Clutch Prep Tutoring’s catchphrase is simple: “Actually Understand. Score ?Higher.”
It’s one of several mottos that adorn the site’s various websites, standing among others such as “We simplify your studying” and “Crush your college classes.”
And that’s exactly what the internet-based organization is aiming to do, one school at a time. Clutch Prep recently came to IU, which is one of the first 14 universities across the country to gain access to the service, and is currently available on campus.
Patrick O’Keefe, a member of the Clutch Prep marketing team, assures students this format of video tutoring is different than what they’ve seen before.
He said it’s akin to Khan Academy — an online video tutoring service that started small and ended up revolutionizing online learning. Except Clutch Prep is textbook- and professor-specific for each school. Students will be able to select their class and professor and gain access to tutoring for those individual sections.
“Our thought was that by making content specific to the textbook, students will find it much more relevant to them,” O’Keefe said. “And that’s what happened. Students have found that these videos are a tutoring substitute, and they’re able to use them to better understand the class.”
Clutch Prep aims to provide step-by-step reviews, exam preparation and personal help for the toughest classes at any given university. Right now, their efforts are focused on chemistry, organic chemistry, calculus and physics, O’Keefe said. Ultimately, they want to expand to include pre-calculus and biology, but will remain in the realm of math and science, since those classes are generally the most demanding.
A team of tutors, as well as a student in a managing ?position, will be stationed on IU’s campus and will be experts in their fields of study. O’Keefe said this is the most effective way to create learning tools students can relate to — sticking with one tutor that takes you through an entire course makes the process much smoother, he said.
O’Keefe said IU was on Clutch Prep’s radar mainly because of its size, its establishment as a state university and its reputation for being an extremely active campus.
“We all know the 300-person lecture hall sort of thing, and we want to make sure we’re providing resources for those students,” he said.
The most important part of Clutch Prep coming to IU, he said, is creating a connection with those students.
“We really want students to be able to take advantage and give us feedback,” he said. “The idea is that the student can come in and use Clutch and be able to ultimately get their doctorate or to be pre-med and have a much easier time doing that.”
