The Learning Centre provides support primarily for first and second semester courses and in foundational areas such as writing, English language, math, learning skills and basic computers.
Third and fourth semester courses may also be supported depending on demand and availability.
The Learning Centre requires students to provide their student identification number, name and course/program information when booking or receiving Learning Centre services. This information is available to Learning Centre full-time staff and is shared only within Seneca for the purposes of collecting statistical usage data and assessing services.
The Learning Centre will never share individual student information with professors, other faculty, or students.
Students are expected to bring their own materials/supplies to the Learning Centre (e.g. pens, pencils, notebooks, calculators, textbooks, laptops, etc.). Learning Centre computers may not always be available for a tutoring session (dependent on the volume of students using Learning Centre services).
Student Guidelines
Students in the Seneca Learning Centre are governed by Seneca Polytechnic’s Academic and Behavioural Policies, which include but are not limited to:
The Learning Centre’s facilities should be used for students attending Learning Centre services.
Students may be permitted to use the Learning Centre as a space to study if the activity level within the Centre is accommodating and there will be no disruption to students receiving Learning Centre services or to the staff who administer those services. Students not receiving Learning Centre services may be asked to stop using the Learning Centre computers if another student requires it as part of Learning Centre support.
Private tutoring is not permitted in the Learning Centre.
Students using the Learning Centre, who are may need to be escorted around the campus, must ask security or another applicable staff member at Seneca to provide this service.
Service Usage Guidelines
Booking One-on-One Appointments:
To ensure fair access to our services, students may book up to 3 one-on-one peer tutoring or coaching appointments per week.
Appointments are offered online via Zoom and in person at the Learning Centre physical locations.
Students are permitted to book up to 2 appointments per day provided that the appointments are for different subjects or skills and are not booked back-to-back. The Learning Centre reserves the right to change or limit access to one-on-one appointments.
Appointments open for booking six days in advance in the booking system. Standing or fixed appointments are prohibited for all students.
Appointments can be cancelled up to 3 hours before the scheduled start time.
Students are allowed 2 missed appointments within a semester, which are marked as “no-shows” in the booking system. Once the student misses their third appointment, they will temporarily be blocked from booking further one-on-one appointments. Blocked students may remain blocked for the duration of one to four weeks.
If a student is more than 10 minutes late for an appointment, the appointment may be given to another student.
Students are permitted to have Group Tutoring appointments with a maximum of 3 students at the discretion of the Peer Tutor and/or Learning Centre Coordinator.
Tutoring Sessions:
The role of a tutor is to facilitate a student’s learning. Students are expected to come prepared for their appointments with relevant questions and course related content.
Tutoring sessions focus on providing explanations and demonstrations, where appropriate.
Tutors do not teach new concepts, or at any point take the role of a professor. Tutors may only reinforce course content already covered in class.
Tutors do not proofread assignments, essays, papers, take home exams or any other graded work.
Tutors do not provide answers for assignments or graded work.
Tutors are prohibited from assisting students with completing assignments and take-home exams.
Tutors are prohibited from making comments about a student’s grade or graded work.
Workshops:
Workshops offered in the Learning Centre offer support for the foundational subjects (English, writing, math and learning skills) as well as foundational program support (in courses considered foundational to a program – first and second semester courses, possibly third and fourth semester)
Students are eligible to request workshops, and Learning Centre Staff will make efforts to provide requested support based on the scope of support (foundational only), demand and tutor availability. Not all workshop requests may be met.
Students must register for all workshops they wish to attend in order to have a secure spot in the workshops.
Students are responsible for arriving on time to workshops to ensure understanding of all material presented.
If students do not show up within the first 10 minutes of the workshop, their spot may be given to another student.
In general, no more than 30 students are permitted per workshop in order to keep sessions interactive.
Students attending workshops must be prepared to actively participate and bring supporting content if requested by workshop facilitator.
Supported Learning Groups (SLG):
Supported Learning Groups are peer-led and collaborative study sessions for students to practice course concepts, discuss anticipated test questions and review notes.
Students are expected to actively participate in SLG sessions, bring their course materials and work in a collaborative fashion with their classmates. Only students attending the SLG sessions will have access to the handouts.
SLG attendance is voluntary.
Students are allowed to attend an unlimited number of SLG sessions provided they are currently enrolled in the corresponding SLG-supported course.
Students may be questioned about enrollment in specific SLG-supported classes; therefore, students must be prepared to show Learning Centre staff their current class schedule or similar adequate proof of enrollment.
SLG sessions are intended to review course content discussed in class during the preceding week.
Question-and-Answer (Q&A) sessions are offered alongside SLG sessions to provide students with the opportunity to revisit and reinforce course concepts that are not addressed in the SLG sessions during a specific week.
Supported Learning Group leaders are not allowed to introduce new content or comment on assignments or graded work during SLG sessions or Q&A sessions.
Students are encouraged to refer to their professors for support and specific course-related questions that cannot be addressed during SLG sessions or Q&A sessions.
