One of the questions students often ask is why go to a private tutor when there are tutoring centers, or free tutoring services available on campus or in town. While those options may seem appealing from a cost-perspective and convenience, the reality is large-group lessons and on-campus tutoring are not as beneficial as private, one-on-one or small-group tutoring.
Here are several reasons why private tutoring is significantly better than large group lessons.
1. Full Attention from the Tutor.
When you attend a one-on-one or small-group tutoring (up to 4 students), you receive the full attention from the tutor. They are not dividing their attention among 25, 50 or even 100 students as they would in a large tutoring center. The tutor is not going to be distracted with completing their own homework or thinking about their next class, as some on-campus tutors may be.
With large-group classes, the tutor has to balance the needs of many students with varying levels of ability, learning styles, and challenging concepts. Therefore, the tutor must compromise to accommodate the entire class. For example, if you are in a large group lesson, and are struggling with a topic that everyone else in the class finds easy, what usually happens? Either everyone has to wait while the instructor addresses you, and as a result you feel like you’re in the “hot seat”, or you are left behind while the instructor moves on to help the rest of the class.
Simply put, large group lessons are not as effective as private one-on-one or small group tutoring. When you attend a small-group or one-on-one tutoring, you are receiving the tutor’s full attention for the duration of the session, not 1/100th or 1/50th of the tutor’s attention.
2. Improved Focus.
How many times are you in class and the instructor goes over a problem that the entire class seems to understand but you? When you ask your instructor to review the problem again, your classmates sigh and appear bored and you say “forget it”, while feeling somewhat embarrassed. When you attend a private or small-group tutoring session, you can ask the tutor to rework the problem as many times as you like without fear of being shamed for not understanding the concept the first time. You can focus on the exact problem you want, not the problem that everyone else is struggling with. Private tutoring allows you to spend time on the material you need help with the most, not the material you’ve mastered but someone else needs help with.
Further, when you attend a one-on-one or small group tutoring, you have greater interaction with the tutor because you are not distracted by classmates shuffling papers, flipping pages, or someone asking questions that you already know the answers to. Since you are working on the problem you want to work on, your motivation will be higher, and your attention span will be stronger, which will help you be more successful in understanding the concepts you need help with.
3. Less Distractions, Less Pressure.
This point overlaps with the previous point of asking questions in class, only to be met with bored sighs and looks from classmates who know the answers. When you attend a private tutoring session, or small group session, you are in a safe, comfortable environment where you can ask questions without fear of being judged, or worrying about what your classmates think. In private or small group tutoring, there is no fear of sounding “stupid”, or being laughed at, because it is just you and the tutor, or you and three of your classmates that you trust, are comfortable with, and chose to attend a tutoring session with.
Furthermore, in private or small group tutoring, you will not be distracted by someone’s cell phone, another student flipping pages, or surfing the web on their laptop, whispered private conversations coming from other students or noise outside the room. With private or small group tutoring, you will be working one-on-one, in a comfortable environment with out any distractions.
4. Customized Lesson Plans.
Imagine this familiar scenario. You are stuck on Chapter 5, while the rest of the class is already on Chapter 7. You go to the tutoring center on campus, or you attend a tutoring “class” with 30-40 students, hoping to get individual help on Chapter 5. The instructor sets you up with a problem from Chapter 5, goes over it with you for 10-15 minutes, then moves onto Chapter 7 to help the rest of the class leaving you feeling frustrated and hopeless.
When you attend a private tutoring session, you can work on Chapter 5 for the entire session! The tutor will not gloss over it and say, “let’s move to Chapter 7”. The benefit of a private tutoring or small-group tutoring session is you can work on exactly what you want for as long as you want. In a small group session, you can form your own group with your classmates who need help with the same topics as you, so the lesson is completely personalized to your needs.
5. Establish a Personal Connection with The Tutor.
When you attend private or small group tutoring sessions, you will be able to form a student-teacher bond with the tutor. You have the tutor’s full attention for the duration of the session. During this time, the tutor is able to learn your strengths and weaknesses and your individual needs. In a large group tutoring, this is not possible since the instructor may struggle just to remember the names of all 30, 40 or 50 students!
Creating a personal connection with the tutor helps improve your motivation, confidence, and learning since you can trust that the tutor can and will pinpoint the areas you struggle with, while providing you with the assistance you need to be successful. Furthermore, you can rely on the fact that you will be working with the same tutor each time you attend a session. With large-group tutoring, or even on-campus tutoring, you may not work with the same tutor from one session to the next, leaving you feeling apprehensive that you have to get to know the tutor all over again.
6. Student-Tutor Ratio and Cost Effectiveness.
Based upon the cost per session, it may seem quite appealing to attend a large-group tutoring session from a tutoring center that may charge only $25 per hour rather than paying $75 per hour for one-on-one tutoring. However, keep in mind the old adage you get what you pay for. Large tutoring centers operate for profit. Their main priority is filling as many seats as possible to make as much money as possible so they can cover the costs of operating such a large center.
While you may only pay $25 per session in a large-tutoring session, you would probably need to attend multiple sessions before you really understand the material. Three large-group sessions would equal one, personalized one-on-one session where you can get 100% of the tutors direct attention.
Further, large tutoring sessions hire tutors who approach the position as a job. While the tutors and instructors are knowledgeable in the subject matter, there is a strong chance that those tutors do not have the passion and commitment to student success that private tutors have. Private tutors want to help students achieve their educational goals and have the passion and commitment to work with students to help them understand challenging concepts.
7. Convenience!
When you attend a large-group tutoring session or free, on-campus tutoring sessions, you are limited to the availability of the tutoring center hours. These hours may not be convenient for your schedule to include weekends or evenings. When you attend one-on-one tutoring, you have the flexibility and opportunity to schedule the tutoring session at your convenience instead of when the center is open, or when the next session on a particular topic is being offered.
Contact Success in Accounting for One-On-One Help! Dr. Christine Errico can help you overcome your struggles in learning accounting. You can work with Dr. Errico one on one, or with a few of your classmates in a private tutoring session focused on exactly what you want to learn at a time that is convenient for you. Dr. Errico will help you understand accounting so you can have the tools and knowledge necessary to be Successful in Accounting!