In each one of its undergraduate programs, the university provides peer tutoring for students in order to improve their academic performance. The tutorials are led by students from higher levels and are aimed at students in their first years at the university. Before starting the tutorials, students (tutors) attend a training session led by professors on certain techniques and information that should be taught in the tutorials. 

For Lisbeth Ipiales, coordinator of tutorials of the Psychology undergraduate program in the María Auxiliadora campus, the objective of this project is for students to guide their classmates in academic difficulties throughout the semester, helping reduce university dropout rates.

This semester there are five students - tutors of the Psychology undergraduate program and 300 students being tutored.  "All this is done according to a previous statistical investigation. Once the survey is carried out, we inform students by visiting classrooms, placing the schedules in the students' virtual learning environments (AVAC) and on information boards," she said.

The subjects for the tutorials are chosen at the beginning of the semester according to the number of students who are in academic risk, during this semester the subjects were: General Psychology, General Psychophysiology, Psychosocial Construction of Sexuality, Quantitative Research and Psychophysiological Approach to the Development of Adolescence and Youth.
To analyze the effectiveness of the tutorials, the teacher responsible for each subject monitors the students to know their academic progress. "Last semester we analyzed the number of students who failed and how many passed. Two students failed the subject, but because they only attended one tutoring class or because despite having asked them to attend, they didn't," said Ipiales.

The tutorials allow students to help other students and reduce the risk of failing subjects in an environment of trust. Communication between professors and students who are tutoring is essential, it is one of the commitments they acquire when signing the agreement. "Students have to approach professors, introduce themselves and ask for class material and content to work under the same line," said the university professor.