Special to the Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
The telephone lines are now open and Internet connections ready for Indiana middle and high school students to receive help on math and science homework through Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s Homework Hotline toll-free tutoring service.
The Homework Hotline is available from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays for Indiana students in grades 6-12 by calling 1-877-275-7673 or submitting a question through the service’s website, www.askrose.org. The website also has been updated with a variety of math and science resource materials.
The Homework Hotline is a free community service, provided by Rose-Hulman and Lilly Endowment Inc. Students and parents may call at no charge.
Persons using the Homework Hotline will be assisted by Rose-Hulman students. Recommended by faculty, tutors are selected for their technical knowledge and ability to communicate clearly. They have access to current math and science textbooks, computers and the Internet. More than 30 tutors are available each night.
“Helping a caller understand a concept is fantastic, and giving a caller the confidence to continue learning on his or her own is even better. That’s what we do: explain concepts and inspire confidence,” said one of the Rose-Hulman tutors. The identities of tutors and callers/online users are kept anonymous.
Homework Hotline tutors answered a record 46,228 calls and 3,405 online tutoring sessions during the 2009-10 school year. That total increased the number of calls received to more than 300,000 since the program’s inception in 1991.
“Our research shows that if a student calls or conducts an online session with our tutors once, the student has such a wonderful experience and gets the desired help, that he or she will call again,” said Susan Smith, director of Homework Hotline. “The Homework Hotline has experienced tremendous success reaching students, educators and community leaders across Indiana.”
The Homework Hotline is not an answer line, but rather an educational resource that reinforces classroom concepts and offers assistance, Smith said.
“I recommend the Homework Hotline to students and parents because I know the caliber of tutors on the other end of the line, as Rose-Hulman is one of the nation’s leading engineering schools,” stated Robert Fischer, math teacher at Honey Creek Middle School in Terre Haute.
Besides working with schools, the Homework Hotline has also developed partnerships with Indiana libraries and school media centers as well as collaborations with community organizations that serve youth.
The Homework Hotline was started in 1991 as a free community service for students in Vigo County.
The program reinforces basic and advanced math and science concepts, supports classroom practices, and helps students develop better problem-solving skills as they prepare for postsecondary education and successful placement in Indiana’s workforce.
