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For the 13th consecutive year, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's Homework
Hotline has set records for helping Indiana middle and high school students
better understand mathematics and science. The free tutoring service answered
44,323 calls during the 2008-09 school year.
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Busy Tutors: Rose-Hulman
Institute of Technology
students serve as Homework
Hotline tutors, helping
Indiana middle school and
high school students
understand math and science
through free telephone, chat
and email services. |
The total tops the 44,151 calls received last year and puts the Homework Hotline
at servicing 265,752 callers since being supported by the Lilly Endowment in
2002.
“The Homework Hotline continues to answer the call from students across Indiana
that need personal attention while doing their homework at night, along with
being a valuable resource for Indiana teachers,” stated Homework Hotline
Director Susan Smith. “We’re also taking advantage of new technology for the
Homework Hotline to help students.”
Approximately 30 tutors, specially selected Rose-Hulman students, were available
to answer calls from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Sundays through Thursdays, from early
September through May 14.
Also, the Homework Hotline added an online, real-time tutoring component that
featured a user-friendly equation editor with mathematical and scientific
symbols. The service received 1,375 chat and 1,842 email requests in 2008-09,
and recently received a top award in the “Education Contribution to Technology
by a Department Program or Team” from TechPoint, Indiana’s only statewide
technology initiative.
“We’re encouraged to see our telephone numbers continue to increase, while our
services are also being enhanced through online opportunities,” Smith stated.
“We’re always looking at creative ways to have a valuable role in the
educational process.”
Tutoring and reference materials available through the Homework Hotline's Web
site (www.askrose.org) are enhancing student interest in math and science,
reinforcing basic concepts and helping students develop better problem-solving
skills, according to Kimberly LaComba, the Homework Hotline’s assistant director
for outreach, planning and marketing. She noted that each homework inquiry
receives an individual response from a student tutor, and that 99 percent of
students surveyed reported that they were comfortable with how the tutor talked
them through the problem while 99.6 percent stated they would recommend the
Homework Hotline to others.
More than 100 Rose-Hulman students served as tutors this school year. The group
is composed of 14 different mathematics, science and engineering majors.
Math inquires continue to be the area receiving the most assistance requests,
through telephone, email or chat -– totaling 77 percent of inquires. Tutors
addressed 17 percent science-related service requests and six percent
miscellaneous requests during the school year.
The Homework Hotline received calls from every Indiana county this school year.
Counties having the largest call volumes were Marion County (Indianapolis),
4,913 calls; Hamilton County (Carmel/Noblesville/Fishers), 2,763; Allen County
(Fort Wayne), 1,989; Lake County (Gary/Merrillville), 1,670; St. Joseph County
(South Bend), 1,318; Hendricks County (Avon/Brownsburg/Plainfield), 1,124;
Porter County (Valparaiso), 974; Vigo County (Terre Haute), 927; and Howard
County (Kokomo), 807.
The Homework Hotline was originally launched in 1991 to help students in the
Vigo County School Corporation. Lilly Endowment grants have helped the service
become a statewide educational resource since 2002-03.
“Our continued success wouldn't be possible without the strong support of Lilly
Endowment Inc., Rose-Hulman and our dedicated student tutors," Smith stated.
Information about the Homework Hotline can be found at www.askrose.org.
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