What Motivates Us?
Cognitrell seeks to address two problems facing the world:
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1. While the need for scientists and engineers has never been greater, the attrition rate from undergraduate STEM programs is around 50%. Many HIGHLY CAPABLE students leave STEM programs because they never receive the INDIVIDUALIZED ACADEMIC ASSISTANCE necessary to succeed in STEM courses. Some students lack sufficient technical background. In other cases, students were never taught how to think critically in a STEM context or how to properly prepare for classroom-based STEM courses.
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2. World-class teachers tend to be undervalued by educational institutions relative to the value they bring to student learning. As a result these teachers tend to move to other fields, and many students never work directly with a premier teacher who has both TECHNICAL MASTERY of the material AND an ability to teach students HOW TO LEARN UPPER LEVEL STEM.
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Our goal at Cognitrell is to SUPPORT THE GROWTH of STEM students by DIRECTLY connecting them to WORLD-CLASS TEACHERS.
Who Are Our Tutors?
Our tutors com from two sources:
1. Professional teachers with strong technical backgrounds.
2. STEM professionals with an interest in teaching and connecting with the next generation of scientists and engineers.
1. All our tutors have at least Bachelors Degrees in STEM and a mixture of teaching or professional experience in the field. Many other sites use graduate students or even undergrads who lack experience and may not even always have the technical capacity to teach the material.
2. Our marketplace provides tutors looking to help students learn the material WHILE ALSO developing their STEM learning skills. Our tutors are looking to "teach themselves out of a job" by providing guidance that makes the student a better self-learner. Many other sites are focused on quick answers to individual problems with less focus on development of study skills.
3. No hidden fees. The rate you see is what you pay. Please discourage the hidden-fee culture by rejecting businesses that show a low price but then charge you ~10% in hidden fees at checkout.
4. Fair treatment of tutors. We pass an industry high rate of your payment along to the tutor. Most online tutoring market places are exploiting tutors by charging tutor fees of ~25% (in addition to ~10% fee to the client).
Where Does Our Name Come From?
What Differentiates Us from Other Online Tutoring Companies and Marketplaces?
Our name is a portmanteau of "cognitive" and "trellis". Our goal is to provide a lattice of support to emerging STEM learners. We strive to "teach ourselves out of a job". We develop our students' learning skills so that they eventually have a strong enough foundation to support their own learning needs.
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Cognitrell is an online marketplace for AP and undergraduate STEM students to connect with STEM professionals and teachers for online tutoring. We are inspired by facilitating the STEM career goals of our students, ensuring our country has a workforce ready for the technical challenges of the future by reducing STEM program attrition, and provided a platform where skilled tutors can be paid what they are worth.
Cognitrell is primarily intended for students and tutors looking for a sustained relationship to improve the student's subject-specific knowledge and overall STEM learning skills. A typical online session includes discussion of technical concepts, STEM problem solving strategies, and real world applications.
Secure billing and tutor payments are handled through a client management system. Rates are posted on the website with no hidden fees or charges.