Math Learning Center makes big difference for many
Like many students, Flora Esparza found herself struggling with math and in need of assistance. After using the Math Learning Center she noticed a huge difference in her grades.
“I’ve used different tutors in the past, but they’ve been able to explain it better, where I’m able to learn it,” Esparza said. “I didn’t use it before, but now that I have, my grade average is higher.”
The Math Learning Center, located in Room 117 in the Coles Building, is open 58 hours a week — 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays. They do not require appointment, walk-ins are welcome and it is free to students with a Del Mar ID.
“We encourage students to come directly after class when the material is fresh on their minds. Even though it’s walk-in based, many times when it is slow, tutors are able to give students undivided one-on-one attention,” said David Longnecker, assistant instructor for the Math Department.
The major difference between the Math Learning Center and other tutoring services offered at Del Mar College for mathematics is that the instructors are not students, they are degreed instructors, proficient in the content students are assigned. They work alongside peer tutors to offer a greater tutor-to-student ratio; however, there will always be an instructor available if a peer tutor isn’t familiar with the material.
Math classes at Del Mar are moving to online-based software rather than books, such as MyMathLab and other programs. The Math Learning Center is not only equipped to accommodate this method, but the instructors are using it in their own classrooms and are familiar and efficient with the programs. Together the instructors have about 75 years’ worth of experience and offer assistance for material covered in dozens of math-oriented classes.
“I know there’s a lot of math anxiety out there, but my advice to students is that we are here to help, we want you to succeed,” Longnecker said.
A huge advantage to using the services is that many instructors offer their students extra credit for going. Students sign in each time they go with their Del Mar ID and then sign out when they leave. The Math Learning Center is then able to submit the records to teachers at any time to ensure students receive credit for time spent at the center.
“I do see a positive difference in the grades of my students who use the Math Learning Center on a regular basis,” said Eric Moller, associate instructor and director of the Math Learning Center. According to Moller, Institutional Research conducted a study for Del Mar College and they showed the more time a student spent in the center, the better their grade will be at the end of the semester.
For more information students can contact the Math Learning Center at 361-698-1579 or visit the website at delmar.edu/math/ MLC.
