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Overview
As you know, our typical PhotoStudy session begins when a student snaps a pic of their homework problem. They are then connected with an expert who provides a quick 4-step session – you deliver the Concept, a Step-by-Step explanation, a final solution, then follow-up discussion.
We have partnered with a very popular app called Photomath to provide similar, yet different support to their students. In this new Tutor Chat session, students receive a Photomath ‘solution card’ that gives them detailed steps and solution to their problem. Many of these students still have questions and want to chat with a live Expert – that’s where we come in.
These Tutor Chat by Photomath sessions are slightly different since students already have the solution! Students may want to focus on a specific step in the solution or learn more about the concept itself.
This additional session type has been designed to allow you to quickly understand the student’s need and then quickly provide exactly what they are looking for!
Structure and Best Practices
Here is how this new session structure works.
Instead of the 4-phases that you’ll continue to use for PhotoStudy sessions, these Tutor Chat by Photomath sessions have a streamlined, 3-phase structure.
The new first phase is called the Diagnosis phase. The goal of this phase is to greet the student and quickly confirm what type of help they are looking for.
Required Messages to Use:
Greeting
→ Welcome to Tutor Chat! I’m your Photomath tutor and I’m ready to help!
Session focus ask
→ I see that you have the solution card to your problem. Can I answer some questions about the solution steps or the general concept? Or would you like both?
Confirmation
→ That’s perfect! I’m here to help. Please feel free to ask me extra questions along the way!
You’ll then proceed to the Explanation phase. This second phase is where the majority of the session will take place. In this phase, you’ll simply provide the student with exactly what they came for – and do so in an interactive, conversational manner.
If the student requests a specific focus on the solution or a specific solution step…
Provide them with the solution step(s), then share an explanation of why that is the correct step.
Students will ask additional questions, please answer them in this phase.
If the student requests a specific focus on the general concept…
Provide them with the reusable content, concept description.
Explain the concept in greater detail, answering their questions along the way.
If the student requests a specific focus on BOTH (concept and solution)…
Simply deliver the reusable content, then proceed to the step-by-step explanation as you would normally in a PhotoStudy Homework help session.
Once you have provided your explanation and the student is satisfied, you’ll then proceed to the final phase – Discussion.
In this final phase you’ll simply ask the student if they have any additional questions about this problem. If they do, go ahead and answer them. You’ll then wrap up the session by providing a polite closing statement.
Sample messages
→ Do you have any additional questions about this problem that I can answer for you?
Thanks for visiting Tutor Chat by Photomath – have a great day!
Remember, this new 3-phase structure for Tutor Chat by Photomath sessions is optimized to allow you to quickly meet the student’s needs.
Product Changes
In order to further support you in providing great sessions, we’ve updated the Expert Portal and Workspace to align with this new 3-phase session structure.
The BIDDING SCREEN
Here you’ll be able to recognize Tutor Chat sessions in two ways.
First, you’ll notice a teal banner on the left-hand side that indicates this as a ‘Tutor Chat’ session. Second, instead of seeing the student’s problem image, you’ll see the solution card in the center of your screen.
EXPERT WORKSPACE
Once connected with the student, you’ll also notice we’ve updated the session phases across the top of the workspace to reflect this new 3-phase structure.
The solution card is also available for you to reference throughout the session – simply click near the top of the chat portion of the workspace to view the card.
Additionally, you’ll transition through each phase of the session by clicking the session phase in the chat window.
A few other product changes to note…
- These sessions do not have a ‘chat extension’ option for students. The sessions are limited to a maximum of 20 minutes – but most sessions last around 10 minutes.
- It’s important to click to the discussion phase at the conclusion of your explanation. This is how the system marks the session as ‘answered’ – remember, you’re only paid for sessions that are marked as answered. Once in the discussion phase, the session will end after a brief period of inactivity by the student.
The rest of the Expert workspace – including the tools, the reusable content, and the explanation summary remains the same.
Auditing
These sessions will be audited as normal – just like your PhotoStudy homework help sessions. You’ll receive feedback through your performance page in the expert portal.
The audit results will be included as a factor of your Expert Rank – so be sure to follow the 5 quality dimensions to keep your rank high!
Bidding, Skipping, and Flagging
As an independent Expert, you get to follow your own bidding strategy. These sessions will run approximately the same length of time as PhotoStudy homework help sessions – based on your Expert rank, you can bid between 0 and 8 credits. For Calculus sessions, the maximum bid amount is 12 credits.
The same Skipping and Flagging rules apply – Skip questions that you are not comfortable with, Flag questions that are out of the scope of the service.
