Tutorials and Lectures
Tutorials are small group meetings (from 1 to 4 students) with a tutor, usually once a week. They are arranged by the College through the tutor in charge of your subject, and any tutorials you receive must be authorised by that tutor.
Lectures are advertised on the Faculty or Department Lecture lists.
Tutorials and lectures are both important, but tutorials are more personal, and a tutor will expect students to attend them unless there is a very good reason not to (usually medical). If you cannot attend at all or on time, you must do your best to contact the tutor in advance and explain why. Failure to attend tutorials on time and properly prepared is viewed very seriously.
Tutorials
Usually students are given a reading list indicating materials relevant for the next tutorial, and they will be expected to write an essay or prepare problems on a given topic and either hand in the work in advance or present it during the tutorial.
You will usually receive guidance (either written or orally) from the tutor about how to use the reading list. If you don't, then ask (always be prepared to ask tutors anything that troubles you: that is what they are for). Don't expect the reading list to direct you to specific lines or paragraphs. It is more likely to refer to books, chapters in books, journal articles or some other source material. You will need to judge what parts of these are relevant to the topic you are investigating. So it is important to think carefully about the topic you have been assigned to investigate (often in an essay title) before you start, because that will tell you what you must look for in the materials. Sometimes this can be helped by reading a summary on it in a textbook.
How do you track down the information you need? If you have been going to lectures on the topic, they could help you to focus your reading. In books, use the index (if there is one) and chapter headings. You can sometimes quickly discover the relevance of articles by looking at an abstract at the beginning and the conclusions. You will also develop methods of reading quickly, moving swiftly over the less relevant until you see something you need to study more closely. So don't take notes of everything you read: but you should note up the important bits so you can refer to them when you write your essay. When doing this, always record the title and reference of articles and the title and date of books you are quoting. Notes which are well set out and provide a good record of what you have read can be invaluable when you revise for examinations. These are valuable skills in their own right which you can take way and apply in other contexts.
So you may not need to read everything on the list. Some material may better be read after the tutorial, perhaps even in the vacation when you do not have such a tight schedule and are following things up, or reading more widely to cover possible examination questions. This is all part of organization. You may be studying more than one topic at a time, and you have to give all topics equal attention (yes, even the ones you may find less interesting
- people often find a topic becomes more interesting the better they know it;
- even the most exciting subjects usually have less exciting moments which are essential to master so the more exciting become even more exciting!
- you have to do it anyway).
If you have an essay to write, begin planning it when you have read as much of the material as seems necessary to have an intelligent shot at dealing with it. You should have the title pretty well fixed in your mind if you have been looking at the material with an eye on extracting material relevant to it. Now is the time to assemble the material into some sort of order: does it all point one way, or does it give differing opinions or results? Do you feel confident enough to go for one view or another? Tutors like students to express their views. Don't worry if it may turn out wrong, or if the tutor has a different view. Tutors will understand that, given the short time you have had with the material, your opinion must only be provisional. It may well change after discussing the material in a tutorial. But that is how you learn. And there is always a chance that you may convince the tutor that your view is better.
It is wise to have some idea of the structure of the essay before you start writing. Think how you will present the material or order the arguments. You are not totally bound by this, and may want to change direction as you write, which is not necessarily a bad thing because it shows you are thinking all the time. But if you do, make it clear why. It is often a good idea to start the essay by briefly explaining how you understand the question asked, and then how you propose to answer it.
It is most important to always keep in mind that tutors can judge only what is written down or read out. They don't know what was in your mind if you didn't write it down. Don't assume they do. And it is especially important to write clearly . It is no good writing something which could mean something different from what you actually mean. A few extra words may be all that is necessary to avoid confusion. If you have read something which you thought was particularly clear, try and write in the same way. Usually short sentences are better than long ones. If a sentence seems to be meandering, you can often cut it in half, or even into three, with great benefit! Always read through your essay when you have finished, imagining that you are someone else reading it. Everyone can improve what they first wrote down, and this is especially easy if you are using a computer.
Some tutors may accept emailed essays: but many will not, so please check on this. If you are solving problems, the following tips may help:
- Study them thoroughly as soon as possible after you get them. If there is anything you don't understand you will have time to ask either the tutor or other students about it, which you won't if you leave it to the last minute.
- Read relevant lecture notes or texts before starting.
- Set your work out neatly. Writing on one side allows you to take notes in the tutorial. Ensure any formula you quote is clearly separated from your own workings. Leave space for the tutor to write in comments. Be legible. Include all your workings unless the tutor says not to.
At the tutorial, you should not expect the tutor simply to go through the material as if it were a lecture. The tutor is there to comment on your essay or other written work, to help with any problems you had in understanding the work, to indicate how what you have learned fits together and relates to wider matters you may not have covered, and mostly to examine critically the ideas that have been discussed including your own. Knowledge advances by trial and error, so academics live by putting forward ideas, modifying them in the light of criticism and trying again. You are welcomed to join the process! Write notes in the tutorial if you like, though it may be better to do so soon afterwards, while you still remember it clearly. In fact, spending a short time after the tutorial annotating your essay, or jotting down extra points, is a very valuable use of time.
Tutorials are also important occasions for students to get used to discussing their subject among themselves. It is amazing how exhilarating a tutorial can be if students have been debating the issues together beforehand. This can be one of the best ways of learning. It gets even better if a whole year group in a college enthuses about the subject together: this can raise the standard of each student significantly, as well as making work fun. Sadly, a group which never discusses work together can depress the performance of each student.
Lectures
Lecturers and tutorials are co-ordinated more strongly in some subjects than others. You will need advice about attending lectures, usually from your tutor, but sometimes on your subject's website. If lectures are recommended, you should go because:
- In many subjects they provide essential core information not covered in tutorials;
- Some lecturers are well-known writers, or excellent at conveying information (these are not mutually exclusive);
- You meet other students;
- Examiners may refer to them when setting questions.
You should of course take notes of lectures. It may be helpful to develop your own form of shorthand for this. But you should try only to record the main points, not every word.