Guidance for tutors

Planning

• the coordinator of your course should inform you of how you will be supervised, for example, weekly meetings, or regular email correspondence
• the coordinator of your course should provide you with a tutorial plan for the semester
• if relevant, the coordinator of your course will enrol you as an instructor on the course Learn.UQ (Blackboard) site. 

Preparing material

• read and think about the goals for your tutorial. In general, your Course Coordinator should provide you with class lists and some preliminary guidance and/or material to be covered in the tutorial
• write down three or four learning objectives you want to achieve or cover in the class
• do a lesson plan of specific activities that will help achieve the objectives. Include a rough breakdown of times to be spent on each activity, factoring in time for discussion
• think about questions to ask the class to promote discussion
• think about ways you can learn student names. For example, on the first day of class get students to write their name on a piece of paper in front of them. Also consider taking a roll at the beginning of each tutorial (in some schools, taking a roll is a requirement to monitor attendance)
• prepare an icebreaker activity to get to know the students and let them get to know you.

Be organised

• identify where you will be teaching and make sure you have access to the room
• have all the papers and materials you will need on the day
• make sure you can operate any equipment you plan to use
• arrive early to give yourself time to set up
• where possible, set up the room to encourage equal participation (for example, students sitting in a circle facing one another).

Student feedback suggests that a ‘good’ tutor is one who:

• is approachable and accessible for consultation  
• is encouraging and supportive  
• is knowledgeable of the relevant course topics, course details and organisational issues  
• uses a variety of teaching and learning methods to engage students  
• manages the group well  
• uses the knowledge and experiences of the group to facilitate learning  
• treats students equitably and fairly  
• reflects on their own performance as a teacher  
• seeks to continually improve. 

Effective presentation and facilitation of tutorials involves: 

Structuring your tutorial appropriately

Always start with an introduction, then move to the body of the information you want to cover. Finish your tutorial with a strong conclusion. If you are going to use PowerPoint, use it well.

Using your body effectively 

• dress appropriately 
• smile 
• establish eye contact 
• use gestures. 

Speaking with confidence and authority

• speak enthusiastically with, and not at the audience
• pronounce your words correctly and clearly 
• avoid words that create doubt, such as – kind of, sort of, I hope, I guess, perhaps. 

Starting your tutorial well

• introduce yourself and tell your students a bit about yourself (e.g. if and what you are studying; your qualifications and/or research expertise) 
• write your name clearly on the board, as well as your UQ email address for contact. 
• call students by their first name 
• initiate an icebreaker activity – possibly ask everyone to introduce themselves to the group, or to the student next to them, and say what they'd like to do after graduating 
• establish an open, welcoming atmosphere. Students should feel comfortable sharing their ideas and opinions with the group. 

Establishing ground rules

Problems can arise with students because of unclear expectations. Establishing expectations or ground rules at the beginning of the semester helps maintain good working relationships. Many tutors have found it beneficial to include the students in developing class rules. Ground rules might include: 

• any compulsory attendance requirements
• be punctual
• no mobile phones in class, and media devices only when necessary
• respect other people’s opinions, and don’t speak over others
• raise your hand to respond to a question
• outlining when and how you will respond to student emails. Some general tips are to only reply to emails during business hours; and suggest students consult the Electronic Course Profile (ECP) and Learn.UQ (Blackboard) site before they email you with a query. 

Conducting a successful tutorial

• use your class time wisely
• it's important to ask questions skillfully and frequently to promote discussion and clarify understanding. 
• repeat questions students have asked to make sure everyone has heard and understood
• if a student asks you a question that you don't know the answer to, be honest. Throw the question back to the group, and if they don't know, tell the students you will find out and let them know
• encourage discussion (for ideas on how to provoke discussion, see 'responding to classroom challenges' below)
• make sure you try to include all students. Ask non-participators for their views
• show students how to approach a problem: you can use a series of questions to progressively reveal the solution to a problem
• provide assistance for student presentations
• consider using group work to help facilitate engagement and learning.

Ending on the right note

• summarise the key points that arose during the tutorial
• ask if there are any further questions or concerns
• engage students in a refeliection activity
• if necessary, tell students what you expect from them outside of tutorial hours
• tell students what will be covered in the next tutorial so that they can prepare.

Don’t forget to reflect on each of your tutorial sessions. Identify what went well, what didn’t, and how to prevent that happening next time. This will enhance your teaching practice. 

Most tutors will deal with course assessment tasks as part of their duties. The following information provides some background to assessment, as well as some practical suggestions on marking and feedback. More specific guidance will be provided by your Course Coordinator. 

Assessment requirements

Assessment requirements must be provided in writing to students in the Electronic Course Profile (ECP), including the weighting of each assessment and its due date.  

You should be familiar with the course assessment requirements so you can explain them to students at the start of teaching and at relevant times throughout the semester. 

UQ Policies and Procedures on Assessment stipulate that the assessment approach used at UQ is criterion referenced assessment, whereby ‘judgements about the quality of students’ performance are made by reference to explicit or predetermined criteria and standards, and not by comparison to the achievement of other students'. 

For more information about Assessment at UQ, visit the Assessment page.

Marking students’ work

When marking assessment:

• be sure the assessment criteria you use meets the standard set by the lecturer in charge of your course. In most cases, your Course Coordinator will meet with you and explain the marking system for each piece of assessment
• check back over your marking of students’ work, particularly if the length of time between marking the first few and the last few items was quite long
• it is the responsibility of the Course Coordinator to ensure that your marks/grades for each assessment item are moderated across a course.

Assessing group work

Assessing group work can involve assessing group processes, assessing the group product, or a combination of both. This can be assessed at an individual and/or group level.

The criteria by which each group is assessed may be decided by the lecturer, students or both. Assessment criteria should be linked to the intended outcomes of the work. Assessment criteria may include: 

• meeting attendance 
• equity of contribution 
• behaviour within the group 
• development of competencies 
• peer feedback/criticism. 

How marks will be assigned must be determined prior to the commencement of group work. 

A shared group mark encourages group participation but does not necessarily reflect individual contributions. 

A group average mark may provide more motivation to students to work both individually and within the group. This does not necessarily take into account the individual’s contributions. 

Assessing each individual within a group may be a fairer method of assessment. Individuals may be assessed for an allocated task within the overall group task, or on individual reports. Peer evaluation can be an integral part of allocating marks, however may be subject to bias. 

Providing feedback to students

The provision of feedback is outlined in the Assessment Policy. 

The way in which feedback is provided is dependent on assessment submission procedures. Your Course Coordinator will provide you with more guidance on this. 

In general, feedback should be: 

• timely – feedback lets students know how they are going, what they are doing well, and areas to improve. 
• constructive – identify strengths and weaknesses, and state how work can be improved. 
• balanced – provide both positive remarks and critical comments. It’s always good to begin and end with a positive comments. 
• varied – feedback could include discussion as a group, written comments on work, model answers, lists of common mistakes, as well as individual comment. 
• self-explanatory – use terms that students will understand, and don’t use symbols without explaining what they mean. 

Academic integrity

As a tutor, you need to be familiar with the University’s guidelines on academic integrity and student conduct. If you suspect a student has acted improperly, you should bring the matter to the attention of your Course Coordinator. 

A set of academic integrity resources (UQ staff login required) are available to teachers including Identifying academic misconduct including contract cheating (PDF, 168.5 KB).

Support is available to students whose condition or circumstances impacts  their ability to participate in their course work or assessment. These students may request reasonable adjustments be made to their course work and assessment so they can participate equitably and not be disadvantaged. 

The University will make all reasonable efforts to give these students a comparable opportunity to engage with academic coursework and to demonstrate their knowledge and competency for assessment purpose.

Any adjustments made must maintain academic standards and program integrity, and must be in accordance with professional and registration bodies to ensure the adjustments do not impact upon the graduate student’s capability for professional practice and/or registration.

Eligibility for reasonable adjustments

The University will, where appropriate, provide reasonable adjustments to students whose circumstances include, but are not limited to, any of the following reasons: 

• has a disability (as defined in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992) or a medical condition
• was recently or is currently experiencing exceptional circumstances
• is an elite athlete
• has an ongoing commitment to religious observance
• is engaged in the Reserve defence services

Functional impacts

Functional impacts are how the student’s learning is affected by their condition or situation. It is not uncommon for our students to experience more than one functional impact. For many of our students with a medical condition or a disability, the most common impacts include mental health, energy (physical and mental), pain, neurological function and cognitive processing. For others, the impact may be impaired vision, hearing, mobility or physical functions (Steele et al., 2022). For those with exceptional circumstances, mental health, energy levels, neurological function or cognitive processing may also be functional impacts. For those with competing time commitments, e.g., a Reservist, the functional impact may be time and availability to participate in class or attend scheduled exam times.

Students application for reasonable adjustments 

Students who require reasonable adjustments need to make an appointment to discuss their condition or circumstances with a Student Adviser. During the appointment, the student should ideally have documentary evidence of their condition or circumstance at the first meeting so the Student Adviser can progress the application more quickly. This information can be located via the student services webpage.

After sighting the evidence and discussing functional impacts with the student, the Student Adviser will develop recommendations for reasonable adjustments suitable to address the functional impact and support the learner. These recommendations are documented on a Student Access Plan (SAP) for coursework and assessment tasks, and an Exam Adjustment (EA) for any centrally-administered examination. The SAP is then sent to each of the students' Course Coordinators for approval.

The Course Coordinator must determine if the recommended adjustments would still allow the student to meet the learning outcomes for their course, to evidence the threshold of competence, and meet other requirements such as health and safety regulations. If the Course Coordinator is satisfied with the recommended adjustments, they sign the SAP and the adjustments are put in place.

SAP, EA or both?

Some of your students will have reasonable adjustments approved for their coursework, their assessment or both. A Student Access Plan (SAP) shows the reasonable adjustments approved for coursework and non-examination assessment, while an Alternate Exam Arrangement (more commonly referred to as an Exam Adjustment (EA)) will outline any adjustments to be made for centrally administered examinations.  The same adjustments should be implemented for any non-centrally administered exams, but this does not happen automatically and will be the responsibility of the Course Coordinator to manage. 

New SAPs and EAs are prepared each semester, and each is a single document to cover all the courses the student is enrolled in for that semester. They are not specific to each course, so some recommendations on the documents may be relevant to one course but not to another (e.g., a SAP may recommend that a student be allowed to deliver an oral presentation in private instead of in front of the class, but not all classes require students to do an oral presentation). 

Reasonable adjustments available

Reasonable adjustments are tailored specifically to each student’s individual needs to address the functional impacts upon their learning. There are a variety of reasonable adjustment available to students. 

How tutors can help

In-confidence information will be shared with you by the Course Coordinator to assist you support the learning of the student. You will not normally be made aware of the student’s condition as that is confidential, but your Course Coordinator should share with you: 

• what functional impacts the student’s condition has on their learning
• what reasonable adjustments the Course Coordinator has agreed with to support the student. 

As a tutor, it is your responsibility to support the learner by ensuring that any in-class adjustments are in place while the student is in your class. Other things you could do as a tutor to help include: 

• talk about SAP and EA during the first weeks of class to make sure all students know it is a service available to them. You could also make known that Student Central provides a range of services for those who need additional support. 
• identify which of your students have adjustment plans for their course and/or assessment work. Check in with them to see how they are going with their learning. 
• monitor your students’ progress during the semester. If you feel as though one of your students would benefit from having reasonable adjustments in place, speak with your Course Coordinator about it. Note: SAPs and EAs may continue to be approved across the course of the semester. 

For more information:
Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy
Diversity, disability and inclusion
Make an appointment with a Student Adviser

As a tutor, you are responsible for the safety of the students in your tutorial, and should be familiar with the following:

Medical emergencies

In case of medical emergency:

• remove yourself and students from danger if it is safe to do so
•  first aid is best given by a qualified person: either a school- or centre-nominated first aid officer, or any security officer
• call 336 53333 to alert Security (they will call an emergency services for you, if required). State your name and contact phone number; your precise location; the number of persons injured; the nature of the accident/injury; and what action has been taken
• arrange an easily located point to meet the emergency team and guide them to the incident
• delegate people to stay by the phone and people to meet the emergency team.

Fire

In case of fire:

• know where the fire exits are in every building in which you tutor, and let your class know where these exits are located
• call 336 53333 to alert Security (they will call the fire brigade for you)
• follow the instructions of the building’s Fire Warden
• warn/evacuate people, if appropriate
• ensure the safety of people with disabilities
• confine the fire, if possible (close doors and windows)
• do not use lifts
• go to the nearest prearranged assembly point.

Laboratories and workshops

As a tutor, you need to:

• familiarise yourself with the particular hazards and safety procedures for the workplace. You should refer to risk assessments that have been performed for any processes you will have to carry out, or on equipment you will have to use
• familiarise yourself with the UQ OHS guidelines, in particular, those developed specifically for laboratories
• enforce the dress requirements of the workplace
• enforce the conditions of access to the workplace
• alert your supervisor to any potential problems in the workplace

In the event of an environmental incident (spill, fire, explosion):

• call 33 653 333 to alert Security
• alert people in the surrounding area/buildings (in case of spill, also those that may be downwind from the affected area)
• alert the relevant school/centre/section
• if safe to do so, contain the spill, fire, etc
• obey all directions from Security and/or emergency services.

Working as a tutor, you may encounter a number of difficult situations with your students. 

It is very important to let your Course Coordinator know if you have serious concerns about any of your students. 
 
Students who approach you with administrative problems, such as enrolment, examination issues or changing programs, can be referred online to myUQ, or to the Student Centre for personalised help.

Please familiarise yourself with the University policies and procedures in teaching and learning that relate to your role.

Personal problems affecting students

Students may approach you for help with non-academic issues. While it is important to deal with students empathically, it is not your role to solve their problems.

The best way of helping students is to redirect them to the broad range of support services that the University provides.

The University has a variety of resources for students who need information, advice, or are having problems with accommodation, parking, money, study, career choice, computer/equipment or their personal lives. This information can be found in the Student support section of myUQ. Please familiarise yourself with the services available so you can let students know about them.

If a student is experiencing a problem for which urgent attention is required, you should consult with your Course Coordinator.

If a student has a medical or psychiatric emergency, you should call Campus Security on 336 53333, 24 hours a day. Campus Security coordinates the response to all emergencies on campus. 

Student complaints about academic matters

Students may have a grievance relating to teaching and learning in the course you are tutoring, particularly assessment. Your school or Course Coordinator should provide you with guidance about the ways in which these matters should be addressed. 

Students with issues relating to the marking of assignments and exams can be referred to the myUQ: Querying a result, which gives guidance on the steps which can be taken, as well as providing links to relevant UQ policies. 

As a tutor, you will encounter students with different personality types and preferred ways of learning. Establishing ground rules, providing explicit instructions, and monitoring group dynamics will help you identify potential problems early on and enable you to take steps to manage and defuse them. 

Silence

If the group is silent or unresponsive, here are some methods to encourage discussion: 

• asking open-ended questions - "What do we already know about...?" "Explain how...?" "What is the meaning of...?" "What might happen if...?" 
• think, pair, share or pyamiding - a Pyramiding is when you ask students to think about their ideas or response to a question or problem on their own, then after a couple of minutes, turn to a partner and share their response. Each pair then joins with another pair, and the group shares their responses and negotiates a common set of ideas to report back to the class
• buzz groups - Students discuss ideas in pairs or small groups, and one student acts as reporter and/or scribe. Groups then report on their discussion 
• debate - Divide students into groups that represent particular points of view on a controversial topic. Each group works to develop an argument to support its allocated point of view 
• if individual students are silent, try to draw the student out by picking up on something relevant to them and the topic being discussed. 

Non-listening

If students are not listening to each other, try using a listening exercise, e.g. where one student has to paraphrase what another student says. 

Dominance

If one or two students are dominating the discussion: 

• Use hand signals, and verbally ask them to let others speak. 
• Assign roles for the group discussion, e.g. timekeeper, scribe, summariser, reporter. 

Derailing

If the discussion goes off track, or becomes irrelevant: 

• set a clear topic at the start 
• draw the group's attention to the situation (e.g. “I’m wondering how this is related to our topic of discussion?”) 
• ask a clear question or make a clear statement to direct discussion back to the topic. 

Exclusion

If you get the sense of a clique among some students, or a private joke, don’t use sarcasm, but confront the students. Invite them to share their discussion with the group. (Adapted from: Gibbs & Habeshaw, 1989; Smith, 1997.) 

Anger

If a student is angry, remember the anger resolution process: 

• listen – give full attention, and stay silent
• paraphrase – wait three seconds, then summarise your understanding of what was said
• empathise – acknowledge their feelings and point of view (“I do want to help”)
• apologise – if applicable
• ask questions  – “What would you like me to do?” 
• explain – explain what you can and can’t do
• take action – get their understanding and agreement on a plan of action, and follow up on this. 

The expert student

These are students who have an overbearing opinion on most (if not all) subjects that can lead to suppressing other’s capacity to participate. 

• don’t openly show your frustration
• sometimes people who appear to be ‘experts’ are over-compensating for a lack of self-esteem
• class discussion times, allow them to respond, but use techniques such as ‘redirecting’ to encourage other students to have a go
• if you can’t work around the person using subtle directing and redirecting, then talk with them before or after class. 

The negative student

You may also experience different kinds of negativity, either overt (such as challenging the class discussion in a negative manner) or covert (such as remaining silent and not participating). 

• try methods such as those above (‘the expert student’) for dealing with the overtly negative student
• attempt to bring the covertly negative student into the group activity by asking directly for their opinion. 

The disruptive student

Try using silence to direct the student’s attention to you and to the situation. Politely ask for their co-operation, using the ground rules set up by you and the class as a way to direct your request.

If this doesn't work, talk to the student after class about how disruptive their behaviour is to you and to other students.