Peer-Led Academic Support Networks: A Pathway to Provide Equity in Difficult Courses in Higher Education

Course number: ACCY 1 (Accountancy Fundamentals)

EC Tutor, Learning Partnerships, Cultural Responsiveness

Reflection on implementation of Embedded Content Tutor support in my course:

The embedded tutor program provided equity to students by giving them enhanced opportunities to accessing support in the course, beyond what can be provided by the instructor alone. Because the tutor was able to work one-on-one with the students who wanted the assistance, it was possible to meet them where they were and help them in a more individualized manner than may be possible in a classroom setting.

I have learned that culture is an important factor that influences how students learn and when it is acknowledged and incorporated in the learning process, it can enhance student learning. This may be at the simple level of enabling students to feel seen, heard and included merely by creating the space for them share their cultural values or at deeper levels of incorporating diverse cultural aspects into the course content.

One equity activity I would like to do with my students and embedded tutor is to discuss specific elements of Blooms taxonomy as demonstrated in Saundra Mcguire’s book. The activity would involve having a class discussion about studying vs learning. The emphasis would be on students attempting to learn the material with the goal of teaching it. Students would then then be required to ‘teach' selected subtopics in small groups and also be prepared to answer questions their peers may have. With this activity I hope that my students can improve their learning, not only for the specific material that we would be covering, but improve their studying skills in general.

Reflection on My Cultural Awareness

At the surface level of this cultural tree are three pictures, one of a plate of African food, another shows a painting of three elegant African women standing together, and the last picture shows three women in bight, colorful clothing leading a roomful of people in an African dance.

The shallow level culture shows observance of social protocols, hospitality, clear boundaries between people and animals, colorful dress, loud and lively celebrations.

The Deep level culture contains strong family ties, faith, respect for elders, and village mentality.

The analogy of the cultural tree helps me to remember that there is more to my students and people in general than what can be observed at the surface level. In addition, all the cultural elements that help shape individuals also affect how students learn, so it is importance to create ‘space’ for culture in my teaching.

Completing the cultural tree has helped me become more self-aware and made me think about how my culture affects how I process information and even more importantly, how I teach. It has encouraged me to be more open-minded, particularly as I consider that the cultural trees of my students likely look very different from mine.

Lessons Learned
This image has helped me to understand that I can be more effective as an educator when I acknowledge, understand and honor the cultural diversity among my students.	This image reminds me that students may not necessarily know how to study effectively but teaching them some of the Bloom's taxonomy principles can help them learn more effectively and become more self aware as to how well they are learning.

Moving Forward

Peer-to-peer education is beneficial for students because they are more likely to to seek out support from a peer where they may feel less intimidated than reaching out to the instructor. Peer tutors can also help bridge the gap between students and instructors by being better able to observe where students really struggle and even provide great suggestions on how to approach some of the course material in a way that is more understandable to students. I hope to continue to work with PARC by engaging peer tutors in the class I teach that has historically high DFWs. I would like to employ some of the methods learned about in this course.

**Faculty Bio**
	My name is Dr. Grace Mubako and I earned my PhD from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Before joining Sacramento State, I taught at the University of Texas at El Paso. Prior to beginning my academic career, I worked as an internal auditor for more than six years. My primary teaching and research interests are in financial accounting and auditing. My research focuses on audit judgment and decision-making, as well as internal auditing and corporate governance issues.

Funding Information
	The Peer and Academic Resource Center (PARC) in partnership with The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) The Division of Inclusive Excellence (IE) This work was supported by: CSU Office of the Chancellor Academic Affairs grant for Faculty Professional Development