Quick Tips
Quick tips for tutoring
| The Idea | Details and Rationale |
|---|---|
| Sit down with your group | It's not always possible if the table is full. If you can though it creates an atmosphere of working together and it makes it easier to moderate discussions. If you really can't join your group in this way, avoid looming over their shoulders |
| Listen more than you talk | You need to understand what students are thinking in order to say something that is going to be helpful to them. |
| Praise questions | Make it repeatedly clear that questions are good and that you welcome them. You can't say "That's a good/interesting question" too often. |
| Being stuck is normal | Saying "I see you're stuck: everyone finds this problem hard when they first see it" is comforting for students who have been top of the class at school and are not used to being unable to solve a problem. |
| Deflect questions to your group | If you are asked a question, see if other students can answer it first. A group is working well when your getting asked means that the whole group is stuck and not just one or two people in it. |
| Answer a question with a question | If a student asks how to do something, try and ask them questions to see what they do understand - eg "Do you understand all the words in the question?" Then some more questions to move them forwards, eg "Are there any methods from the other questions we have done today that seem relevant?" |
| Be aware of wait time | Give students plenty of time to answer questions: firstly they need longer to think as beginners; secondly they may need to overcome their reluctance to contribute. Also wait a few seconds before responding to a student's answer: they may have more to say given time or another student may contribute. |
| Avoid questions with easy default answers | Don't just say "Do you understand this?" - politeness and a reluctance to be the first to admit not following is likely to lead students to say “yes” when “no” might be more accurate. Instead, try and find a question to ask that tests whether they really do get it. |
| Retrieval practice | We know that the process of recalling from memory strengthens the memory - and does so more than simply re-reading the information. Encourage your students to try and remember the theorem from the book before looking up to check and persuade them to remember what cos(Pi/2) is before using their calculator. |
| No-pen tutoring | Try and do a lot of your tutoring without writing anything yourself. Try instead to have the students do the writing. |
| Have students discuss | Students often have little experience of talking about mathematics. Encouraging verbal communication is good for their learning. |