Pear Deck Tutor Code of Conduct

Updated Date: February 7, 2024

The Pear Deck Tutor Code Of Conduct defines our high standards for students and tutors in academic work, and outlines our expectations of and policies regarding how they conduct themselves when using the Pear Deck Tutor platform.

Student:

Academic Honesty and Integrity

Pear Deck Tutor understands the academic pressures students face. School can be stressful, and that stress and pressure can make it tempting for students to cheat. Through the Pear Deck Tutor platform, students have access to a safe space where they can connect with tutors 1:1 to build confidence, self-esteem, and mastery to overcome those pressures.

Pear Deck Tutor maintains a firm, zero-tolerance cheating policy – you may not use the Pear Deck Tutor platform to participate in academic dishonesty or misconduct of any form. You may not ask tutors to:

Help with or complete tests, quizzes, exams, practice tests, practice quizzes, practice exams, graded or timed assignments, or any other form of assessment (this includes pre- and post-tests and assessment mechanisms).
Complete assignments for you or provide you with answers.
Make direct edits to your work or writing (this includes writing code on your behalf).
Provide you with sources for a paper or written assignment.
Summarize reading assignments for you, so you can complete follow-up assignments or questions.

The tutors in the Pear Deck Tutor community can help you with the following:

Furthering your understanding of academic concepts and materials covered in class.
Reviewing notes and work completed in class to deepen comprehension.
Supporting your completion of non-graded and non-timed assignments.
Reviewing previously graded tests, quizzes, exams, assignments, or other forms of assessment.
Translating your understanding of concepts into outlines for written assignments.
Providing feedback on your writing.
Show you how to find credible, authoritative sources of information.

Effective tutoring does not involve providing or confirming answers to students’ assignments or assessments. Pear Deck Tutor encourages the tutors on our platform to guide students through independent problem-solving, using instructional best practices. Our goal is to help build students’ comprehension and confidence, not to do their work for them. The tutors in our community use questioning strategies to engage students in the learning process.

Our Customer Experience team monitors and regularly reviews completed tutoring sessions and messages exchanged through the Pear Deck Tutor platform to maintain Pear Deck Tutor as a place where students and tutors can safely build the connections they need to learn and thrive. We reserve the right to suspend a user’s access to the platform, should we find evidence suggesting they’ve breached these guidelines.

Academic Grades

Pear Deck Tutor does not guarantee students will receive a particular grade on tests or assignments as a result of receiving tutoring through the Pear Deck Tutor platform. While the tutors on our platform are here to support student success and improvement, tutors cannot guarantee the grades a student will receive as a result of their collaboration.

Behavioral Expectations

Upholding Pear Deck Tutor's fidelity as a place where students can safely build the connections they need to learn and thrive is our team’s top priority. Students and tutors on our platform must treat one another – and Pear Deck Tutor staff – with respect, which means refraining from using profanity, foul language, insults, slurs, threats, negatively charged comments, and discriminatory language or behavior.

The following behaviors are unacceptable:

Fraudulent misuse of the “Report a tutor” feature
Misuse of Pear Deck Tutor's chat support (e.g., spam messages, inappropriate language, etc.)
Inappropriate behavior during a tutoring session (e.g., spam messages, irrelevant images, inappropriate language, etc.)
Use of the Lesson Space’s audio, video, or screen-share features for anything other than what would be deemed appropriate in a classroom setting
Fraudulent session requests

Online Privacy and Safety

Maintaining the integrity of Pear Deck Tutor as a safe and productive space for students and tutors to connect is a top priority. Students are not allowed to:

Share or exchange any personal identifying information including: their email, phone number, social media info, or login information to any website or application.
All communication between students and Pear Deck Tutor tutors must occur through the Pear Deck Tutor platform. No off-platform communication is permitted including: Zoom, external Google Drive links, Calendly, social media platforms or any other platforms that exchange personal identifying information.
Share credit card information or any other financial information. Provide additional payment (e.g., tips) and payment and/or financial information of any kind, including but not limited to credit card, mobile payment service, or banking information.
Participate in personal conversations or discussions that are not related to advancing their learning.
Share their Pear Deck Tutor account or login credentials with another student, or log in using a Pear Deck Tutor account that’s not their own.

Student FAQs

“What happens if I violate one of these behavior expectations?”

Violating this Code of Conduct in any way may result in consequences up to and including permanent expulsion from the platform. The CX team uses session recordings, ratings, and reviews to identify and investigate any potential misconduct on the platform. Our team follows a tiered approach to escalating and handling Code of Conduct violations. Our team has developed a standard Violation Handling policy, which formalizes a tiered approach to escalating and handling Code of Conduct violations.

“When should I use the ‘Report a tutor’ feature?”

Students should use this feature to report any tutor who violates the Pear Deck Tutor Code of Conduct. This feature should not be used to report a tutor who has not responded to direct messages you’ve sent within the Pear Deck Tutor platform that have occurred outside of a tutoring session.

“What happens if I give a tutor my personal contact information?”

Sharing personal contact information is a violation of our Code of Conduct. Violating this Code of Conduct in any way may result in consequences up to and including permanent expulsion from the platform. The CX team uses session

recordings, ratings, and reviews to identify and investigate any potential misconduct on the platform. Our team follows a tiered approach to escalating and handling Code of Conduct violations. Our team has developed a standard Violation Handling policy, which formalizes a tiered approach to escalating and handling Code of Conduct violations.

“What happens if I communicate outside of the Pear Deck Tutor platform with my tutor?”

Communicating with Pear Deck Tutor tutors outside of the Pear Deck Tutor platform is a violation of our Code of Conduct.

“Can my tutor and I collaborate within a Google Doc I created?”

Sharing Google Docs originating from your personal or school-associated Google account requires the exchange of personal identifying information, which violates our Code of Conduct. To collaborate on a Google Doc with your tutor, please use the built-in Google Doc functionality in the Pear Deck Tutor Lesson Space. You’re welcome to copy and paste content from your personal Google Workspace to allow for easy collaboration with your tutor.

Tutor:

Academic Honesty and Integrity

Pear Deck Tutor maintains a firm, zero-tolerance cheating policy – you may not use the Pear Deck Tutor platform to participate in academic dishonesty or misconduct of any form. Students may not ask tutors to:

Help with or complete tests, quizzes, exams, practice tests, practice quizzes, practice exams, graded or timed assignments, or any other form of assessment (this includes pre- and post-tests and assessment mechanisms).
Complete assignments or provide answers.
Make direct edits to their work or writing (this includes writing code on their behalf).
Provide sources for a paper or written assignment.
Summarize reading assignments, so they can complete follow-up assignments or questions.

The tutors in the Pear Deck Tutor community can help students with the following:

Furthering their understanding of academic concepts and materials covered in class.
Reviewing notes and work completed in class to deepen comprehension.
Supporting their completion of non-graded and non-timed assignments.
Reviewing previously graded tests, quizzes, exams, assignments, or other forms of assessment.
Translating their understanding of concepts into outlines for written assignments.
Providing feedback on their writing.
Show them how to find credible, authoritative sources of information.

Behavioral Expectations

Tutors are expected to display professionalism while on the Pear Deck Tutor platform. This includes interactions with students and Pear Deck Tutor staff.
The following behaviors are unacceptable:

Leaving a live tutoring session abruptly, without notifying the student.
Communicating directly with a student about a low rating.
Any interactions with a student during a tutoring session that are counter to our goals of building student confidence and mastery (e.g., frustration with a struggling student, disengagement, etc.)

Online Privacy and Safety

In order to uphold Pear Deck Tutor's integrity as a safe and productive space for students and tutors to connect, tutors are not allowed to:

Share or exchange any personal identifying information including: their email, phone number, social media info, or login information to any website or application.
All communication between students and Pear Deck Tutor tutors must occur through the Pear Deck Tutor platform. No off-platform communication is permitted including: Zoom, external Google Drive links, Calendly, social media platforms or any other platforms that exchange personal identifying information.
Share credit card information or any other financial information (all payment related to tutoring is facilitated directly by Pear Deck Tutor through our platform).
Participate in personal conversations or discussions that are not related to advancing student learning.
Share their Pear Deck Tutor account or login credentials with another tutor, or log in using a Pear Deck Tutor account that’s not their own.

Tutor FAQs

“What happens if I need to leave the session or I am experiencing technical difficulties?”

If you’re limited on time, it’s important to notify the student of that limitation before you enter a tutoring session. If you need to unexpectedly leave a session, please inform the student directly via chat, audio, or video. If technical difficulties interfere with your ability to notify the student that you’re leaving, please send a direct message to the student through our chat functionality as soon as your technical issues are resolved – explain to them what happened, and attempt to start a new session, if possible.

“I received a low rating but don’t understand why – what should I do?”

Please do not reach out directly to a student to inquire about the ratings they provided you. Contact the Pear Deck Tutor CX team directly with any inquiries about ratings you’ve received.

“What should I do if a student is not engaging in a tutoring session productively, or is repeatedly showing a lack of progress through incorrect responses to the prompts and questions I’m providing?”

It’s important to remember that the students on our platform span a wide range of grade levels, abilities, and knowledge. We expect the tutors on our platform to be able to adjust their style, delivery, pace, and approach to meet students wherever they’re at in their learning journey and support them accordingly.Should you experience a situation where you’re not able to help a student progress, please be direct – tell the student that you think they might be better served by working with a different tutor or by asking their teacher for additional support with the topic at hand.

“Can I give a student my email address so we can schedule session times?”

No, coordinating future tutoring sessions should occur directly within the Pear Deck Tutor platform. Sharing personal contact information is a violation of our Code of Conduct. Violating this Code of Conduct in any way may result in consequences up to and including permanent expulsion from the platform. The CX team uses session recordings, ratings, and reviews to identify and investigate any potential misconduct on the platform. Our team follows a tiered approach to escalating and handling Code of Conduct violations. Our team has developed a standard Violation Handling policy, which formalizes a tiered approach to escalating and handling Code of Conduct violations.

“A student shared a Google Doc with me during a session – can we use it to collaborate?”

Sharing Google Docs originating from your personal or school-associated Google account requires the exchange of personal identifying information, which violates our Code of Conduct. To collaborate on a Google Doc with a student, please use the native Google Doc functionality in the Pear Deck Tutor Lesson Space. Please advise the student to copy and paste content from their personal Google Workspace to allow for easy collaboration.

“What should I do if a student gets off-topic and wants to talk about non-tutoring related topics?”

We understand that establishing a strong rapport with the students you tutor is critical to building trust and helping students progress. Should a student derail a session through continuously asking questions or discussing things unrelated to their learning, please redirect them back to the topic at hand. If you need support or would like more resources on redirecting students, please contact our CX team or visit our blog for free tips and best practices.