How Social Learning Networks Supplement Pedagogies to Increase Students' Understanding

In Snapsolve’s case, Malca says a tutor’s average response time to an academic question is 12 minutes.

“So you can get help right away,” he says. “You’ll be matched with the best tutor we have available to you, which could be someone that was in your class last semester and got an A, or it could be a [teaching assistant] for your class, or another student from another university.”

Malca says that Snapsolve has close to 3,000 tutors, with 1,000 additional applications pending.

“That’s one of the reasons why we have such a good average response time,” he says. “We found the smartest and brightest people; we thought that everyone has something to share. When you sign up as a tutor, you tell us the courses you’ve taken in the past, so that allows us to better match you.”

Alicia Kinert Liebe, Chief Marketing Officer of StudyRoom says social learning networks provide an extra boost for colleges’ pedagogy strategies, and prepare students for the rest of their academic careers in higher education.

“The students need to know what they’re looking for, if they need help, and what their ultimate learning goals are,” she says. “We’re concerned about students not just passing their classes, but getting the knowledge that they need to. A lot of these classes build on other classes and it’s really important that they get the fundamentals down. That’s why we’re focused on getting an explanation with an answer.”

Henry Feng, a rising sophomore and mathematics major at the University of Kansas is a tutor for Snapsolve.

Feng says he signed up to tutor other students in approximately 50 classes, most of which focus on chemistry and math pedagogies.

Since volunteering as a tutor, Feng says he’s seen an increase in students’ understanding of course content.

“Students really enjoy posting questions because now they know there is someone there to answer their questions,” he says.