TEACHING NOTE Promoting participation-breathing new life into the old technology of a traditional tutorial: a teaching note

Abstract

This note is an outline of our experience and a reflection on the lessons learned, when innovative teaching and learning methods were used to encourage participation in traditional tutorial classes. We hope that, by communicating our experience, readers will be encouraged to explore the identified approaches in their own courses. The problem of students' lack of participation in tutorials has long been recognized by staff and students. This problem is further exacerbated by the external factors of increased student numbers and more vocal employer opinions on graduates' lack of personal transferable skills. Three problems were identified as possible reasons for students' non participation in tutorials: dominance by one or a few students; students not forming a cohesive group; too many students in a tutorial. Strategies for dealing with these problems are detailed together with the results of our experience and conclusion on the success of each technique. The general conclusion is that it is possible to breath new life into old technology. Students can be encouraged to participate in a traditional tutorial by utilizing innovative teaching and learning strategies. We hope readers will learn from our experience and be encouraged to incorporate some of the strategies in their courses.