Tutors and tutorials: students' perceptions in a New Zealand university (original) (raw)
Related papers
2013
In New Zealand, as in many other western societies, the higher education system has become an increasingly less secure place in which to work, and over 40 per cent of those teaching in New Zealand higher education are sessional staff of some kind. Our university in New Zealand has long relied on part-time paid tutors, many of whom are students themselves, to deliver part of the teaching in large courses. These tutors work with groups of students facilitating their learning in workshops, seminars, laboratories and a variety of other teaching environments. We have tracked the experiences of tutors over a significant period of time, and surveys of tutors' experiences since 2007 reveal that the majority of respondents hold tight to the hope of a future academic career. They regard tutoring as good preparation for an academic career, and many report being even more committed to pursuing an academic career since beginning tutoring. How can we best support tutors to navigate their way into an academic career that might look somewhat different from the one they set out to pursue? This paper shares data and insights from our longitudinal research with tutors, and encourages those supporting sessional staff to think about how to enable tutors to take a scholarly approach to their teaching, regardless of the career path they eventually take.
Academic aspirations amongst sessional tutors in a New Zealand University
Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice
In New Zealand, as in many other western societies, the higher education system has become an increasingly less secure place in which to work, and over 40 per cent of those teaching in New Zealand higher education are sessional staff of some kind. Our university in New Zealand has long relied on parttime paid tutors, many of whom are students themselves, to deliver part of the teaching in large courses. These tutors work with groups of students facilitating their learning in workshops, seminars, laboratories and a variety of other teaching environments. We have tracked the experiences of tutors over a significant period of time, and surveys of tutors’ experiences since 2007 reveal that the majority of respondents hold tight to the hope of a future academic career. They regard tutoring as good preparation for an academic career, and many report being even more committed to pursuing an academic career since beginning tutoring. How can we best support tutors to navigate their way into ...
This research sought to determine if a teaching intervention using tutors in a South African university could promote epistemological access to university for first-year students. Although hiring, developing and managing tutors takes money, time and energy, the effectiveness of tutors in the South African context is underreported. The first-year class under study was diverse in terms of gender, race, ethnicity and geographical origin. The tutors were all postgraduate students, and similarly diverse. In terms of research design, student test results were compared from one test to another. The students also rated the tutors. Students who attended the majority of the assigned tutorials improved their marks by an average of 20%. Even students whose tutorial attendance was haphazard fared better academically than those who did not attend at all. Students who skipped all the tutorials saw a dramatic decline in their marks, suggesting that tutorial attendance should be obligatory. Individual tutors matter, however. It seems that some tutors can explain, facilitate understanding and engage their students better than others. Students assigned to such tutors achieved the greatest academic gains. Thus, recruitment strategies and tutor training are crucial. Tutor popularity (based on student ratings) did not correlate with positive academic improvements. Thus, student ratings should not by themselves strongly influence hiring decisions. In conclusion, resources allocated to tutors were worthwhile and the tutors enabled epistemological access for many.
The role of the tutor in the university context and in distance learning: an exploratory research
2020
The contribution focuses on the role of the tutor in online courses also in relationship to recent Italian regulation Ministerial Decree n. 6/2019 ("Auto-evaluation, evaluation, initial and periodic accreditation of the venues and courses of study"), that has introduced concrete indications on the presence of tutors in distance learning courses. In the first part, the study examines the evolution and skills of the tutor, with relation to the international debate on the spreading of distance learning. The second part concerns an exploratory survey conducted with the aim of collect the opinions and satisfaction levels of instructors and tutors on the tools used to monitor learning and support students in online courses (MOOCs) on EduOpen portal (https://learn.eduopen.org/). The need to strengthen and rethink the role of the tutor (greater professional recognition) has increased, particularly in the context of distance learning; in many cases the tutor is the main interlocutor of the students and as a support figure for the team of instructors is at the core of processes of didactic innovation.
Variation in Students� Experiences of the �Oxford Tutorial�
Higher Education the International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning, 2005
This paper examines students" conceptions of the role of the "Oxford Tutorial" in their learning. An analysis of interviews with 28 students constituted four qualitatively different conceptions of the "Oxford Tutorial". These ranged from the tutorial involving the tutor explaining to the student what the student did not know, to the tutorial involving the tutor and the student in exchanging different points of view and both coming to a new understanding of the topic under discussion. These different conceptions also appeared to be related to variations in students" views of the role of the work done in preparation for the tutorial, their view of the student"s and tutor"s roles in the tutorial, and the conception of knowledge that students adopted in relation to the tutorial. The implications of this study are discussed in terms of the relations between students" conceptions of tutorials and their anticipated learning outcomes and its implications for contexts outside of Oxford in terms of students" conceptions of academic tasks.
Rio Revista Internacional De Organizaciones, 2014
Tutoring is a part of the university teaching-learning process and is a basic strategy for improving the student's academic success and professional goals. It is also in line with the policies of the European Union for improving the integration of lifelong guidance into lifelong learning strategies. This article reviews the process of implementing tutorial action plans in Catalan universities, with particular emphasis on the Universitat Rovira i Virgili. The training and functions of tutors, the recognition of the tutoring task and the tools available to tutors at the URV are described.
Preparing tutors to hit the ground running: Lessons from new tutors' experiences.
The Institutes for Educational Research, 2013
Tutor development is an essential part of academic staff development, yet is comparatively under-researched. This article examines what tutors value as most and least important in a program. Using data from more than 300 participants in three years, and using the dimensions or worth, merit and success as an analytical framework, the article illustrates some of the perceptions of new tutors of a training program in a business and economics faculty. Results indicate that tutors find the opportunity to interact with fellow new tutors and learn from more experienced tutors most valuable and the feedback following teaching observation most helpful. The article by rethinking such training programs and offers suggestions on how to capitalise on the peer connections that exist in tutor development programs which may be of interest to staff responsible for academic development policy and practice decisions.
Exploring tutors' conceptions of excellent tutoring
Teaching and Learning in (Higher) Education for …, 2007
With high numbers of new casual tutors in the Faculty of Economics and Business each semester, a program that addresses tutors' preparation for teaching is essential. The tutor development program described here is underpinned by a 'communities of practice' model , where tutors engage in activities in order to share and develop their experiences of teaching. This paper discusses one such activity that was used in the early stages of the program to support the development of a shared repertoire about excellent tutoring. Tutors individually identified the characteristics of excellent tutoring and these were then grouped and discussed. The categories of comments addressed many of the recognised principles of excellent teaching, with student-centred aspects at the fore. The exploratory exercise highlights the importance of informal knowledge, and the role of reflective exercises in bringing forth that knowledge.
Journal of Further and Higher Education, 2017
This article delivers an evaluation of a pedagogical intervention implemented within a firstyear undergraduate university module. The intervention, termed the student-led tutorial, is based on the concept of the tutorless tutorial and presents a platform for student learning which was designed to increase active learning prior to their participation in more traditional and tutor-led modes of university teaching. To evaluate the efficacy of this method, a mixedmethods approach to the data collection was undertaken. The sample for the study was drawn from students enrolled on a Sport Development degree programme at a university in the North West of England. The first component of this methodological approach entailed the repeat completion of a questionnaire by 62 first year undergraduate students on two separate occasions. The questionnaire was administered in two phases: a baseline wave at the beginning of a core module, and a secondary wave 16 weeks later. In addition to this, a focus group consisting of five students was conducted within two weeks of the second round of questionnaires to gain a more in-depth understanding of students' experiences and perceptions of the SLT model. The findings demonstrate that SLTs hold the potential to facilitate active learning and aid comprehension and understanding. Students particularly the social aspect of the SLTs which enables extended peer-to-peer interaction. The data suggests that students develop a sense of responsibility for and ownership of their learning, yet for the SLT mechanism to be effective, all members of the group must buy-in to the concept. Where commitment and contributions to the group process are uneven and inequitable, resentment and discord within an SLT may be fomented.