Brief
http://ssd.umich.edu/article/what-academic-coachingAcademic Coaching is a working partnership that focuses on the ‘process
of learning.' Together with a professional coach, students examine
their learning styles, habits of working, and current difficulties or
barriers to success. Then together this team (coach and student) works
to create and put in place more effective strategies than are the norm.
The aim is to heighten awareness of what it takes to achieve academic
success and anchor this with new strategies, a supportive relationship,
and personal accountability. (taken from http://ssd.umich.edu/article/what-academic-coaching)_
My Experience
Data from UC Students in Academic Coaching
When I first applied to be an Academic Coach at the end of Fall quarter 2011, I was not entirely sure what to expect. I figured it'd be a lot like tutoring - meet with someone, teach them a new skill and move on.
In reality, Academic Coaching is a lot more. It's a relationship that you may struggle to build with the student. Without that relationship, nothing else will happen; the student must trust you as a person, a peer and a teacher before they will really learn much. And of course there was the obvious difference that I wasn't teaching the student academic content or material.
Meetings would always start with an assessment of the student's strengths and weaknesses. Often, the student struggled to recognize their struggle points and as a consequence, it took longer for them to come around to the exercises and new study patterns we tried to build. After the initial appointment and assessment, we would put together a plan to address the areas including study habits, reading efficiency and comprehension, useful study tools, goal setting, and career goals. Depending on the students situation, they may come in for 1 appointment or they may be mandated for 5 appointments. Some even stay longer and come each week of the quarter. As one can see in the graph above, the more appointments a student completes, the more affect they will see on their GPA. I personally had a student that went from a 1.4 GPA one quarter to a 3.5 GPA the next. That kind of effect is incredible!
The best thing about Academic Coaching wasn't just the feeling of helping someone achieve their academic goals, it was the joy of learning just like the student. With every student, I had a to remain flexible and personalize their learning styles and personality. I was constantly surprised by these students transformed opinions of school and learning - from apathy to passion. And it was always rewarding to see that for the (sometimes) first time in their life, they had achieved a goal. I can't remember how many times the student told me they were "too dumb" for college. Often they were freshman and were blindsided by the nature of college work. And I not only learned more about the skills necessary to being a good teacher, I learned a lot about empathy, patience and engaging people.
Academic Coaching was an absolutely invaluable experience. It was fun, taught me a lot, and even improved my own study skills. Best of all, it has encouraged me to pursue Teaching Abroad and Teach for America. While neither experience is identical to Academic Coaching, I now feel that I have the skills and interest necessary to become a teacher and make a change in more students' lives.
In reality, Academic Coaching is a lot more. It's a relationship that you may struggle to build with the student. Without that relationship, nothing else will happen; the student must trust you as a person, a peer and a teacher before they will really learn much. And of course there was the obvious difference that I wasn't teaching the student academic content or material.
Meetings would always start with an assessment of the student's strengths and weaknesses. Often, the student struggled to recognize their struggle points and as a consequence, it took longer for them to come around to the exercises and new study patterns we tried to build. After the initial appointment and assessment, we would put together a plan to address the areas including study habits, reading efficiency and comprehension, useful study tools, goal setting, and career goals. Depending on the students situation, they may come in for 1 appointment or they may be mandated for 5 appointments. Some even stay longer and come each week of the quarter. As one can see in the graph above, the more appointments a student completes, the more affect they will see on their GPA. I personally had a student that went from a 1.4 GPA one quarter to a 3.5 GPA the next. That kind of effect is incredible!
The best thing about Academic Coaching wasn't just the feeling of helping someone achieve their academic goals, it was the joy of learning just like the student. With every student, I had a to remain flexible and personalize their learning styles and personality. I was constantly surprised by these students transformed opinions of school and learning - from apathy to passion. And it was always rewarding to see that for the (sometimes) first time in their life, they had achieved a goal. I can't remember how many times the student told me they were "too dumb" for college. Often they were freshman and were blindsided by the nature of college work. And I not only learned more about the skills necessary to being a good teacher, I learned a lot about empathy, patience and engaging people.
Academic Coaching was an absolutely invaluable experience. It was fun, taught me a lot, and even improved my own study skills. Best of all, it has encouraged me to pursue Teaching Abroad and Teach for America. While neither experience is identical to Academic Coaching, I now feel that I have the skills and interest necessary to become a teacher and make a change in more students' lives.