First time teacher?

First time teacher? Here are some tips to help you prepare for your tutorial.

Questions to address before preparing a tutorial

Before you start preparing, you may wish to ask yourself a few questions, such as:

Why do the students need to know this material?
Does it have practical applications in their lives?
How is the material arranged? Is it a hierarchy of concepts or based around a central idea?
How are the students to be involved in the session?
What preparation is needed from the students prior to the class?
How will you ensure that your students are grasping the set material?
Does the set out of the tutorial allow for different ability levels among the students?

What do you need to consider before a tutorial?

1. The room

Know where you are supposed to be? Great! You may want to rearrange the furniture so that everyone has eye contact with each other. Is it feasible to group the students together, or sit them in a circle?

2. Providing background material

Be aware of the student's background knowledge and be able to supplement this with whatever materials are necessary for effective group work. You may like to prepare a short handout summarising the main "facts" to be covered or provide a reference text if anyone wants to refresh their memory. Note that the aim of tutorials is not to rely on the students' ability to recall the details of a prior lecture or practical, but to use their existing knowledge to generate new ideas and solutions and to apply it to novel situations.

3. Introducing the activity

Make sure that the purpose, aims and objectives of the activity are clearly stated to the students. Instructions should be concise and clear. Are you intending to use a range of activities? It may be useful then to firstly ensure that the students have an overview of the tutorial which gives them directions and provides them with the relevance of the various activities.

4. Monitoring progress

Once the activity is under way, it is important to monitor the progress of each student or group. The main purpose of supervision is to sustain the activity and "keep it on task". There may be a need to clarify problems, perhaps restating them, and provide necessary information. It is not always necessary to go through every single question in detail. For instance, providing a clue may be enough for a student to work out the problem. A few minutes of discussion with other students may enable them to 'bounce' ideas off each other before hitting on the right solution.

5. Ensuring Equal Participation

One of the main things to avoid in group participation is the dominance of a single member. Take steps to avoid this:

In selecting members of a group, take into account the likelihood that any one member will 'dominate' perhaps from their personality characteristics or 'expert' knowledge.
The physical layout of the room should be arranged to encourage equal participation, e.g. sitting members in a circle so that they face each other.
Provide a set of 'rules' e.g. contributions can only be made in turn, time limits may be set, comments in favour of an idea are allowed only by comments against it, etc.
You may find yourself filling silences by reverting to mini lectures. It is easier to draw all of the students into a discussion if you know their names. Use a list if you can't rely on your memory. It is important however not to embarrass or force contributions from class members which may scare them off of ever opening their mouths in class again! Perhaps inadvertently draw in the quieter ones by asking non-specific questions, e.g. "What do you others think about Rachel's model for an alternative?"

6. Questioning

Questioning is a key element of small group teaching. However, some consideration needs to be made when using question as a positive learning tool:

Pausing - allow students time to think about a question before responding.
Re-phrasing - perhaps the students aren't responding because they have no idea what you mean
Direct the question in different ways, e.g.

Question to group followed by volunteer response
Give question, choose individual, and then receive response
Choose individual. Give question then receive response.

Redirecting - a useful technique to involve other learners and draw out other views
Reacting - always react in a positive way despite the response. In the case of an inadequate answer it may be necessary to clarify the question or redirect it to another student
Probing - probing questions help to stimulate thinking skills. Teacher may probe for clarification or examples
Distribution - make sure the questions involve all the students if possible.
Encourage student questions - perhaps allow time for reflection. Respond positively to any questions that emerge.

7. Bringing it all together

If small groups are used to break up a tutorial discussion into segments, it is important to arrange the individual ideas through group discussion into an overall framework. The teacher may decide to expand on some points and condense on others, perhaps summarising and linking the main points on a blackboard or overhead transparency.

Take a deep breath - it won't be as bad as you think! Here is an outline of one way you may like to structure your first meeting if you are feeling a bit unsure.

The First Meeting

Welcome and introductions

After introducing yourself to the students, tell them a bit about your background and your role in the university. This helps to make you as approachable as possible. Make sure they know how to contact you if they have any problems.
If your group is small you may wish to get the group to introduce themselves to each other, indicating their name, course and reason for taking the subject.
Using an icebreaker (e.g.: "Please state your name, your course, the reasons you are taking this subject and the weirdest thing you've ever put on a sandwich!") keeps the atmosphere of the tutorials relaxed, interactive and interesting from the word go.

Outlining the course

Provide the students with an overview of the course, what it attempts to achieve and how it is structured.
Hand out a syllabus of the course if possible so they can make preparations for the tutorial in advance.
Indicate how you see their role and the expectations that you have of the participants.

Address expectations

Invite the students to respond to your proposed outline.
Question the group to establish that this is what they expected.
Clarify misunderstanding and try to accommodate special interests if they fit in with the course.
You may wish to allocate a few minutes at the start of each tutorial to list any specific problems that the students wish to address from lecture material. Try to cover these throughout the tutorial, or allow a few minutes at the end to deal with them in a brief discussion.

Make a start

It is important to deal with a substantive content in the first session, but be aware that the first week for your tutorial is also the first week in every tutorial - as a result, much is likely to be forgotten.

Preview

Describe what will be covered in the next session and remind the students of any preparations that they may need to do.
Provide optional extra questions and or reading in addition to set questions if they want extra revision on specific areas.

Further Suggestions

Take time to get to know the students. Reintroduce yourself in the second tutorial so that they are clear about who you are.
Come prepared with models, diagrams and overhead transparencies.
Have a flexible structure that incorporates different activities, e.g. 10 minutes of writing, questions, followed by 10 minutes of questions and discussion etc. Vary the tutorial content, remembering to allow for a variety of learning methods, e.g. Visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Be as creative and imaginative as possible.
Begin tutoring at a level well within the grasp of the students to provide an atmosphere of success.
Remove distractions (for example, have the desks cleared) so that the students are able to concentrate on their given tasks.
Make sure that the students know what they are supposed to do to establish whether your instructions are clear, perhaps by starting with an example or asking a student what he or she thinks they are supposed to do.
Give clear direction, explaining things slowly, one point at a time. Use examples that the students can identify with. Break large tasks into small pieces if possible.
Find out what the student knows before jumping in to help. Talk to the whole group if a problem is identified to see if any of the others are able to positively contribute.
Listen carefully to what the students are saying. This will ensure that they feel that your are interested in their views and encourage them to speak and participate in group discussions. Be tactful and positive at all times.
Don't rush through important points if you are short of time - prepare handouts or reference lists to give out at the next lecture instead.
Provide an overview of what they have achieved at the end and list any preparations that are needed for the next tutorial.