Last September when Dr. Muir, Vice Provost of Academic Affairs, visited ARC to celebrate what tutors have contributed to Mason community.
Photo by Eunmee Lee
Academic Resource Center (ARC) provides tutoring and several other workshops to realize the value of education in Mason Korea. These services help students build and share knowledge through ARC tutors, providing tools for their academic experiences and success. Three subjects are currently available within the tutoring services: English Writing & Communication, Mathematics, and Accounting. There are six tutors in English Writing & Communication, two in Mathematics, and two in Accounting.
The Voice of GMUK conducted interviews with Eunmee Lee, the director of ARC, and Yong Joon Lee, the tutor of ARC, to get detailed information and vivid stories about ARC.
Interview with Eunmee Lee, a director of ARC
Q) What made you launch the ARC service at first?
A) When I began my tutoring services in 2016, it was mainly about English writing, and I put a flier on my office door, ‘Mason Korea Writing Center,’ as I remembered that George Mason University has a writing center at the Fairfax campus. Later, the leadership at that time welcomed my idea and suggested that I add more tutoring services in other areas of study, such as mathematics and accounting, and we officially launched the Academic Resource Center in Spring 2017.
Q) We heard that there was only you at the beginning of ARC. How did you make a systematic service of 10 people?
A) One day, when I officially opened the writing center in my office, the academic dean brought a student to my office, telling me, “Hey, I brought you a mathematics tutor candidate. We need tutoring services for mathematics, and you know how to tutor students. We need somebody who can lead a team of tutors, and you are the right person.” That was the beginning of the history of the ARC. In spring 2017, the university officially launched the ARC with five student tutors in three subjects, and later, we added tutoring in economics and statistics. It was an incremental process of growth that the university made one after another, and I was simply in it.
Q) What was the key element of this successful service?
A) Active collaboration between the tutor and tutee is essential to successful tutoring services. I often observe the tutoring sessions and find real pleasure in working with the tutor and the tutee. A meaningful learning experience is only feasible with the collaboration of students.
Q) How many students use ARC per semester on average?
A) During the previous semester, 287 students met ARC tutors, and nine tutors gave a total number of 880 tutoring sessions. It means a student who used ARC met the tutor three times during the semester on average. The number of users and tutoring sessions is increasing every semester, and I plan to hire more tutors next year to meet students’ needs.
Q) Can you describe your pride in ARC service?
A) I am proud of the student tutors who volunteered to work with peer students and offer invaluable services to the community. I also appreciate that Mason Korea students trust us and come to us to solve problems together. Student tutors and tutees are the core driving power of this program.
Interview with Yong Joon Lee, a tutor of ARC
Yongjoon Lee, math tutor, discusses how to solve the problem with a student.
Photo by Eunmee Lee
Q) When do you feel rewarded doing ARC?
A) I take pride in working as an ARC tutor when students show reactions like “Ah, I perfectly understood!”. Such reactions maximize my internship satisfaction. Moreover, when students tell me that they did well on their exams thanks to my tutoring, that also satisfies me.
Q) What should students be careful about while doing ARC?
A) I struggle when students reserve a tutoring session without carefully reading instructions. Instructions include essential information that a tutor needs to provide better services to students. One more thing to say is, please reserve time when you’re available. No-show after reservation takes other students’ opportunity to get tutoring away.
Q) Can you feel the improvement of students' grades through ARC?
A) I can see clear differences for some students compared to the first time I saw them. They had a deeper understanding of basic concepts and learned how to apply them to complex problems. Students who made good use of tutoring could see much improvement.
Q) How do you manage your time between ARC and your study?
A) Of course, I prioritize my study time first and then fill out the tutoring schedule. My supervisor, professor Eunmee, allows tutors to coordinate their schedules flexibly. Thanks to that, I don’t feel any difficulties balancing ARC and my own study time.
Through these interviews, valuable information about Academic Resource Center was able to be collected. Improved students' academic success through ARC can motivate students to become tutors of the center and makes students more likely to use the service.
Anyone can make an appointment online or visit the center in person to use the tutoring service. Students can select the tutor as well as the subject in which the student wants to receive tutoring. When conducting ARC tutoring, there are the most crucial thing students must keep in mind. When students are tutored on their assignments, they must bring the instructions and rubric so that tutors can efficiently provide sufficient help. Since each individual has different academic achievements and understanding, Academic Resource Center can be a useful tool for students who want to improve their academic achievements, offering equal access to the value of “education.”
Written by Suemin Jeong | Staff Writer
Revised by Yoonhye Cho | Managing Editor
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