Dorothy Spiller and Arezou Zalipour
February 2015
Tutoring: Tutor’s Role in Tutorial
Teaching Development Unit, Wāhanga Whakapakari Ako
www.waikato.ac.nz/tdu 1
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to your role as a tutor at the University. Some of you may already have had experience
in this role while others may be brand new to the job. As a tutor, you play a very important part
in shaping the quality of the students’ learning experiences, and the position can also be an
important first step for you in embarking on an academic career.
In the days when universities have seen extraordinary shifts in the structure of the university
system, the designation of ‘tutor’ has found a wide variety of dimensions in which tutor’s
teaching role exceeds the common concept of the tutorial as a space for iteration of the key
points of the lecture. It is, therefore, crucial for tutors to re-examine their skills and develop their
teaching competencies through trainings and workshops.
In this booklet, we introduce and discuss tutor’s role and tutorial space having in mind a variety
of matters, challenges, and issues involved in being a tutor. Throughout the booklet, we invite
you to:
• Reflect on various aspects of the tutor’s role
• Consider some of the key challenges you may face within the tutorial space
• Challenge you to think of tutoring beyond what you already know
• Remind you of some practical details
• Consier the opportunities the job affords
• Identify professional obligations and responsibilities
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Tutoring is categorised under ‘small group teaching’ where “the tutor works with a small group
to discuss a given topic or a given problem” (Elexy & Dennick, 2004, p. 1). The presence of
tutors is crucial in making proper links between materials presented in the lectures and the
collaborative learning that can take place in the tutorial space. The tutorial is often the place
where the student gets the first sustained opportunity to engage personally with course
concepts or theories or to apply them. The tutor, therefore, plays a key role in trying to help
deepen the students’ personal connection with the subject.
Learning in small groups is a well-established part of the tradition of universities in the British
and North American traditions. While the advent of on-line learning has seen some of the
functions of the small group transferred to on- line settings, tutorials still remain an integral
part of the learning experience of most students.
The specific goals of tutorials will vary considerably according to the discipline and the place
of tutorials in the teaching of the whole course. Correspondingly, the expectations of the tutor
can be quite different from one subject to the next. This booklet and the associated workshops
examine some of the more generic features of tutoring and offers broad guidelines and
strategies. You will need to adapt these generic ideas to your own context and discipline, liaise
with your course convenor and co-tutors and respond in an ongoing way to the needs of your
particular students.
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PURPOSES OF SMALL GROUP LEARNING AND THE
ROLE OF THE TUTOR
Some of the purposes for small group learning are:
• To provide an opportunity for students to engage in a more personal way with course learning
• To enable students to clarify course concepts or theories
• To clarify course and assessment procedures and expectations
• To provide a comfortable informal environment in which students can articulate their
understanding of a discipline
• To provide an environment in which students can develop confidence in relation to their
grasp of an academic discipline
• To give students a chance to apply course theories or concepts
• To promote deeper learning through exposure to a range of perspectives
• To encourage the key development of critical thinking through exposure to a range of
perspectives
• To provide an environment in which students can practise discipline-specific academic
requirements and skills and get feedback on their progress
• To enable academic teachers to get feedback on the progress of student learning
• To give feedback to students on their learning
• To develop skills of collaborative learning
• To create a learning community
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Tasks
Identify those goals which you see to be most pertinent for your context.
From the following list tick those qualities which you think best describe your role as a tutor:
†† Facilitator
†† Clarifier
†† Knowledge transmitter
†† Nurturer
†† Pastoral care provider
†† Organiser
†† Content clarifier
†† Relationship builder
†† Team work manager
†† Skills developer
†† Synthesiser
†† Co-learner
†† Conduit to lecturer
Compare your views with those of the other tutors in your subject (or related
subject).
What are the implications of your views for the ways in which you go about your
practice?
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GETTING STARTED – ESTABLISHING THE
CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
Learning is stimulated and enhanced through collaboration and discussion. Tutor’s role is,
therefore, to establish and maintain a safe environment in which collaboration and discussion
can flourish, and students can learn effectively in groups.
The small group is potentially the place where students can become most engaged with their
learning. However, a critical factor in the success of small group teaching is that students
need to feel comfortable in the environment so that they will participate willingly and grow in
confidence. A vital part of a tutor’s role is therefore managing the dynamics of the classroom
and promoting positive tutor-student relationships as well as good relationships amongst the
students. Ongoing attentiveness to these dynamics will help both tutor and students in every
other aspect of the learning process.
Here are some ideas that will help in the relationship dimension of tutoring:
• Make an effort to learn students’ names and encourage students to address each other by
name
• Create non-threatening opportunities for every student to contribute to each class
• Include a fun element in each tutorial
• Invite people to talk about their backgrounds and experience
• Use a range of examples to include students from different backgrounds and invite students
to bring in examples from their own cultures
• Try to arrange seating so that people can see and talk to each other easily
• Arrive early and wait after the tutorial to encourage students to approach you individually
• Give students your University email address so that they can contact you
• Model behaviours that promote trust and respect. These include attentive listening,
punctuality, being well prepared, not interrupting or putting people down and not being
racist or sexist. Your behaviours help to establish the tenor of the classroom
• Do not tolerate inappropriate behaviours
• Work with students to establish an agreement about how the class will function
• Be explicit about goals and expectations
• Make the learning outcomes and the session agenda explicit
• Get regular informal feedback on what is happening for the students
• Provide helpful feedback to students on oral and written work so they know how they can
improve their work
• Model the skills required in the subject.
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STRUCTURE OF A TUTORIAL
Each tutorial is a learning episode where it has the conventional introductions, warm-up and ice
breakers, the main body which consists of discussions and activities, as well as the ending. It is
common that tutors are supposed to prepare for each tutorial and are regularly paid some hours
for preparation. How to make the most effective use of the extra hour(s) to prepare for your
tutorial? The best approach in getting ready for a tutorial is to identify the learning outcomes
of the session. This must be done in light of the overall structure of the course and its learning
outcomes. You ask yourself: ‘What are students supposed to learn?’ Each tutorial must have its
own tutorial worksheet where the learning activities, tutorial tasks, or case studies are clearly
written. Ask the convenor of the course if there are any tutorial activities each week that can be
used in the tutorial. Think of strategies to make the learning activities engaging and fun.
How do you start your tutorial? It is important how you start your tutorial to draw students’
attention to the content. Some students come to the tutorial with the expectation that the main
points of the lecture would be iterated. It is challenging to facilitate discussion in group activities
facing such expectations.
There are many ways to start the tutorial, such as using quotes, video clips, or anecdotes.
One way to start the tutorial is to use icebreakers. Icebreakers will direct the student into the
content that will be taught. They can be used to generate interest in a topic and activate the
student’s prior knowledge. There is a variety of ice-breakers you can adapt to your context. Below
introduces several examples:
• Ask students “what’s news?”: You can start your session with asking students if any exciting
things they have done, heard of experienced in the last few days. This can link the current
events/issues with the content.
• Word Tree: You can start the session by asking students to generate a list of words related to
a topic to be taught. The students then have to suggest words related to the topic, while the
tutor writes it on the board and ask students to cluster... (Dover, 2004).
• Personalise it: The tutor writes the topic to be taught on the board and then talks about how
the topic relates to him/her by using a personal reference or story. Next, students are then to
figure out how they can relate the topic to a personal reference or story.
How do you end your tutorial? There should be a proper ending for each tutorial; plan it.
• Remind students of the tasks at hand, an assignment they need to submit soon or a reading
they must do before the next lecture.
• Summarise the main points students were supposed to learn (the learning outcomes of the
tutorial).
• Ask students to tell you if they were supposed to take three points they have learned with them
today, what they would be?
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KEEPING STUDENTS ENGAGED DURING THE
TUTORIAL
The success of a tutorial is based on the active engagement of the students with materials or
topics of learning. You as a tutor can create such an environment where students contribute
willingly to discussion. It is important to recognise that there are personal and cultural differences
which make it more or less comfortable for people to participate and that participation can
take different forms. It is unrealistic to expect all students to be vocal in the same way and
to the same degree and some less vocal students may in fact be participating effectively. The
best a tutor can do is to create a range of ways and opportunities for people to participate
and gradually build student motivation and confidence to be involved. There are both teacher
strategies and student activities that can help in this process.
Tutor-led discussions
Possibly the most important way in which tutors can promote discussion is through the
personal characteristics that they display and the classroom environment that they establish
and maintain. These aspects of the tutor’s role were outlined in the previous section. Discussion
is one of the backbones of any tutorial. We can think about examples of situations where
discussion failed miserably; there is boredom, confusion, and silence in classroom, and no one
is willing to speak. How to keep the discussion going? There is no magic formula to guarantee
success but there are strategies that we can implement and establish in the tutorial space.
The best is to build student motivation in the course of time, and their confidence to share
their ideas with the rest. They do that when they think their ideas are valued and that they are
learning from the act of sharing.
Brookfield and Preskill (1999) suggest that there are three key components to the way in which
the tutor manages the discussion, listening, responding and questioning. The tutor uses these
three behaviours to elicit ideas and understanding, help the students to connect different
aspects and gradually weave them together into an integrated whole and an enhanced
understanding.
In order to facilitate this process effectively, the tutor needs to be well prepared in the
particular subject of the session. While tutors are not expected to be experts, they need to be
well prepared so that they are equipped to respond to the range of responses that students
bring in, maximise contributions and make connections between them.
In addition to this content preparation, tutors need to be personally and emotionally present in
the classroom so that they can be alert to the sub-text of students’ offerings and the dynamics
of the conversation.
Skillful questioning is a key component in eliciting responses and developing a discussion.
There are two groups pf questions:
• Question(s) to begin discussion
• Question(s) to ask to sustain discussion
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Brookfield and Preskill (1999) identify a number of different types of questions.
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Types of questions
Purpose or use of questions Examples
Questions for more evidence
Questions that ask for more
information
How do you know
that? What examples/
evidence can you give
us to support this?
Can you support your
point through an example?
What does the chapter say
that can support your point?
Open questions
Questions beginning with
‘how’ and ‘why’ to provoke
thinking and problem solving
abilities
Keeping students engaged
has always been the most
challenging part of tutoring.
How can we keep students
engaged and what conditions
inhibit this?
Questions for clarification
Questions that give
opportunities to expand on
students’ ideas
Can you say that
in another way?
What do you mean by that?
Can you explain the example
you just used?
Questions for application
Questions that ask students
to apply their knowledge in
practical ways
How could this theory
be applied to the text?
How could that concept
be applied to the working
situation of …?
Linking questions
Questions that help
students to understand the
relationship between ideas
Do you think there is
a connection between
what you just said and
the idea Mary was saying
a few minutes ago?
How does this example
relate to the topic of …
(from the textbook or the
lecture)?
Hypothetical questions
Questions that make
students think of scenarios
and that promote lateral
thinking
What might happen to social
media if Facebook fades off?
Tutoring:
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Types of questions
Purpose or use of questions Examples
Cause-and-effect questions
Questions to explore
possible cause and effect
relationships.
What effects it might
likely have on the client
if we use your idea?
What are the causes of this
issue?
Summary and synthesis
questions
Questions that assist
students to have a list of
points in their mind about
the topic of the tutorial
What have learned from
this tutorial today?
What are two important
approaches we should
remember about media
audience research?
Adapted from Brookfield and Preskill (1999, pp. 68-72)
Task
Work with someone from your discipline to write examples of these different types of
questions
Student Activities
There are numerous activities that you can design to encourage students to engage more
actively in their learning.
Many of the strategies involve breaking the class up into smaller groups.
Examples include:
• Group work on assigned parts of the topic. Group members may be allocated particular roles.
(Students report back or tutor collects group contributions on OHT and makes copies for the
class.)
• Working in pairs
• Rounds – tutor goes round the class asking for a point or comment from each student
• Peer learning – students teach each other in pairs or small groups
• Visuals (for example, posters or logos representing an idea or a concept). Student groups can
be asked to depict an idea or concept visually
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• Role plays
• Periods of silence or reflection when students are asked to consider a particular question or
point
• Quotes from a reading that students pick out of a hat and link to the topic
• Debates
• Various forms of quizzes (students in teams)
• In class writing. Students do short pieces of writing in class, for example, one or two
sentences arguing for or against a proposition, or an outline of the steps that they might
take in approaching a problem
• Tutorial preparation exercises. This could be a problem to attempt, a case to analyse, a set
of contentious statements to respond to, answering focus questions on a reading, taking a
stance in relation to a reading. These exercises should be integral to the course objectives
and in keeping with the assessment approach, so that they are of value to the students)
• Pre-tutorial exercises done on-line
• Mini-presentations
• Post-its – teacher introduces the idea – pupils individually (or in pairs) put two related ideas
on post-its and put them up on the wall.
See Habeshaw, Habeshaw and Gibbs (1984), Exley and Dennick (2004), Tiberius (1995) and
Davies (1999) for a comprehensive selection of student activities that may align with your
particular context and learning outcomes.
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WORKING WITH STUDENT DIVERSITY
New transportation systems, telecommunications, and the Internet have made communication
and transferring information as well as travelling more effortless and simple today. As a result,
movements of people in the contemporary era occur more frequently and on a massive scale.
Likewise, students move to other countries for education, and universities offer opportunities
for international students.
At the age of massive movements in the world, it is crucial for us to realize that students come
from different backgrounds and cultures, and they have different personalities and abilities.
More importantly they come to the tutorial with different expectations. Some students like
to be challenged, some expect the tutor to ‘teach’, some others may not like collaborative
learning activities. The key is to let students feel that you are aware of their presence, and you
as their tutor care about their learning. Go round and talk to them, and make sure that they
have understood why they are doing what they are doing. In other words, the tutor must work
to make the class a ‘safe’ place for students, where they can share their opinions, issues, and
thoughts with no fear.
It is hard to establish and maintain an environment of positive sharing, when tutoring in a
class where students come from a diverse background, they have diverse level of knowledge,
some have more confidence, or more experience. One obvious example of diversity in the
tutorial space is when there are students in class for whom English is not a first language. In
fact, among them there may be a huge diversity in terms of English language fluency – some
have more advanced writing skills but feel less secured in terms of their verbal skills, or the
reverse. The key is to be “sensitive to the diverse needs of the group members and attempt to
acknowledge and support the range of contributions that different students can make” (Exley
& Dennick, 2004, p. 152).
Teaching builds on the know, the movement is from the known to unknown, new learning
connects to the past learning. Teaching can create the interconnections. Practical strategies
include using:
• familiar examples
• students’ prior knowledge and experience
• authentic and real-life examples
• cross-references
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COMMON CONCERNS AND SOME STRATEGIES
Students who talk too much
Most tutors are familiar with students who for a range of reasons are inclined to talk too
much and make other students feel that they are unable to participate in the discussion. This
does not mean that tutors should cut off every person who talks at some length, especially
when the comments are making a constructive or useful contribution to the discussion. The
tutor needs to make a case by case decision about what can be said to be talking too much.
Brookfield and Preskill (1999) provide a helpful rule of thumb for making this assessment:
A member of a discussion group is talking too much when others in the group feel
consistently that they are denied the opportunity to speak (p.135).
The feelings of the rest of the class in this respect can be gauged from their behaviours, such
as their body language or engaging in side conversations, or from their comments in regular
anonymous written feedback.
There are a number of strategies for dealing with students who talk too much. These include:
• Using small groups and assigning roles to group members
• Developing guidelines about discussion process that become part of the class agreement
• Tutors modelling good practices such as not interrupting or talking over people and not
dominating the session with their own talk
• Using periods of reflective silence when students write down a response and then getting
feedback from students who haven’t spoken before
• Using exercises like rules for conversation – for example, not being allowed to speak again
until two more people have spoken or only being allowed to talk about others’ ideas
(Brookfield & Preskill, 1999)
• Using structured activities like debates.
If these measures do not help, the tutor may need to talk privately with the student.
Students who talk too little
There are many reasons why some students are reluctant to contribute to discussions.
These include personality factors, negative past experiences, fear of looking foolish, lack
of preparation, personal circumstances, feeling uncomfortable in class, reliance on teacher
authority and lack of reward for participation. In addition, some people need more reflection
time and are less able to think on their feet. Other students are intimidated by the sense that
they need verbal dexterity to contribute.
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A number of strategies can help the more silent members of a tutorial group to contribute. These
include:
• Getting the students to work in groups and assigning roles to the students
• Treating people’s comments with respect so they do not feel humiliated
• Building a hospitable classroom environment
• Giving students opportunities to express their understanding in ways that don’t depend on
verbal skills (for example, visual representation)
• Using rounds and going around the class
• Written preparation exercises
• Inviting students to keep a log of responses to class discussion so that you can assess their
involvement, even when they don’t talk much
• Reflection and writing time in class.
Students do not do the required preparation for class
This is one of the concerns mentioned most frequently by tutors. Consider the following points:
• The tutorials should be integral to the learning outcomes and the assessment tasks of the
course. If, for example, the goals of the course include the learning of certain skills, tutorial
classes should focus on the development of these skills and preparation should relate to these
skills. A strategy that is used quite widely across campus is to give students focused tasks on
readings, or other tutorial preparation, and give marks for these tasks. These marks should
count to the final assessment. In some instances, students are simply given a set percentage for
satisfactory completion of these tasks.
• Limit the volume of reading that students are required to do. Many students are overloaded
with reading and simply can’t manage the volume.
• Use focused questions and guided reading strategies to help students to deal with the readings.
Learning to read academic articles is demanding.
• In class, focus on manageable chunks or key quotes if students have not done the preparation.
The whole class is unresponsive
Tutors sometimes report that a particular class does not work. Remember that there are so
many variables at work, and things like the time of day, the physical setting, the combination
of personalities, all have a role to play. However, tutors are more likely to be able to understand
what is happening if they get regular feedback from the class.
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GETTING THE FEEDBACK
Many of the strategies that promote student participation will give the tutor ongoing feedback
about the engagement of the students with their learning and a sense of their attitudes towards
the class. These include regular writing exercises, small group work and other student activities.
Tutors can also generally feel whether students are happy and involved.
However, it is also a good idea to take other steps to elicit student feedback. This should not be
left until the end of the semester, but occur regularly so that your teaching is responsive to what is
happening in the classroom, Furthermore, it reinforces the sense that the tutor values and respects
student input.
Brookfield and Preskill (1999) regularly use a Critical Incident Questionnaire (CIQ) to get student
feedback.
The five questions they ask are as follows:
• At what moment in class this week were you most engaged as a learner?
• At what moment in class this week were you most distanced as a learner?
• What action that anyone in the room took this week did you find most affirming or helpful?
• What action that anyone in the room took this week did you find most puzzling or confusing?
• What surprised you most about the class this week? (p.39)
You can use a very simple formula on a regular basis. You can just ask students to indicate what
they found most interesting and most difficult and to note anything that they might like to
change about the tutorials.
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SOME PRACTICAL POINTS TO HAVE IN MIND
Potential Challenges
• Concern about one’s expertise
• Balancing one’s identity as a student and a tutor (Sutherland, 2009)
• Balancing information provision and the facilitator’s role
• Managing classroom dynamics
• Dealing with conflict
• Relationship with students or a particular student
• Relationship with the paper convenor
• Different teaching approaches to the convenor
• “Meat in the sandwich”
• Dealing with tutorials that don’t work well
• Grading fairly and efficiently and giving appropriate feedback
Obligations and Responsibilities
You are required to conduct yourself in an appropriately professional manner. This includes:
• Being punctual
• Providing suitable notice if you are unable to take your tutorial
• Meeting marking deadlines
• Treating all students with respect
• Not discriminating against any students
• Using language that is appropriate for the workplace
• Behaving and dressing in a manner that is appropriate for the workplace
• Maintaining regular communication with the paper convenor
• Keeping records of student attendance and assessment marks
• Not engaging with the students in critical comments about the paper convenor
• Taking difficulties or problems to the convenor
• Working collaboratively with the tutor
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PRACTICAL MATTERS TO CONSIDER
Generally, your paper convenor or the departmental administrator will inform you of all the
practical details relating to your job. Be sure that you are clear about the following:
• Pay: What is the rate of pay? Does this rate include marking and preparation time? What is
the procedure for putting in my pay claims? When does this have to be done and is there a
deadline?
• Resources: What resources are available for me to use in my tutorials and how do I arrange
for them? Do I have access to departmental equipment such as the photocopier and how
much photocopying am I allowed to do?
• Office Space: Do I have access to any individual or shared office space?
• Availability to Students: To what extent do I need to be available to meet with students?
• Departmental Meetings: Am I expected to attend staff meetings or other departmental
activities?
• Tutor Meetings: Will we have regular meetings with other tutors and the paper convenor?
• Mentoring: Is it possible to be paired with a more experienced tutor for mentoring?
• Tutorial Content: To what extent is this decided by the paper convenor and what is the
extent of my input?
• Marking: Do I have responsibility for marking student work and is there some process of
marking moderation?
• Lectures: Should I attend the lectures for the paper and will I be paid for this time?
• Dealing With Problems: What process do I need to follow if I have a problem with a student
or my tutorial group?
CONCLUDING REMARK
Try to allow for a few minutes to consolidate the session. This does not mean that you need
to tie up all the loose ends, but simply remind the students in some way of the main thrust of
what has happened in the class. Possibilities include getting them to try to articulate the key
questions or points of view that have arisen or drawing the tutorial discussion together as an
idea or an approach or suggesting things to look out for in the coming week.
Whatever approach you take, try not to let the end of the session just drift away.
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REFERENCES
Brookfield, S.D. & Preskill, S. (1999) Discussion as a way of teaching. Buckingham: Open
University Press
Davies, P. (1999). 70 Activities for tutor groups. Hampshire, UK: Gower
Exley, K. & Dennick, R. (2004). Small group teaching. Milton Park, UK: Routledge Falmer
Habeshaw, S., Habeshaw,T. & Gibbs, G.(1984). 53 Interesting things to do in your seminars and
tutorials. Bristol, UK: Technical and educational services.
Stolarchuk, L. (2009). The ten Tenets of the professional GA/TA. In GATAcademy Resource
Package: CTL, University of Windsor, Ontario.
Sutherland, K. (2009). Nurturing undergraduate tutors’ role in the university teaching
community. Mentoring and Tutoring, 17(2), 147-164.
Tiberius, R. G. (1999). Small group teaching. A trouble-shooting guide. London: Kogan Page
Victoria University Wellington (2007). Tutor survival guide. Wellington: Victoria University
Teaching Development Centre.
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Tutoring: A Tutor's
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Tutoring:
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Tutorial Space
Make a space at your place
for teaching.
The University of Waikato
Private Bag 3105
Hamilton 3240
New Zealand
Website: www.waikato.ac.nz
Teaching Development Unit
Centre for Tertiary Teaching and Learning
Phone: +64 7 838 4839, Fax: + 64 7 838 4573
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.waikato.ac.nz/tdu
©The University of Waikato, February 2015.