Learning How to Learn

The majority of schoolwork students experience often focuses on following a fixed checklist of tasks. Although conscientiously following instructions is a crucial point of success in both school and life, students need to engage deeper with their subjects to truly grasp the material. Just filling in the blanks on a worksheet or meeting a weekly quota of Duolingo exercises for their Spanish class won't promote mastery in students.

At Andover Tutoring Scene, we have recognized that many students are no longer inclined to think for themselves. A major culprit is digital learning. For example, due to the ease of search functions in online textbooks, fewer and fewer students are learning how to properly analyze written information. Additionally, since many assignments are essentially paint-by-numbers, students miss out creating bigger connections within the context of the work they're doing. Discussion-based learning promotes higher levels of thought.

At Andover Tutoring Scene, we believe in the strength of discussion-based learning. Every student is different and requires active engagement with their tutor and the material. We even encourage our students to be able to teach back what they have learned to their tutor to ensure they fully grasp the concepts. Our approach of turning our students into teachers exercises their minds and grows their abilities to think broadly.

In fact, some of our exceptional former students are now tutors themselves. Mackenzie Bystrek, one of our top elementary tutors, came to Andover Tutoring Scene for help with her Math ACT score. After first-hand experiencing our teaching methodology, she now has an engineering scholarship to KU and helps younger students with their math work.

Comment below if you have any additional insights into how we all as parents, educators, and students can better improve learning outcomes for our educational system!