Best 
Prac*cesinOnlineTutoringinSTEM 
withtheDeafSTEM 
CommunityAllianceVirtualAcademicCommunity(VAC)


Lisa 
B.Elliot,Aus*nU.Gehret, 
StaceyDavis,Raja 
Kushalnagar,&WarrenGoldmannRochesterIns*tuteofTechnologyConven*onofAmericanInstructorsoftheDeaf,
Rochester,NY,June27,2013


Presenta*onOverview 


� 
Introduc*ons
� 
Project 
Background
� 
SynchronousOnlineTutoringinSTEM 
� 
Chemistry
� 
Physics
� 
ComputerScience
� 
AsynchronousOnline 
Tutoring 
� 
Conclusions
� 

Introduc*ons 


� 
Lisa 
B.Elliot,PI,DeafSTEM 
CommunityAlliance
� 
Aus*nU.Gehret,RIT/NTIDFaculty
� 
StaceyDavis,RIT/NTIDFaculty
� 
Raja 
Kushalnagar,RIT/NTIDFaculty
� 
WarrenGoldmann,RIT/NTIDFaculty

WhoWe 
Are 


� 
DeafSTEM 
CommunityAlliance
� 
OnlyAlliancetargetedtosingledisability
� 
SupportedbytheNa*onalScienceFounda*on,HRD#1127955
� 
3-..5yearproject 
(Sept 
2011-..Aug2016) 
� 
Now 
inour 
2ndyear

CampusPartners 




Project 
Ra*onale 


� 
Par*cipa*ongapinSTEM 
forstudentswhoaredeaforhardofhearing(D/ 
HH)
� 
Na*onalaveragegradua*onrateforD/HH 
bachelor�sdegree:23%(vs.73%at 
RIT/NTID)(allsubjects)
� 
Between1997-..2006,420out 
of265,790(~.2%)ofnewSTEM 
PhDswereD/HH 
� 
Employment 
differen*alsinSTEM:
� 
Hearing17.9%v15.5%D/HH 
� 
Hearinginhigher-..earningSTEM 
sectorsthanD/HH 
� 
Contribu*ngbarriers:
� 
Student 
prepara*on(STEM 
basicskills,concepts)
� 
Socializa*on(peers,rolemodels)
� 
Accessiblemedia 

Project 
Ra*onale 


� 
Solu*on:DeafSTEM 
CommunityAlliance 
� 
Student 
prepara*on
� 
Remotetutoring
� 
Remotecap*oning
� 
Remoteinterpre*ng
� 
Socializa*on
� 
Remotementoring
� 
Peerinterac*on
� 
Accessiblemedia 
� 
Curatedcollec*onofSTEM 
resources

GoalandObjec*ves 


� 
Goal
� 
Createmodelvirtualacademiccommunitytoincreasethegradua*onratesofpostsecondaryD/HH 
STEM 
majorsinthelongterm
� 
Modelbuildingfromsoiwareengineeringperspec*ve
� 
Incrementaldevelopment 
(part 
bypart)
� 
Itera*vedevelopment 
(revise&improvewithlessonslearned)
� 
Objec*ves 
� 
Document 
anddisseminatedescrip*onofthe 
processofcrea*ngmodelVACforreplica*on 
� 
IncreasetheGPAsandreten*onratesofD/HH 
studentsinSTEM 
majors

RemoteTutoring 


� 
Startedwithtradi*onal,face-..to-..facemodelusedat 
NTID
� 
Facultymembersprovideindividualandsmallgroupsessionstosupport 
studentsoutsideofclass(appt.based)
� 
2011-..12,RIT/NTIDprovidedmorethan14,000hoursinSTEM 
tutoringtoD/HH 
studentsregisteredincoursesin8STEM-..relatedcollegesat 
RIT(AppliedScience&Technology;Compu*ng&Informa*onScience;Engineering;ImagingArts&Sciences;
Science)(~500students)

RemoteTutoring 




TutoringModels

� 
RITFaculty/RITStudents:(T=6;S=12)
� 
(RIT-..RIT)Facultyinoffice,studentsinnearbylearningcenter
� 
(RIT-..RIT)Facultyinofficeorotherspaceoncampus,
studentsat 
home
� 
RITGradStudent/CamdenStudents(T=1;S=2)
� 
Onlyremote! 
� 
RITOff-..CampusAdjunct/RITStudents(T=1;S=4)
� 
Onlyremote! 
� 
CornellStudent 
Tutor/CornellStudent 
(oralstudent)
(T=1;S=1)

SynchronousTutoring 
Methodology 


� 
1:1tutoringsessions
� 
Google+ 
Hangoutsasvideoconference/chat 
plaporm
� 
1min-..2 
hr 
sessions 
� 
Appointment-..basedscheduling
� 
Homework-..oriented(vs.basicskills)
� 
Macs,PCs,desktops,laptops,Chromebooks 

SynchronousTutoring 
ChemistryAus*nU.Gehret 


� 
5studentstutored-..4courses
� 
Biochemistry:NucleicAcids
� 
Biochemistry:Conforma*on&Dynamics
� 
Biochemistry:Metabolism
� 
General&Analy*calChemistryIII
� 
Toolsused
� 
iMac(built-..iniSightcamera)andwiredinternet 
connec*vity
� 
whiteboard
� 
Shared.pdffiles 
� 
Google+ 
Hangoutsscreenshareop*on
� 
What 
communica*onstrategiesused?
� 
Signing
� 
Chat 

SynchronousTutoring 
ChemistryAus*nU.Gehret 


� 
What 
makesremotetutoringdifferent 
thanface-..to-..facetutoring? 
� 
Greaterneedforclearcommunica*on
� 
Different 
waysofpresen*ngmaterial
� 
Advantages/Benefitsofremotetutoring?
� 
Goodtoolforsharingdocuments
� 
Easytosearch&highlight 
keyphraseswithstudent 
� 
Goodforobservingstudents�homeworkandwatchingformistakes,
providingfasterfeedback
� 
Goodforclasseswithheavyonlinecomponent 
� 
Beteraccommoda*ontostudent 
schedules
� 
Challenges�ANDHOWWERETHEYADDRESSEDOR 
SOLVED?
� 
Needfordigitalwhiteboardtool:usedregularwhiteboard
� 
Idealstudent 
� 
Flexiblecommunica*onstyle

SynchronousTutoring 
PhysicsStaceyDavis 


� 
3studentstutored
� 
CollegePhysics 
� 
UniversityPhysics
� 
Communica*onstrategies�matchedwithstudent 
� 
Chat 
� 
Voice
� 
Sign 
� 
Toolsused(e.g.,whiteboard,chat,models,onlinereferences)?
� 
Chat 
� 
Document 
share
� 
Paper,pencil&camera 

SynchronousTutoring 
PhysicsStaceyDavis 


� 
What 
makesremotetutoringdifferent 
thanface-..to-..facetutoring? 
� 
Easieraccesstotutoringwhenit�sneeded
� 
Advantages/Benefitsofremotetutoring?
� 
Easieraccesstoonlinehomeworkforstudentsandtutors
� 
Easiertoaccommodatetostudent 
schedules
� 
Easytomeet 
withmul*plestudentsat 
thesame*me
� 
Goodfor�aierhour��ondemand�homeworkques*ons
� 
Challenges�ANDHOWWERETHEYADDRESSEDOR 
SOLVED
� 
Hardtousemousefordrawing:paper&pencilcamera 
� 
UnannouncedchangesinGoogle+ 
interface:technicalassistancefromVACmanager
� 
Idealstudent 
� 
Technicallyadept 
� 
Strongreading&mathskills

Synchronous/AsynchronousTutoring 
ComputerScienceRaja 
Kushalnagar 


� 
3studentstutored
� 
Courses:
� 
CS2(Python)IntrotoC++,PerlScrip*ng 
� 
Communica*onstrategiesused:
� 
Synchronous:HangoutsVideo&Chat 
� 
Asynchronous:Email&VPmessages
� 
What 
toolsused(e.g.,whiteboard,chat,
models, 
online 
references)?
� 
Chat,GoogleAppShare

Synchronous/AsynchronousTutoring 
ComputerScienceRaja 
Kushalnagar 


� 
What 
makesremotetutoringdifferent 
thanface-..to-..facetutoring? 
� 
Pros:Cantutorfromanywhere
� 
Cons:Muchhardertosharevisualspace(3Disnot 
possiblenow),eyecontact 
andturntakinghastobemodified)
� 
Advantages/Benefitsofremotetutoring?
� 
Synchronous
� 
Conversa*onaltutoring(test 
prepara*on)
� 
Grouptutoring(test 
review)
� 
Flexibilityfortravel(without 
*medifferences)
� 
Asynchronous
� 
Flexibilityfortravel(with*medifferences)
� 
Challenges�ANDHOWWERETHEYADDRESSEDOR 
SOLVED
� 
Sharingprogrammingapplica*ons
� 
Idealstudent 
� 
Student 
whocanadapt 
to2Dandtoabsenceofeye-..contact 
inturns.

AsynchronousTutoring 
Mathema*csWarrenGoldmann 


� 
Ra*onale:Difficult 
toschedulestudentsduringtradi*onaltutoringhours;provideaddi*onalfeedbackaiersessionconcluded
� 
4Studentstutored
� 
Mul*variablecalculus
� 
Differen*alequa*ons
� 
Data 
analysis
� 
Calculus
� 
Toolsused:
� 
Email
� 
Photos(origina*ngfromeithertutororstudent)
� 
Informa*onalhandouts
� 
Diagrams
� 
Shareddocuments

AsynchronousTutoring 
Mathema*csWarrenGoldmann 


� 
What 
makesremotetutoringdifferent 
thanface-..to-..facetutoring? 
� 
Cangivemoreelaboratedresponses
� 
Advantages/Benefitsofremotetutoring?
� 
Flexiblescheduling
� 
Documentscanbesharedwithotherstudents
� 
Allowsstudentstoformulateques*onsat 
theirownpace
� 
Challenges�ANDHOWWERETHEYADDRESSEDOR 
SOLVED
� 
Helpingstudent 
toproblem-..solve:Haveaccesstomaterialsandtoolsonlinethat 
canbeshared
� 
Idealstudent 
� 
Knowtheright 
ques*onstoask
� 
Well-..preparedwithappropriatereferencematerialsavailable

Conclusions 


� 
RemotetutoringcanbeusedwithvarietyofSTEM 
courses
� 
RemotetutoringusingGoogle+ 
Hangoutscanbeusedwithstudentswithdiversecommunica*onpreferences
� 
Asmoreresourcesandcoursematerialsgoonline,
usingremotetutoringbecomesgoodsolu*onforsharedaccesstomaterials
� 
Remotetutoringaddressesneedsforaccommoda*ngstudent 
schedules
� 
RemotetutoringforSTEM 
coursesisworkinprogress,constantlyevolvingwithchangingtechnologies

A 



Contact 
Informa*on 


� 
Lisa 
B.Elliot,Ph.D.
PI,DeafSTEM 
CommunityAlliancelisa.elliot@rit.eduph:585.475.5229
� 
DeafSTEM 
CommunityAlliancewww.dhhvac.org