If you haven’t heard of Cramster it’s definitely worth checking out.  Their site does a great job of offering students homework help and the site is huge with over 120,000 active members.

It’s a great alternative or complement to tutoring because instead of meeting an individual tutor one-on-one, you can interact with subject experts in online forums and online study groups.  Subject experts (many of them professors) will answer your questions online instead of meeting in person.

For Current Tutors…

You may be interested in becoming a subject enthusiast on their site.  By answering student’s questions you can earn karma points to earn rewards (like Amazon.com gift certificates).  Some subject enthusiasts even obtain paid positions with Cramster.

For Current Students & Parents…

Check out Cramster’s pages for students or parents.  If you (or your child) are the type of student who might benefit more from online help over time as opposed to a private one-on-one tutor, then this could be a good resource for you.

Conclusion

Have you used Cramster?  What other homework help resources have worked well for you or your child?  Feel free to post a comment below with your thoughts.

Until next time, keep raising those grades…
Brian Armstrong
UniversityTutor.com

It’s worth identifying your own type and also the type of anyone you are trying to teach.  For example, you may make little progress with an auditory learner by forcing them to write words over and over again, while quizzing them out loud is a breeze.

This also helps explain why one particular learning technique can be very effective for one student and not another.  We all learn differently.

Types of Learners:

VISUAL LEARNERS

• Visual learners learn primarily through the written word and sight.
• They learn well on their own.
• They tend to be readers who diligently take down every word.
• Provide them with written materials and exercises
• Have them write key words and take notes while reading
• Use visuals or graphics
• They will do best reviewing topics in a text book or reviewing their own written notes

AUDITORY LEARNERS

• Auditory learners learn primarily through listening and talking with others.
• They learn well in groups.
• They focus their ears and attention on your words, listening carefully to everything you say.
• They like to talk rather than write and relish the opportunity to discuss what they’ve heard.
• They will do best reviewing topics in a group by discussing them and quizzing each other out loud.

KINESTHETIC LEARNERS

• Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing and moving their body.
• This group learns best when they can physically practice what they’re learning.
• They want to have their hands on the keyboard, the hammer, or the test tube because they think in terms of physical action.
• Encourage underlining and highlighting.
• Provide real-life simulations and examples
• Offer hands-on activities 

To conclude, here is a first hand story from Kathryn Lay on the power of understanding “learning types”…

Michelle stared at her math homework with tears in her eyes. “I just can’t memorize this stuff,” she said.

It irritated me and frustrated her. I couldn’t understand why memorizing the multiplication tables was so hard. It wasn’t until I understood that my daughter is a kinesthetic, or hands-on, learner that I realized it really was difficult, and the difficulty wasn’t from lack of trying.

It may not be what your child is learning that is frustrating her, but how she is learning–using visual, auditory, or kinesthetic strengths.

According to Cheri Fuller, author of Unlocking Your Child’s Learning Potential, “Learning style entails how a person best takes in, understands, and remembers information.” She concludes that, “while most of us learn in all three ways…in most children, one sense is usually more finely tuned and influential for learning than the others.”

Is it the math, or the manner of learning the math that causes your child problems? The science, or the approach to science? Do you know your child’s learning style? How could you use this knowledge to help in the learning process, both at home and at school?

Once you find your child’s learning style, you can also find ways to help difficult subjects become easier.

Sure, I understand the reason behind it.  We don’t want kids copying off each other on the test and skipping out on learning!  But is it possible we’ve gone too far?

You see, in the real world (i.e. having a job, running your own business, being president of the U.S., or whatever you end up doing) successful people are masters of surrounding themselves with OTHER PEOPLE who complement their weaknesses.

A successful business owner doesn’t have to understand all the nuances of tax law.  He hires a qualified CPA to do that!  A doctor doesn’t have to understand how to put people to sleep during surgery, he has an anesthesiologist to do that.  And the president doesn’t have to understand the details of how interest rates affect home prices because he has the chairman of the federal reserve to advise him.

Everyone is good at different things, but our school system asks students to be a little bit of everything, and it can make school a very unpleasant place for many children.  Say we take a student who excels at math and science and ask him or her to write a 25 page essay on Hamlet.  They may be frustrated and bored.  Likewise, to ask an aspiring young playwright to take a test on calculus will simply make them feel inadequate and stupid.  

And then there are children who excel in something totally unrelated to school, such as making people laugh (the class clown), bringing groups together (people skills and natural leaders), or artists.  By traditional standards these students have “failed” in our school system.  Yet in reality, they are just very good at something our school system doesn’t reward.

Many great minds and successes have been utter failures in our school system.  Jay Leno, Albert Einstein, Woody Allen, and William Faulkner just to name a few.

In summary, never be afraid to word in groups when doing homework or preparing for a test, unless a teacher expressly forbids it.  When in doubt, don’t ask for permission to do it.  Just do it!  A well meaning teacher may say “no” if you ask when they are really just trying to discourage blatant copying.

Surround yourself with the best students in the class and work on assignments together.  They will compliment areas where you are weaker, and you’ll help them in areas where you are stronger.  You may find that you learn more in your study group than in class, and you will have discovered one of the great keys to success in life: surround yourself with great people.

What has been your experience in working with other students?  Do teachers in your area generally encourage or discourage this?