Principles and Guidance on Tutoring

I was in a meeting yesterday where we discussed the main question "Why don't students turn up in tutoring (advising) sessions?".  It seems that we have tried (almost) everything there exist in order to convince them that tutoring is beneficial for their personal development. Yet, a large percentage of students, especially Level 2 and 3, do not realise this. 

I guess there is no silver bullet and the problem we face is a problem everywhere. Allow me to write some thoughts that I have and then remind you some of the principles and processes we have adopted in this Faculty.

I believe that the following lists some issues we should look at once more:

• Not all of us can do tutoring; some are good at it, some are not. Maybe we should reconsider how we distribute students to tutors.
• Sometimes we have the "one-size-fits-them-all" approach and we treat all students the same way. Not all students have the same needs.
• We see tutoring as a task which is scheduled in between other tasks; for example, we arrange a number of meetings every 15' and when the time is up, we invite the next student in.
• Sometimes tutorial sessions are arranged through the course administrator; there is no direct contact prior to the meetings between tutor and tutee.
• We may have the wrong goals and expectations, that is, all students must enjoy tutoring, all students must benefit, all students must show up in the next meeting etc.

There might be another dozen of reasons you might think of too.

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As part of the University of Sheffield, we abide to its main Proposition (2011): “We will provide you with the support that you need to succeed as a student. You will have access to (a) A personal tutor – an academic member of staff based in your department who understands your academic needs and can offer pastoral advice. (b) High-quality professional support services across the whole range of needs to help keep you on track during your time with us.”

The Principles of Personal and Academic Support aim to more explicitly state the University’s commitment to the provision of academic and pastoral support; improve the equity and consistency of provision within and across departments; and acknowledge that different departmental structures and sizes require flexibility in where responsibilities lie and how support is made available. The principles apply to all taught students:

• Principle 1: Equitable access for all taught students
• Principle 2: Communication of benefits, roles and responsibilities
• Principle 3: Proactive relationships and shared responsibilities
• Principle 4: Promoting success for all students
• Principle 5: Effective provision of pastoral care and referral to specialist support

The personal tutor will:

1. Meet with the students within the agreed tutoring week of the semester.
2. Provide reliable and consistent advice and guidance.
3. Discuss general academic progress and also discuss the feedback on individual assignments and how the students’ use of the received feedback.
4. Maintain a record and inform programme directors or Heads about potential problems.
5. Keep meeting students for the remainder of the session according to the specific individual needs
6. Support students in their production and maintenance of a Personal Development Portfolio Plan by promoting reflective learning and assisting students to review their own progress
7. Be kept informed about changes to Departmental procedures, programmes and support services, such as: IF301 Student Skills and Development site, Disability and Dyslexia, Counselling Service, Library, Career Office etc. 

The students will:

1. Expect reliable and consistent advice and guidance from the tutor.
2. Commit necessary time to preparing for, and following up their meeting with the personal tutor
3. Take the responsibility to discuss feedback that they have received from the assignments and reflect on it. 
4. Undertake a self-assessment of their key skills at the beginning of the academic session.
5. Attend 1-1 and group tutorials with their personal tutor as agreed.
6. Explain “no shows”.
7. Maintain their personal development plan including a reflective statement at the end of each academic year.

I know that all the above sound ideal. Practically, most of the tutoring sessions are devoted to:

• how the current semester is progressing; 
• what are the students’ semester or module academic goals; 
• how the Department may assist the students with their career aspirations. 

Quality academic tutoring allows the students accomplish their goals in a timely manner and allows them to be in control of their own educational endeavors. It is not only during the designated tutoring period that the students may meet with their tutor in order to evaluate their progress as a student. By developing an on-going relationship with their academic tutor, they will gain insight into academic issues and career options as they relate to their academic programme.

Last year we made a number of "experiments", some of them more, some less successful:

• we invested on academic coaching and tried it out with Level 1 students
• we allocated specific tutors for a whole cohort of students

Reports are available form departments which describe what went well and what can be improved.  

Going back to yesterday's meetings, we agreed a number of small steps that may eventually have some long term effects:

• Consider tutoring as a continuous (and not isolated) process (as we do with learning and feedback) that may happen outside staff offices too. 
• Tutors themselves arrange their meetings with tutees (there are several ways of doing this, such as doodle poll, google calendar settings etc).
• Maintain a central record (normally fill-in a simple google form) that will report issues identified by the tutor and help the programme director and Head to take action if required.
• Distribute a list of students with reported learning disabilities to all tutors.
• Re-focus and have realistic goals and KPIs: (a) achieve some increase the number of students who show up in tutoring sessions, (b)  make the most out of those students who turn up than spending time to chase those who don't come to meetings, and (c) show some increase the return rate.

Finally, we agreed to create a working group that will discuss the quality of tutoring and make suggestions for next year. This is an invitation for anyone to join. 

Petros Kefalas

IFDLT