Tutorials in Philosophy at SFU complement large lecture classes, allowing students to interact and engage with course material and with other students in a small class setting.
While teaching styles differ from TA to TA and tutorial objectives change, effective tutorials tend to share these characteristics (there may be others):
The standard model of passive learning portrays the professor as “giver of information” and the student as “receiver of information,” with a typical passive learning environment being that of the lecture. Active learning requires that students do more than just receive information; students assess, question, explain and apply the concepts introduced in class. Students retain more when they learn actively and are more engaged in their education in an active learning environment.
Tutorials are all about active learning and therefore are a key part of large lecture courses in philosophy. Note that lectures need not be entirely passive. Professors can create active learning opportunities in large lectures, and students can make lectures more active by reviewing their notes, asking questions, and trying to apply lecture material to their daily lives. Tutorials reinforce and enhance these practices.
A tutorial without focused goals is usually an ineffective tutorial. Trying to cover the lecture material from the previous two classes won't work - there's simply too much material to go over, and you will likely spend your time lecturing. Nor will going into tutorial with the intention to discuss whatever topics students suggest be a good strategy. The material in introductory philosophy courses is challenging, and students often come to tutorial without a strong grasp of the concepts. Instead, you need to go in to a tutorial with a clear sense of what you would like to accomplish in terms of learning and how you are going to go about it. Of course, you need to remain flexible with your plans to adapt to an individual tutorial's needs.
How do you decide what your goals will be? Often, the course supervisor will indicate what he/she would like covered. You can design your activities around these objectives. (Be sure to provide the course supervisor with feedback on what you were able to cover; this gives the supervisor a sense of how the students are doing in the course.) If you have TA'd the same course before, you will likely have a good idea of where students tend to have difficulties with various concepts. This is a good starting place for planning your tutorial. If you are new to a particular course, you can ask an experienced TA for his/her suggestions, or ask the course supervisor at the weekly course meeting for some ideas.
A positive tutorial environment (sometimes called a safe classroom environment) is one where students are comfortable with each other and with offering ideas, expressing their views, and asking questions. This doesn't mean that there won't be conflict or disagreement; indeed, part of a positive/safe environment includes exploring opposing views, expressing and discussing differing opinions, and examining personal biases. So a positive or safe classroom environment may at times be a tense one. Here are some components of a safe environment, with some ideas on how to create them.
Making students comfortable: breaking the ice. Ideally, a part of the first tutorial can be used for an icebreaker activity. (If you weren't able to do this in the first tutorial, be sure to do it at the beginning of the second tutorial. It needs to be done early in the semester for maximum effectiveness.) An ice-breaking activity allows students to talk to one another in an informal manner and helps to create a sense of group. See What to do in your first tutorial for some activity ideas.
Use a circular or a U-style seating arrangement. A circular or U-shape seating arrangement allows students to have eye contact with other students, and contributes to a sense of group. Most tutorial rooms should be set up with tables in a U shape. If you're in a room where the seating is fixed, ask at the Department for another room if possible; if the seating isn't fixed, rearrange the tables so that they are in an appropriate shape. (If the room is not normally configured for a U shape, be sure to return the room to its regular set-up at the end of the class.)
Encourage participation. Feel free to call on students by name. Some students have ideas to contribute to a discussion but are reluctant to offer their views unless encouraged by being called upon. By the same token, don't try to force people to participate. If a student you call on doesn't want to say something, move on to another student. For more ideas, see the section below entitled "Strategies for encouraging participation."
Model appropriate discussion etiquette and intervene where necessary. For example, make sure a student has a chance to complete what they want to say without being interrupted. It's helpful to have a discussion about discussion at the beginning of the semester.
The main techniques of running interactive philosophy tutorials are group work, large discussions, and debates as well as various activities, for example simulating a prisoner's dilemma. You may find that you will often combine group work and large discussions in a single tutorial, saving debates for more occasional use.
Group work
Group work, also known as collaborative learning, has several advantages.
How to use group work in a tutorial
Group work provides a lot of flexibility for a tutorial, and can be combined with low-stakes writing and/or large group discussion.
Here are some general guidelines for incorporating group work into your tutorials.
Large Group Discussions
Large group discussions have a regular place in tutorials. They can be an effective way of treating theories and exploring concepts, allowing all students to hear others' questions and participate in the discussion. They can be used on their own or in combination with group work. As with group work, it is important that you have a plan or goal for the discussion in order to stay on track and meet your tutorial objectives. Using low-stakes writing to prepare for discussion can help stimulate students' thinking. For ideas on how to use low-stakes writing, please see the low-stakes page.
The challenges in using large group discussions lie in ensuring full and fair participation and managing questions in order to avoid turning the discussion into a question and answer session or a lecture. Note that like lectures, there may be times when Q & A sessions are appropriate, such as prior to exams, considering a new assignment etc.
Strategies for encouraging participation
One of the most common frustrations students express about tutorials is that their peers don't contribute to discussions or are unwilling to do so. Of course, you can't force someone to participate (and you shouldn't try) but you can encourage participation.
Remember that participation includes behaviours other than talking. A student who is paying attention and displays positive body language is participating, just as is a student who responds to another student during a discussion or who asks a question. Similarly, a student who has done the readings and noted down a question is also participating. However, a student making glib comments, interrupting other students, coming to class not having done the readings, surfing online etc. is not participating.
Here are some tips for encouraging participation:
Dealing with overly-keen contributors and "hijackers"
There is often in every class a student or two who is keen and readily contributes throughout your tutorial. Such students are often bright and are already philosophy majors or will soon be. While you want to encourage such students, you also want to encourage the class as a whole to participate, and relying on the keen student will effectively shut down participation.
Sometimes a student (keen or not) will "hijack" a discussion by taking the discussion on a tangent. Other times, it may be a student who is having problems understanding a concept that the rest of the class understands. In either of these cases, the appropriate response is to intervene and ask the student to follow-up either after class (if you have a few minutes) or to invite them to office hours and then get the discussion back on track. Another type of "hijacker" is that of the bully. In this case, you will need to speak to the student outside of class.