Tutoring and Demonstrating Ch. 1

Chapter 1 THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

The quality of the student experience

The University of Melbourne is a world-class, international university, attracting very capable students who have considerable academic potential. In return, the University aims to offer an educational experience of the highest standard, both inside and outside scheduled classes.

Particularly in the early years of undergraduate courses, tutors and demonstrators play a central role in students' academic success and their overall satisfaction with university life. In many faculties, tutors and demonstrators are very much the personal face of the University for undergraduates.

The quality of teaching in tutorials and practical classes is especially important in first year subjects. Commencing higher education can be an unsettling experience. This is true of school-leavers and mature-age students alike, but the transition from school to higher education can be especially difficult - not just at this University, but right across Australia. A national study conducted by the Centre for the Study of Higher Education (McInnis and James 1995) revealed that many first year students in the first few months of the year fail to develop connections with their peers on campus. As many as one third of first year students seriously consider dropping out during first semester, and a disturbing number do so. There are many reasons for this, some of which are to do with students' academic experiences.

There is evidence that students who drop out typically make this decision in the first few weeks, so the interactions and experiences students have in the classroom can be factors in counteracting feelings of loneliness, isolation and uncertainty. Tutors and demonstrators play their part in helping first year students build a sense of belonging to the University and to develop friendships and support networks - especially students from overseas, who are adjusting to new academic and social experiences and expectations.

To achieve these objectives, an important starting point is to create a welcoming classroom environment - friendly, non-intimidating and non-threatening. This does not mean, however, that it should be an unchallenging place to be. Indeed, your classes should be intellectually demanding; students should expect to experience a mild but not threatening tension that springs from a spirit of critique and inquiry.

Of course, some students experience difficulties because of personal problems. Others can suffer from lack of application or face difficulties that are the result of poor approaches to study. You can't be expected to deal with all of this. But tutors and demonstrators are in an ideal position to provide one-to-one feedback and to encourage students whose energies and confidence may be flagging. As well, tutors and demonstrators are looked to as role models by students, particularly when the age difference is not great. Your attitudes and approaches - to knowledge, learning and academic values - send powerful messages to those you teach.

For help for students experiencing difficulties, see Services for student referral

Interactive teaching and learning

Across the University there are various methods and approaches to teaching and learning in small student groups, and departments have various expectations of tutors and demonstrators. It is not possible in this guide to summarise this range. Nevertheless, the University's small group teaching settings have something in common.

Tutorials and practical classes, no matter how they might be configured, offer possibilities for discussion and interaction between students and teachers. This is the single major advantage they have over most lectures; all students can have the opportunity to participate and contribute, concerns and uncertainties can be freely raised, and individuals can receive rapid feedback on their ideas. What small groups do best is to allow the teacher - and the students - to seize the 'teachable moment', that time when students reveal knowledge gaps, confusion or curiosity. Tutorials have been described as opportunities for students to test their 'constructions of meaning' - the conceptual frameworks they have built up to make sense of, and order, the information and ideas that have been presented to them. Generally, they must articulate those understandings in order to test them.

Small group teaching is most successful when it encourages the participation of all members of the group. The tutor or demonstrator has the responsibility to create an environment conducive to this participation. Unfortunately, it is quite common for both students and teachers to allow tutorials, for instance, to become so dominated by the discussion leader that they become mini-lectures. It is sometimes argued in justification of this pattern that a central aim of tutorials is to clarify lectures, set reading or other tasks. However, it is important to explore other functions of the small group if students are to be given the best possible opportunities to develop their skills and understandings.

For more information on small group teaching and participation, see Leading discussions

Small groups are generally better than lectures in developing higher level intellectual skills involving reasoning and problem-solving, as well as applying principles. They can be more effective environments for exploring and possibly shaping the values and attitudes of students, including the development of respect for other points of view. Small group sessions also allow students opportunities for creative expression. Lectures have their own legitimate functions and the combination of lecture and small groups can be powerful. The functions of the two forms should not be confused.

Developing transferable skills to do with styles of thinking is often cited as the most important goal of small group teaching. It is not enough merely to exhort students 'to think'; they need to be guided in the ways of thinking that the teacher believes are important. If students are expected to learn, for example, to analyse, to evaluate evidence and data, to see new relationships, or to think critically, then they need to be told that this is an expectation at the time the ground rules are established.

The social nature of small group teaching can enhance learning. Developing group commitment to the learning process can lead to students learning from students. Peer support and the sharing of resources in cooperative learning makes the job of the teacher much easier, more effective and maybe more rewarding. Developing interpersonal skills is part of the process of learning, especially where transferable skills such as listening, speaking and leading are explicitly defined as important and worthwhile educational goals in themselves.

New directions and challenges

The University of Melbourne is in an exciting and demanding era. It is committed to being a leading international university which maintains an advanced technological capacity for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and learning. To meet these objectives, strategic policies and plans are in place and many initiatives are occurring across the Parkville campus and at the University's other metropolitan and rural campuses.

As a tutor or demonstrator you may think that your day-to-day teaching and immediate responsibilities are quite remote from the cutting edge of innovation in teaching and learning methods. In fact, some departments in the University are now seeking to employ tutors who can take a leading role in multimedia authoring and other technology-related teaching roles. For most tutors and demonstrators, though, teaching is still largely conducted in the traditional face-to-face style. Even so, it would be short-sighted for any teacher to ignore the rapid changes taking place. The whole undergraduate curriculum is undergoing a transformation with the introduction of electronic technologies in their various forms - all people who teach in the University should be aware of the new possibilities and conversant with the full range of options for creating learning opportunities.

This section sketches current developments. It is not comprehensive; things are changing so quickly it would hardly be sensible to attempt to be so. If you want more information, the University has a number of services which can provide it. The Multimedia Education Unit, faculty-based multimedia units, and the Information Technology Service play important roles in developing and supporting the use of technology in University activities. You will find more information about these services and units in the section on professional development opportunities in chapter nine.

Advanced technology for teaching and learning

Advances in communication and information technology have opened up a host of opportunities for university educators to design learning activities hitherto inconceivable. Electronic technologies permit a range of new educational experiences, including simulated face-to-face contact through the use of video-conferencing at a distance, email networks that allow students and staff to keep in touch, and multimedia software tailor-made for studying independently or in small groups. The use of the Internet for course delivery or administration is creating considerable interest.

At its simplest, technology in teaching may mean using software packages to present lectures. More exciting are the unique learning experiences that can be created with multimedia and delivered by CD-ROM or the Internet.

The University of Melbourne is at the forefront in developing and introducing educational multimedia, and there is a commitment to remaining a national leader in this area. Extensive resources and staff energies are invested to ensure that students can take appropriate advantage of up-to-date educational technology. Across the University, teams of staff in a wide range of discipline areas are developing multimedia learning software to create learning experiences which are simply not possible in other forms. Multimedia is now supplementing or replacing traditional laboratory exercises, providing databanks of high resolution visual images, and allowing students to run real-time simulations. You may find that you will become involved in such initiatives, or that students are using materials of this kind along with the classes you are conducting. Take the time to explore what is going on.

These developments get to the very core of the idea of higher education - they challenge our thinking about the planning of course content, the styles of teaching and learning, the assessment of student learning, and course and subject evaluation. Educational technology forms part of a growing trend in education towards flexible teaching and learning arrangements that reduce the dominance of teacher-centred delivery. Electronic technologies allow students to access resources and staff from home or from the workplace. What's more, they can often work at their own pace, at a time that suits, and receive immediate feedback. This is all good news for educators. Students can have more choice and control over their learning.

What hasn't changed of course is the need for university teachers who inspire, motivate and challenge students. But the roles of teaching staff are changing, and new roles are emerging for tutors and demonstrators. Self-paced interactive multimedia, for instance, places a premium on students' skills of self-management. Not all students will begin with high levels of independence, and not all will be quick to thrive in such an environment. Tutors and demonstrators may need to reconceptualise their roles. This requires learning how best to support students who are independently working with learning resources. Knowing when to intervene, knowing when personal assistance is necessary or welcome, and knowing when to provoke new directions of inquiry, are all desirable skills. Undergraduate students need a good measure of assistance and structure on the journey to self-directed inquiry and analysis.

Email now provides the opportunity for 'virtual tutors' and some departments and individual tutors are encouraging undergraduate students to send queries by email. On-line virtual tutoring has the potential to be a wonderful resource for providing one-to-one assistance and for helping students quickly to overcome blockages that are stalling their progress. It is also possible to establish email discussion groups to build on and extend classroom discussions. These can be particularly valuable for quieter students or those who need more time to reflect on their views. An on-line forum is an inexpensive, simple and powerful tool for teaching and learning. It can be time-consuming, but ideally the tutor can take a back seat, enabling the students to run the on-line forum.

No-one can predict exactly how the forms of teaching and learning will develop in higher education, but the possibilities are exciting. There will always be an important place for traditional, face-to-face teaching and learning, especially in undergraduate programs, but new, technologically-based approaches will surely be an invaluable complement in many, if not all, settings.

Graduates for a global workplace

Another salient feature of higher education world-wide is the speed of internationalisation. Universities are now compelled to review their operations in the light of the possibilities for swift transmission of on-line courses across geographical and political boundaries, growth in international research collaboration, and cross-national cooperation and franchising in course delivery. The work context for graduates is a global one and graduates need to be equipped with international perspectives and ready to work and learn in new contexts and cultures.

The University of Melbourne is committed to maintaining curricula that are relevant internationally. It wishes to continue to attract international students, to provide opportunities for overseas study to domestic students, and to offer experiences that equip graduates with an international outlook. As well, the University recognises and values the cultural diversity of its students and staff and the contribution this makes to a vibrant educational environment. Later in the guide we address in detail the teaching and learning issues associated with cultural diversity.

A significant number of you will have come to the University of Melbourne from overseas universities. The University values the perspectives and skills you bring - they greatly enrich the intellectual and social environment of this community. You may not be familiar with some of the forms of teaching used here and the expected roles of tutors and demonstrators. Most newcomers pick these up very quickly and find their colleagues helpful in explaining conventions and assumptions. To offer further assistance, we have included in chapter three some specific advice for tutors and demonstrators who are new to the University and who have been educated outside Australia.

Graduating for lifelong learning

In response to rapid social changes such as those we have just described, there is a good deal of discussion in higher education on the approaches to teaching and learning that best encourage and equip graduates to be lifelong learners who are able to stay abreast of developments in their fields. There is a cogent argument that universities should concentrate less on teaching an existing body of knowledge, which may soon be overtaken by new discoveries and insights, and give greater emphasis instead to teaching the skills of learning. In practical terms, this might mean helping students to enhance their sense of inquiry and their skills in accessing and interpreting information from a variety of sources. It might also involve encouraging and assisting students to be self-directed, independent learners, while at the same time giving them opportunities to work collaboratively in small teams.

It must be recognised, of course, that the teaching of skills can never be content-free - it is always conducted in the context of a specific subject. However, if students are encouraged to become self-aware learners (that is, to think about how they learn and how to manage their own learning), they will be better prepared to adapt their skills to new situations. This is where tutors and demonstrators come in.

Next section: Chapter 2 Fundamentals

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