Category: Announcements

Left Abruptly + Review State Survey

‘Left Abruptly’ Tag Clarification

While you will typically see this tag applied to sessions in which the tutor ended a session unexpectedly mid-session, it may also be used to indicate that a tutor ended a session without following protocol.

For example, if a tutor ends a session by sending the inactivity message manually before 5 minutes have passed without a student response to their last question, this tag will be applied.* This policy helps ensure our students don’t feel neglected or rushed when working through a problem or when confirming their understanding of a solution.

Checking in with the student by asking questions like “How’s it going?” or “Are you doing okay?” will reset the automated 5-minute inactivity timer and make sure the student is given adequate time and support to complete work on their own. Questions like “Do you have any questions about this problem?” or “Is there anything else I can help you with?” should always be asked before concluding a session to make sure the student doesn’t require further assistance.

*Correction: This post initially mentioned another policy regarding waiting 2 minutes for a student response at the end of a session – this policy has since been removed and will not be considered for the ‘Left Abruptly’ tag.

Answer the questions below to help us continue to improve the Review State for both you and your students. Thanks for your participation!

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— Team Yup

Pushing Information Policies

PUSHING INFORMATION – CONTEXT

In response to parent and user feedback that struggling students did not feel supported by our service, we have been brainstorming ways to make tutors feel more comfortable supporting stumped students in the form of methodically provided hints.

Being methodical is the key here – when supporting information is pushed to students in a way that allows them to continue solving independently, something magical happens. Not only do students no longer become disheartened by the obstacles between them and their solution, but we remain true to our company mission of promoting learning, not merely giving away answers.

To achieve this, we must work on actively helping students move forward on their problems rather than expecting them to make every connection on their own. This is especially important when a student responds to a guiding question with something like “i don’t know” or “no idea.”

OUR FIRST ATTEMPT

At the end of September, we lowered our standard of what “too much help” looks like by changing the definition of the “Gave Answer” tag. However, simply changing the Gave Answer definition did not solve our problem. The change failed to take standard 1.2 (question-based instruction) or standard 3.1 (adapt to student’s needs) into account, both of which are intertwined in the underlying issue of how best to react when a student becomes stuck.

HOW GAVE ANSWER, 1.2 & 3.1 RELATE

While the Gave Answer tag is an upper bound for how much information you can push to your student, Rubric standard 1.2 is a lower bound for how much you must involve your student. Meanwhile, standard 3.1 evaluates your ability to balance pushing and pulling information in a way that engages the student, while still being mindful of their needs and encouraging progress towards Gap Bridged.

GOING FORWARD

RULE OF THUMB: You should always push helpful information to a student who indicates being stuck on a step (“idk”, “im not sure”). In other words, when a student hits a wall, it’s okay to provide support using hints that allow them to continue making progress on the problem.

To clarify how the above Rule of Thumb connects to our rubric and tags, we made the following changes:

– When assessing standard 3.1, we will be looking for the following to take place: “Tutor Pushes helpful information when the student is unable to proceed independently”

– The guideline for standard 1.2 that previously read “Ask guiding questions before giving away new information” will be updated to: “Use guiding questions to understand why the student is stuck before pushing information”. In other words, probing should be taking place throughout the session (not just during the Gap Clarification Phase!) This will tell you what information to push when the student has trouble with your guiding questions.

– The “Gave Answer” tag definition will be updated to the following: “Tutor directly gives the answer* to the student OR fails to involve the student in fundamental steps*”
* “Fundamental steps” are steps that cover the key concepts the problem is testing OR the student’s knowledge gaps
* “Directly giving the answer” includes confirming a solution with no student work to support it

 

Please let us know what questions or uncertainties you have!

— Team Yup

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Tutor Dashboard + Math Typing Tool

Tutor Dashboard Update

This week, Yup’s Engineering Team pushed out a number of fixes to improve Tutor Dashboard performance. One change you may notice is the Tutor Dashboard auto-refreshing every 5 minutes. This is totally normal and will ensure our systems are in sync and running smoothly.

Another change that was made this week was the addition of an inaudible sound which plays silently during the waiting period between sessions. This feature will prevent Chrome from deprioritizing the Tutor Dashboard tab when it’s in the background, solving notification issues some tutors were seeing.

Please take a moment to complete the survey at the bottom of this post so we can continue to improve these features and address any issues you may be experiencing with them.

Math Typing Resources

Missing the math typing function from Whiteboard 1.0? The following websites make writing Latex equations simple and allow you to instantly convert equations into images that can be dragged and dropped onto the whiteboard. Use the Whiteboard 2.0 Practice Link to try them out.

‘Online Latex Equation Editor’
(Hint: Increase the font size to make your equations more reader-friendly.)

‘TeX Equation Editor’
(Hint: Increase the ‘height’ size to make your equations more reader-friendly.)

 

— Team Yup

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Policy Changes, Updates + Grading Delay

New Post-Session Page Policy

Starting this week, spending more than 5 minutes completing the Post-Session categorization page will result in minutes being deducted from your compensation.

While it’s very important to accurately categorize and tag sessions, note that time spent on this page is time you cannot be matched with a new student, resulting in users experiencing higher wait times and requests being dropped.

This policy is in response to a small handful of tutors regularly spending an inordinate amount of time on this page after completing a session rather than making themselves available for the next student.

Session Feedback Delay

As a result of the traffic surge we faced in September, TQMs are still working hard to catch up with grading the large volume of sessions that were completed. We are hoping to post these scores as soon as possible, but there will be a delay with determining rankings and report cards in the meantime. If you’re interested in a position helping grade sessions, don’t forget to take the PlayPosit TQM Course to express your interest.

Review State Length Increasing from 20 to 40 Seconds

Many of you told us in a recent survey that extending the Review Statewould make it more effective. Now that we’ve removed automatic scrolling and settled on the most important Yup Bot questions, we’re ready to raise the maximum Review State time! On Tuesday, October 24th at 10:00 AM PDT, it will increase from 20 seconds to 40 seconds.

It will stay at 40 seconds for at least a week. We’ll then analyze the effect of the change on session outcomes to decide on next steps. As a reminder, here are some guidelines for making the most of the Review State in every session.

New Yup Bot Question Order

When we increase the Review State time limit, we’ll also be making the  question “Have you worked on this material or similar problems before?” the first bot question students are asked instead of the third.

Earlier bot tests have shown that “lighter” questions like this or “How are you feeling about this material?” can increase student engagement with later bot questions. Asking “Have you worked on this material…” may, by increasing engagement with the bot, decrease the number of students canceling their sessions due to longer wait times (while still giving tutors useful information).

 

Let us know what questions you have!

— Team Yup

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UPDATE: Bot Questions + Auto-Scroll

New Bot Questions

Thanks in large part to your insightful feedback, we’ve released a new set of Yup Bot questions!

In your Review State,* you’ll now see the three questions below (and their answers) in the following order:

1. “Have you tried anything or gotten started?”

2. “Want to snap a photo of work you’ve done on this material?”

3. “Have you worked on this material or similar problems before?”

We removed the first and last question from the previous five, as they were the least helpful, and we also changed the order to give you the most helpful information first.

*When your student is using our iOS app (the Yup Bot is still not available for Android users)

Automatic Scrolling Removed from Review State

During your Review State, the chat window in the Tutor Dashboard will no longer automatically scroll down whenever a message is sent by the Yup Bot or the student.

Note: You will now have to manually scroll down if you want to see the student’s latest responses.

Keep up the great work!

— Team Yup