Decades of research demonstrate that peer-to-peer tutoring makes a difference in college student learning. For example, according to a study in the Journal of Studies in Management and Planning, “Peer tutoring enables both tutor and tutee to gain self-confidence, the tutor by observing self-competence in his or her capability to help someone and the tutee by gaining positive reinforcement from the peers.” The challenge has been scaling support for every student, engaging every student to use tutoring, and providing it at a low cost as an institution. Knack, a student success platform, is set on making peer-to-peer tutoring the norm at colleges and universities, including Georgia Tech, The Ohio State University, University of Florida, among others.
According to Samyr Qureshi, “Campus based tutoring isn’t enough because while most students intend to use existing academic support services (i.e. tutoring, supplemental instructors, etc.) less than 30 percent will ever go on to do so. Students today expect services to be delivered in a hyper-personalized, on-demand, and tech-enabled manner but most institutions struggle to scale services in this way; moreover, the high fixed costs and brick-and-mortar staffing model makes it very difficult to reach all students and courses.” He added, “Knack brings a different staffing approach that is cost-effective, while still preserving the authentic peer-to-peer connections — investing in the institutions’ most important asset: their students.”
Qureshi, and his co-founders David Stoker, Dennis Hansen and Shawn Doyle, based their model on student success research and tapped national student support expert George Kuh in the process. Kuh was the founding director of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), while a professor at Indiana University. According to Kuh, “students need college experiences that allow them to thrive but also to be supported. Knack has the technology available to match students who can support each other and to scale up tutoring. Students are resources on campus for other students.”
Knack is also working with Esther Wojcicki author of Moonshots in Education: Launching Blended Learning in the Classroom and How to Raise Successful People. According to Wojcicki, “Knack is fostering one of the most important parts of learning, especially in the college environment. Peer-to-peer is the most effective way to learn, regardless of the subject matter.” She added, “People learn most effectively through relationships. And students learn best from each other because relationship-based learning is active.”
Along with the universities above, Knack is working with several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), including Hampton University and Fort Valley State University. Working with Knack, Hampton designed their program as a supplement to their traditional tutoring program in order to better serve their students, including those who are exclusively on-line. Hampton is using Knack for 185 of its courses, delivering more than 1500 hours of tutoring to students. Of note, Knack’s Qureshi shared that only a fraction of the tutoring at Hampton occurs within the 9 a.m.-5 p.m. period, demonstrating the need for expansive tutoring hours at the institution.
Fort Valley State University, located in Fort Valley, Georgia is providing its students with virtual and face-to-face tutoring with the goal of increasing retention. According to provost Olufunke A. Fontenot, “This service will play a pivotal role in delivering crucial support to our students when they need it most. We truly believe that academic success is bolstered by supporting student progression and completion, and this partnership will greatly contribute towards accomplishing these goals.”
Qureshi explained that he founded Knack because of his personal story as an immigrant struggling with his academics early on. In the future, he would like to expand the organization’s footprint to more campuses, noting “we’re facing breakout growth this year (close to 3x growth already) and have disbursed well over $1 million to student tutors.” In addition to interest from colleges and universities, many investors are supportive of Knack, believing it is a more personalized, equitable, and accessible form of academic support for students. Thus far, the company has raised over $15 million in venture capital — securing funds from entities such as ASU Enterprise Partners, Jeff Vinik (Tampa Bay Lightning Owner), and ETS.
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