Characteristics of successful tutors and tutorials
(Generated through discussion between CHS tutors in January and February training sessions: 2013)
A successful tutor is…
 Motivated and enthusiastic; someone with good ‘people skills’
 Approachable and accessible
 Knowledgeable about the subject matter
 Resourceful and creative when necessary
 Empathetic and a good listener
 Punctual and good at managing time during tutorials
 Well-prepared, but also able to be flexible when addressing students’ questions and needs
 A facilitator of others’ learning rather than an expert
Successful tutorials…
 Are spaces of mutual respect
 Create a web of learning and link clearly to the rest of the course
 Identify and resolves problems and questions before moving on
 Are interactive and less formal than lectures
 Are participatory – where students get to talk a lot more than the tutor and engage on their
own learning more actively
 Give students feedback on where they are going wrong and also praise students where they
are doing well
 Have clear outcomes, and are guided by instructions from lecturers so that they fit into the
rest of the course
 Try to reach all students and make the lecture content/course content clearer and more
applicable and understandable