Tutor Usage

Introduction

Have you ever considered how extra tutoring may improve the teaching and learning of your courses?

Tutoring, a specialised activity under academic staff development, is one method that UJ's Teaching and Learning Policy uses to guide the creation of meaningful learning experiences for students.

This Policy was created in the context of the UJ Teaching and Learning Policy and the related Teaching and Learning Strategy, embodying UJ's commitment to worldwide quality and prominence in teaching and learning.

The Teaching and Learning Strategy identified tutorials as a key means of facilitating student learning by allowing collaborative interaction in a relatively safe learning environment and time for reflection on and applying core academic practices and concepts within the disciplines being studied. Tutorials, in particular, provide opportunities for the learning activities prioritised by the 'learning to be' teaching philosophy, which contribute to the transformation of information into useable knowledge. Tutorials can develop epistemic access for all students by accommodating the significant variety in our student body.

Unless otherwise specified, the following definitions shall apply to UJ policy: A tutor is a senior student with a solid academic record with the subject and academic knowledge, abilities, and values necessary to support and lead students in their academic studies. Furthermore, a tutor must have well-developed psycho-socio abilities to aid and lead pupils in their studies.

Tutorial programs create an interactive atmosphere that encourages students' academic involvement and collaborative learning.

Tutorials allow students to see that knowledge is a jointly built and dynamic process and to build and actively reflect on their own learning processes.

• Tutorial - A tutorial is described as a session of rigorous tutoring led by a tutor, either in a group setting or one-on-one. It seeks to foster an enabling learning environment that promotes the development of discipline-specific and academic abilities critical to student success.
• Tutor Coordinator - A tutor coordinator is a member of staff who is in charge of supervising tutors in a Faculty or department. Tutor coordinators are sometimes academics who are in charge of establishing tutorial programs.
• Senior Tutors - Senior tutors are carefully selected postgraduate or, on occasion, senior students who support lecture faculty in several ways, including in the tutorial program, where they may, for example, take on the role of head tutor. This position requires supervision, coordination, coaching, and administration of Tutors.

The following models are available for the implementation of tutorial programmes within faculties:

• Group Tutorial Session - The typical tutorial, which is normally required for students, is held in an organized group setting. The tutorials are conceived of as supplementing formal lectures and/or practicals in order to develop discipline-specific abilities further, hence facilitating students' learning, clarification, and application of fundamental topics covered in bigger classes.

Collaborative Learning and Supplemental Instruction are two educational theories that support group tutorials at UJ. Collaborative Learning is defined as students working together under the supervision of a tutor to accomplish assignments in methods that optimise peer learning. Supplemental Learning is student-driven, incorporates peer mentorship, and prioritises high-risk courses above high-risk pupils. Supplemental Learning is student driven, involves peer mentoring, and focuses on high-risk courses rather than high risk students.

• One-on-one tutoring - Departments may only use one-on-one tutoring (individual consultations) if suitable. Individual consultations should be used to supplement one of the other tutoring modalities, as a carefully controlled and supervised component of the Departmental tutoring program.
• On-line Tutorial Session (Electronic Facilitation)- The University's commitment to technology-enhanced learning and ensuring that all students have handheld devices increasingly allows for online tutoring. In this virtual environment, tutors can use a variety of tools and techniques to help students learn. To create and sustain an online learning community, communication tools can be used.
• Integrated models - In rare circumstances, tutors may collaborate with a lecturer to teach a big class (such as a studio application session). Tutors work with individual students and/or groups of students as part of the lecture or studio session in this setting.

Lecturing Staff

Departmental lecturing staff are responsible for designing, developing, and delivering tutorial programs that are relevant to students' learning and discipline-specific requirements in partnership with the Unit for Tutor Development. This includes selecting tutors for appointment, ensuring adequate and ongoing tutor training, both generic and subject-specific, holding regular meetings with tutors prior to tutorials for feedback and guidance, developing tutorial curricula, and fully integrating tutorials into the module's other modes of teaching and learning. Lecturers are invited to attend the Unit for Tutor Development's training programs, which are designed to provide them with tutor development approaches and skills. Regular engagement with the Unit for Tutor Development should be managed through a committee, especially in big Faculties.

Faculties

Faculties (and/or Departments) are in charge of both the administrative and financial administration of the Faculty tutorial program, including the official hiring of tutors, the efficient use of available tutorial money, and quality assurance. Faculty-led tutoring will target discipline-specific development needs.

The Unit for Tutor Development

The Unit for Tutor Development, located in the Academic Development Centre in the Division of Academic Development and Support, is in charge of ongoing collaboration with Faculty representatives and/or Departments, as well as providing expert guidance on the ongoing development and implementation of the tutorial program. This includes tutor development and assistance, as well as support for academics working in tutor.

The Centre for Academic Technologies (CAT)

CAT is in charge of using technology to give online tutorial programs to Faculties and academic departments. Some tutors will require technology-assisted learning training to supplement the generic and specialized tutor training provided by the Unit for Tutor Development.

Links to Videos

Links to UJ policies

Policy on Tutoring and Tutors

Contacts at UJ

- Dr Nelia Frade, Coordinator for the Tutor Development Unit.
email: Frade, Nelianeliaf@uj.ac.za

• Youde, A., 2020. I don't need peer support: effective tutoring in blended learning environments for part-time, adult learners. Higher Education Research & Development, 39(5), pp.1040-1054.
• Yale, A.T., 2019. The personal tutor-student relationship: student expectations and experiences of personal tutoring in higher education. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 43(4), pp.533-544.
• Luck, C., 2010. Challenges faced by tutors in higher education. Psychodynamic Practice, 16(3), pp.273-287.
• Walsh, C., Larsen, C. and Parry, D., 2009. Academic tutors at the frontline of student support in a cohort of students succeeding in higher education. Educational Studies, 35(4), pp.405-424.
• Topping, K.J., 1996. The effectiveness of peer tutoring in further and higher education: A typology and review of the literature. Higher education, 32(3), pp.321-345.

UJ Intranet

Do's and Don'ts of peer tutoring

Introduction to Tutoring in Higher Education

Lochtie, D., McIntosh, E., Stork, A. and Walker, B., 2018. Effective personal tutoring in higher education. Critical Publishing.