.

I’m a Health Administration & Public Policy and Political Science double major, with an Information Systems minor. I’m also on track for the Accelerated Master of Public Policy.

That’s amazing! Are you involved with any other projects on campus?

I’m currently an IT and Research intern for Real Food UMBC, I’m on the finance board for The Garden, and I participate in Global Brigades.

I’ve been tutoring since the second semester of my freshman year, so that’s five semesters total.

I’m primarily a tutor for STAT 121, but I also tutor a variety of HAPP related courses and anything with a statistics component.

I became a tutor following a recommendation from my Statistics instructor, Bonnie Kegan.

My favorite thing about tutoring is having really productive sessions that both further the student’s understanding of the material and frame it in terms of the student’s major.

What do you recommend students bring with them when they attend your sessions?

In order to have good sessions, students need to come with specific questions and topics. We can go over homework or past quizzes, whatever the student wants. If a lot of students come, then we have mini-lectures. 

If you need help with Statistics, you can find Maura in the Math Lab every Monday and Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Before you begin your quest for academic excellence, let’s cover a few of the basics with a handy FAQ about Appointment Tutoring.

“How do I get a tutor?”

Sign up online through our website! Because it’s a Google form, make sure you log into myUMBC and check your mail, which will in turn sign you into your UMBC google account. Our form is UMBC exclusive, meaning that you will not be able to see it unless you are signed into your UMBC google account.

After you sign up for tutoring, you will receive a weekly (yes, weekly) appointment with one of our trained peer tutors. Our appointment tutoring is small group, meaning that no more than 3 other people will be tutored with you at the same time.

Bring your textbooks, your questions, and a willingness to learn! Our tutors are here to help you, but they can’t if you’re not prepared for an active learning session.

Unfortunately, no. The purpose of LRC tutoring is to help you learn the material, not cram for a test. We want you to be successful, not just in one class but all of your classes as well. The best way to do that is to learn the material now and work through it with consistent support.

Check your UMBC Google calendar! You should have a weekly event. If you can’t make it, you need to email the Learning Resources Center. Clicking “no” on the event isn’t enough.

The short answer to that question is to check our website. We tutor mostly 100-level and 200-level courses, with a few 300-level courses for good measure. If your course isn’t listed, you can always request it on our website. 

Hopefully you're staying warm and dry on this blustery first day of classes. The wind may be howling (or not, but you get the idea), but classes are in full swing, so let's go!

...what's that you say? You don't have your schedule together yet? You're still waiting to take a Placement Test?

Well, the wait is over! We will have walk-in Placement Testing at our office starting today, at 12 p.m.!

That doesn't work for you? Check out the attached flyer for additional dates and times.

The last day to register for classes is February 6, 2015! So get your test and get crackin'! 

The online window will run from Tuesday, November 4th through Tuesday, November 11th. If you need to sign up, email placement@umbc.edu. Include your name, campus ID, and "I want to sign up for the online window" in the body of the email.

Oh, and if you want more information about the Math Placement Test, you can find that information on our website.

Happy Testing, everyone!