Tutors: A User's Guide (Part 1)
EXTRAS
Tutors can seem like scary people - experts, busy at their work, aloof. But they play a vital role in your success at university.
So, what exactly do they do and how can you get the most out of them?
Introduction
Your tutors can seem like scary people sometimes.
To a greater or lesser degree, they are likely to be experts in their field. They understand issues and have knowledge of subjects you have never heard of, let alone fully understand.
They are also very busy people. They have lots of students to teach and a lot on their plate.
For these reasons, it is common for first-year students to limit interaction with their tutors, They sometimes fear they are wasting their tutor’s valuable time. Or worse, they are frightened that they don’t know enough about history to have a meaningful conversation with them.
This is a shame because good working relationships with tutors can be beneficial to BOTH those who teach AND those who are taught by them.
What Are Tutors For?
We need to begin by asking a simple question: what are tutors for?
The clue’s in the name, one might say. And yes, the tutor’s primary role is in guiding the undergraduate through their chosen course, sharing their knowledge and providing explanations.
However, there is more to a tutor’s role than this.
One is to help the student develop critical thinking skills, which are vital to success on any undergraduate course.
Another is to encourage students to develop good study habits, by providing regular feedback and giving positive comments about assignments and classroom contributions.
Some can even offer guidance about life outside of the classroom. This is referred to as ‘the pastoral role’ of the tutor.
Hopefully you can see from this that the tutor is essentially there to help you learn and do well at university.
What Kind Of Tutors Are There?
There are usually 3 kinds of tutor you will meet in Year 1.
(1)
The senior lecturer will be a full-time employee of the university. They will deliver lectures and seminars to first-year students occasionally, but you will not usually experience regular contact with them until your second year.
They tend to be specialists in a particular field or nation but their ability to offer specialised teaching will depend upon the size of the university department.
They will have likely been involved with the Head of Department in producing the course modules you are studying
(2)
The lecturer (or more commonly, tutor) will be an employee of the university but not necessarily a full-time or permanent employee. They will usually be the people you see delivering lectures and sometimes running seminars.
These tutors are also often involved in writing the course and it is usually their responsibility to produce a series of lectures appropriate to the area or subject.
They will usually be involved in marking your assignments, especially your exams.
They can be established employees, but they are often people who have just finished their doctoral studies and are looking for full-time employment in the future.
(3)
In your first year, you will also receive much of your teaching from Associate Tutors. This will primarily be in seminars. It is also common for Associate Tutors to provide a pastoral role, giving general advice on the student experience and acting as a go-between with more senior members of department staff.
Associate Tutors are usually postgraduates involved in research or doctoral studies. Sometimes they are in their final year but increasingly they are required to teach and carry out research at the same time.
Who Will Teach You In Year One?
In the first year much of your teaching will be carried out by Associate Tutors, who will also be involved in the marking of your early assignments.
Some student groups complain when much of their teaching during the first year is done by ‘trainees’ with limited experience in teaching professionally. This is a misguided criticism, however.
Associate tutors are usually people who graduated recently, often at the same university as you. This gives them much greater knowledge of current student concerns, and they are often more likely to offer useful advice with issues that more senior staff members have not faced for a long time.
They are also usually enthusiastic and eager to do a good job. This means they often go above and beyond in both providing information and giving their time to help first-year students.
Finally, they are usually experts in a particular subject and involved in cutting edge research. This affords the first-year student an opportunity to find out more about a particular area and receive more up-to-date recommendations for reading about it than are offered by the author of the course.
Of course this isn’t always the case. Sometimes Associate Tutors find it so hard to juggle the demands of research and teaching that they provide only minimal lessons and advice. In general, however, you will find Associate Tutors to be far more approachable than other tutors and possessing a genuine understanding of any concerns you might have.
More...
In Part 2 of this guide, we will discuss how you can build positive working relationships with your tutors, which benefit both them and you.