With the tediousness of math courses, students often find what they think might be the easiest solution to end their math troubles; they eventually drop their math courses without realizing they could have gone somewhere for help.

The Math Study Center, located in MCS 213, offers recourses that might be much needed by those who are struggling with their math courses.

“Our program mainly consists of tutors in which a certified, part-time instructor is there from beginning to end, every day. Then, from ten-thirty to four p.m., a second advanced tutor comes in to help,” Eric Wang, Math Tutoring coordinator, said.

The Math Study Center takes into consideration when their peak hours occur, and so have taken action to ameliorate these circumstances, Wang said.

“At every peak time, we have about seventeen or eighteen students. We are very flexible with our peak times and so we try to add more than three tutors at a time,” Wang said.

Besides the certified, part-time tutors, there are also three peer tutors available, Wang said.

“Our math dean came up with the idea of making an attendance survey to figure out our peak times and this, in turn, helps us to know when we will need more tutors ahead of time,” Wang said.

Here, students are able to acquire many advantages they might not have in their math classes, Wang said.

“We offer one-to-one tutoring and that is very important because in the classroom, an instructor cannot pay too much attention to any one student. These instructors have a busy schedule they have to follow,” Wang said.

“At the Math Study Center, students can ask their own questions, get help and work at their own pace,” Wang said.

Peer tutors are required to acquire experience and training before working with students to offer help, Wang said.

“First, I put new tutors in a classroom teaching beginning math courses like Math 10B and Math 23,” Wang said. “They help the instructors answer questions during group studies; Then, after a few semesters, I move the tutors into the center.”

Students often fill out evaluations for the center. According to the evaluations tallied so far, more than 95 percent of the students had positive comments, Wang said.

“Most of their comments are good, ‘Great tutors; Very helpful and nice; Explained concept well,'” Wang said, as he went down a list, reading the students’ comments on their evaluation forms.

Ernest Griffin, 19, business major, is a frequent visitor of the Math Study Center and said he has learned when the best times are to get help.

“It provides you with a lot of help,” Griffin said. “Sometimes it’s not so helpful when there aren’t enough tutors. Fridays, you don’t get enough help, but Tuesdays and Thursdays is when there are good tutors and there are enough of them to help you out.”

Though the center offers ample resources for the most part, Griffin said it would be helpful if the center provided textbooks for students to borrow while they visit the center.

“A lot of students get their textbooks stolen and others don’t have the money to buy them,” Griffin said.

“I know they’re available in the library, but it would be more convenient to have everything in one place,” he said.

Nicole Smith, 23, communications major, said she visits the center at least three times a week.

“It helps me a lot. Most tutors are helpful, but the tutors at the tables are really good,” Smith said, pointing to the certified tutors.

In order for the use of the services to be available, students must be currently enrolled in a math course and are required to give some personal information, Wang said.

“We ask them to fill out a sheet that includes their name, math course they are currently taking and ID number,” Wang said.

Though the services have not been adjusted to fit the needs of certain handicapped students, Wang said he would definitely consider doing something about this situation.

“The room is big enough for those in a wheelchair, but for those who are blind or deaf, we really couldn’t help them at the moment,” Wang said.

“If the department handling these issues should contact me, however, we can make special arrangements with them,” he said.

Don Goldberg, dean of mathematical sciences, said that as another source for help in mathematics, some students prefer to use the Math Computer Lab, located in MCS 8.

“It’s open just as many hours as the Math Study Center and some people get more out of working with computer software because they’re too shy to ask somebody for help,” Golberg said.

“There are a lot of resources for students on campus,” Golderg said. “Not only in math, but also the English Writing Center and the appointment tutors that we have here on a lot of subjects.”

Study Center Hours

MCS 213

Monday and Thursday
9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Tuesday and Wednesday
10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Friday and Saturday
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

closed Sunday
Computer Lab (MCS 8, basement)

Monday to Thursday
9:10 a.m. to 7:50 p.m.

Friday
9 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.

Saturday
10:10 a.m. to 1:50 p.m.

closed Sunday