Faculty Resources

LARC tutorials consists of regularly scheduled, out-of-class group sessions. Sessions are facilitated by peers we refer to as LARC Leaders and utilize peer-to-peer activities that focus discussions on key concepts, create study tools and review study strategies. 

LARC’s Tutorial Program supports students in over 35 different courses across multiple schools.

Tutorials target historically difficult, large “gateway” lectures, those that have a large number of students receiving a grade of C-, D, F, or W. Tutorials are designed to support students and are assigned to a course because of the subject being taught, not because of the manner in which it is being taught.

Supplemental Instruction (SI) was first developed in 1973 at the University of Missouri at Kanas City by Dr. Deanna Martin and focuses on student retention, and the act of facilitating learning.

The goal of LARC Tutorials is to create independent learners through student collaboration in sessions where readings, course content, and information are brought together with proven active learning strategies in a collaborative learning environment.

“Taking this was honestly a tremendous help, and I thoroughly enjoyed attending because it was vital to my success and the class was fun.”

“Not only have I discovered new ways to absorb materials, I have also learned so much from my peers. I can’t thank them enough.”

“My LARC tutorials are great learning environments for me because rather than restate what I learned in my lectures, it builds upon that knowledge and increases it.”

“Since starting LARC, I can do the homework without much problem and my grade on my midterm improved dramatically.”

(Attribution: From End of Quarter Anonymous Survey Evaluations)

A flat fee per quarter (per tutorial course) helps pay LARC leaders and supports our program, charged to the student’s ZotAccount at the end of the Quarter. With over 20 hours of sessions each quarter, this is much more affordable than private tutoring and provides student jobs.

Students may be eligible for LARC sponsorships through Student Success Initiatives (SSI), Housing, Athletics, or any willing departments. Please tell your students that they can check with these departments prior to the end of 2nd week of any quarter to see if they qualify.

Leaders for a particular course are recruited and interviewed from among the top students who recently completed that course. LARC Leaders are Academic Student Employees of UCI so they belong to the same union as TAs and graders although their job functions differ greatly.

Concurrent to teaching, new LARC Tutorial Leaders participate in a credit/no credit course (Uni Stu 175: Methods in Small Group Instruction). This course is taught by the LARC Director & LARC Supplemental Instruction Coordinator that develops their pedagogical content knowledge and facilitation skills. By the end of the pedagogy course, Leaders should be able to:

• Apply basic theories and principles concerning how learners experience information
• Design and implement their own collaborative activities for effective small group facilitation
• Provide written analysis of the methods they have implemented and evaluate their own performance
• Improve as a peer facilitator through coordinator and peer feedback
• Develop awareness of the ways in which intellectual & cultural diversity impact learning
• Develop critical thinking & leadership skills they can use in their professional life