Tutorial
Encyclopedia
A tutorial is one method of transferring knowledge and may be used as a part of a learning
process. More interactive
and specific than a book
or a lecture
; a tutorial seeks to teach by example and supply the information to complete a certain task.
Depending on the context a tutorial can take one of many forms, ranging from a set of instructions to complete a task to an interactive problem solving session (usually in academia).
parlance, a tutorial is a small class of one, or only a few, student
s, in which the tutor
(a lecturer
or other academic staff member) gives individual attention to the students. The tutorial system at Oxford
and Cambridge
is fundamental to methods of teaching at those universities, but it is by no means peculiar to them; Heythrop College
(University of London
), for instance, also offers a tutorial system with one on one teaching. It is rare for newer universities in the UK to have the resources to offer individual tuition; six to eight (or even more) students is a far more common tutorial size. At Cambridge, a tutorial is known as a supervision.
In some Canadian universities, such as the University of Waterloo
or the University of Toronto
, a tutorial refers to something more like a recitation
in an American university, that is, a class of between 12-18 students that is supplemental to a large lecture
course, which gives students the opportunity to discuss the lectures and/or additional readings in smaller groups. These tutorials are often led by graduate students
, normally known as "Teaching Assistant
s" (TAs), though it is not unknown for the primary instructor of a course, even if a full professor, to take a tutorial. At Princeton University
, these tutorials are known as preceptorials and are led by preceptor
s. Woodrow Wilson
developed the preceptorial system, intending it to be the main form of teaching.
In Australian
and New Zealand
universities, a tutorial (colloquially called a tute) is a class of 10–30 students. Such tutorials are very similar to the Canadian system, although tutorials are usually led by honours or postgraduate students, known as 'tutor
s'.
At the two campuses of St. John's College, U.S.
and a few other American colleges with a similar version of the Great Books
program, a "tutorial" is a class of 12 - 16 students who meet regularly with the guidance of a tutor. The tutorial focuses on a certain subject area (e.g. mathematics tutorial, language tutorial) and generally proceeds with careful reading of selected primary texts and working through associated exercises (e.g., demonstrating a Euclid proof or translating ancient Greek poetry). Since formal lectures do not play a large part in the St. John's College curriculum, the tutorial is the primary method by which certain subjects are studied. However, at St. John's the tutorial is considered ancillary to the seminar
, in which a slightly larger group of students meets with two tutors for broader discussion of the particular texts on the seminar list.
Some US colleges, such as Williams College
in Williamstown, Massachusetts, offer a tutorials almost identical in structure to that of an Oxbridge tutorial. At Williams, students in tutorials typically work in pairs alongside a professor and meet weekly, alternately presenting position papers or critiques of their partner's paper.
Tutorials usually have the following characteristics:
While many writers refer to a mere list of instructions or tips as a tutorial, this usage can be misleading.
or any other application, operating system interface, programming tool, or game. There are two kinds of software tutorials: movie tutorials that the user views; and interactive tutorials where the user follows on-screen instructions (and—in some cases—watches short instruction movies), whereupon he/she does the tutorial exercises and receives feedback depending on his/her actions. Some computer based tutorials can also be put up on the Web.
Learning
Learning is acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and some machines. Progress over time tends to follow learning curves.Human learning...
process. More interactive
Interactivity
In the fields of information science, communication, and industrial design, there is debate over the meaning of interactivity. In the "contingency view" of interactivity, there are three levels:...
and specific than a book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
or a lecture
Lecture
thumb|A lecture on [[linear algebra]] at the [[Helsinki University of Technology]]A lecture is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history,...
; a tutorial seeks to teach by example and supply the information to complete a certain task.
Depending on the context a tutorial can take one of many forms, ranging from a set of instructions to complete a task to an interactive problem solving session (usually in academia).
Academia
In British academicAcademia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
parlance, a tutorial is a small class of one, or only a few, student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
s, in which the tutor
Tutor
A tutor is a person employed in the education of others, either individually or in groups. To tutor is to perform the functions of a tutor.-Teaching assistance:...
(a lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
or other academic staff member) gives individual attention to the students. The tutorial system at Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
and Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
is fundamental to methods of teaching at those universities, but it is by no means peculiar to them; Heythrop College
Heythrop College
Heythrop College is the specialist philosophy and theology constituent college of the University of London situated in Kensington Square, Kensington, London. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in philosophy, theology and psychology, as well as research in related fields.It was founded...
(University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
), for instance, also offers a tutorial system with one on one teaching. It is rare for newer universities in the UK to have the resources to offer individual tuition; six to eight (or even more) students is a far more common tutorial size. At Cambridge, a tutorial is known as a supervision.
In some Canadian universities, such as the University of Waterloo
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...
or the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, a tutorial refers to something more like a recitation
Recitation
A recitation is a presentation made by a student to demonstrate knowledge of a subject or to provide instruction to others. In some academic institutions the term is used for a presentation by a teaching assistant or instructor, under the guidance of a senior faculty member, that supplements...
in an American university, that is, a class of between 12-18 students that is supplemental to a large lecture
Lecture
thumb|A lecture on [[linear algebra]] at the [[Helsinki University of Technology]]A lecture is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history,...
course, which gives students the opportunity to discuss the lectures and/or additional readings in smaller groups. These tutorials are often led by graduate students
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
, normally known as "Teaching Assistant
Teaching assistant
A teaching assistant is an individual who assists a professor or teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include graduate teaching assistants , who are graduate students; undergraduate teaching assistants , who are undergraduate students; secondary school TAs, who are either high school...
s" (TAs), though it is not unknown for the primary instructor of a course, even if a full professor, to take a tutorial. At Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, these tutorials are known as preceptorials and are led by preceptor
Preceptor
A preceptor is a teacher responsible to uphold a certain law or tradition, a precept.-Christian military orders:A preceptor was historically in charge of a preceptory, the headquarters of certain orders of monastic Knights, such as the Knights Hospitaller and Knights Templar, within a given...
s. Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
developed the preceptorial system, intending it to be the main form of teaching.
In Australian
Tertiary education in Australia
Tertiary education in Australia is primarily study at University or a Technical college in order to receive a qualification or further skills and training....
and New Zealand
Education in New Zealand
Education in New Zealand follows the three-tier model which includes primary schools, followed by secondary schools and tertiary education at universities and/or polytechs....
universities, a tutorial (colloquially called a tute) is a class of 10–30 students. Such tutorials are very similar to the Canadian system, although tutorials are usually led by honours or postgraduate students, known as 'tutor
Tutor
A tutor is a person employed in the education of others, either individually or in groups. To tutor is to perform the functions of a tutor.-Teaching assistance:...
s'.
At the two campuses of St. John's College, U.S.
St. John's College, U.S.
St. John's College is a liberal arts college with two U.S. campuses: one in Annapolis, Maryland and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Founded in 1696 as a preparatory school, King William's School, the school received a collegiate charter in 1784, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher...
and a few other American colleges with a similar version of the Great Books
Great Books
Great Books refers primarily to a group of books that tradition, and various institutions and authorities, have regarded as constituting or best expressing the foundations of Western culture ; derivatively the term also refers to a curriculum or method of education based around a list of such books...
program, a "tutorial" is a class of 12 - 16 students who meet regularly with the guidance of a tutor. The tutorial focuses on a certain subject area (e.g. mathematics tutorial, language tutorial) and generally proceeds with careful reading of selected primary texts and working through associated exercises (e.g., demonstrating a Euclid proof or translating ancient Greek poetry). Since formal lectures do not play a large part in the St. John's College curriculum, the tutorial is the primary method by which certain subjects are studied. However, at St. John's the tutorial is considered ancillary to the seminar
Seminar
Seminar is, generally, a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular subject, in which everyone present is...
, in which a slightly larger group of students meets with two tutors for broader discussion of the particular texts on the seminar list.
Some US colleges, such as Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
in Williamstown, Massachusetts, offer a tutorials almost identical in structure to that of an Oxbridge tutorial. At Williams, students in tutorials typically work in pairs alongside a professor and meet weekly, alternately presenting position papers or critiques of their partner's paper.
Internet
Internet computer tutorials can take the form of a screen recording, a written document (either online or downloadable), or an audio file, where a person will give step by step instructions on how to do something.Tutorials usually have the following characteristics:
- A presentation of content, usually with an example or examples, often broken up into discrete modules or sections.
- Some method of review that reinforces or tests understanding of the content in the related module or section.
- A transition to additional modules or sections that builds on the instructions already provided. Tutorials can be linear or branching.
While many writers refer to a mere list of instructions or tips as a tutorial, this usage can be misleading.
Computer-based tutoring
In computer-based education, a tutorial is a computer program whose purpose it is to assist users in learning how to use (parts of) a software product such as an office suiteOffice suite
In computing, an office suite, sometimes called an office software suite or productivity suite is a collection of programs intended to be used by knowledge workers...
or any other application, operating system interface, programming tool, or game. There are two kinds of software tutorials: movie tutorials that the user views; and interactive tutorials where the user follows on-screen instructions (and—in some cases—watches short instruction movies), whereupon he/she does the tutorial exercises and receives feedback depending on his/her actions. Some computer based tutorials can also be put up on the Web.
See also
- TutorTutorA tutor is a person employed in the education of others, either individually or in groups. To tutor is to perform the functions of a tutor.-Teaching assistance:...
- Tuition agencyTuition agencyA tuition agency is a commercial organisation which specialises in introducing tutors to students requiring help in the academic area. Tuition agencies exist largely due to the problems parents and students face in finding a specialist who can help them with the study of one or more specific...
- Teaching assistantTeaching assistantA teaching assistant is an individual who assists a professor or teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include graduate teaching assistants , who are graduate students; undergraduate teaching assistants , who are undergraduate students; secondary school TAs, who are either high school...
- FAQFAQFrequently asked questions are listed questions and answers, all supposed to be commonly asked in some context, and pertaining to a particular topic. "FAQ" is usually pronounced as an initialism rather than an acronym, but an acronym form does exist. Since the acronym FAQ originated in textual...
- How-toHow-toA how-to or a how to is an informal, often short, description of how to accomplish some specific task. A how-to is usually meant to help non-experts, may leave out details that are only important to experts, and may also be greatly simplified from an overall discussion of the topic...
- Knowledge baseKnowledge baseA knowledge base is a special kind of database for knowledge management. A Knowledge Base provides a means for information to be collected, organised, shared, searched and utilised.-Types:...
- Tutor expertise in adult educationTutor expertise in adult education'Tutor expertise in adult education, through the use of content and process experts, is important in the successful delivery of adult education. Each has a specific role and a particular set of attributes which they bring to the classroom. Content experts are those who are well acquainted with the...