The Academic Tutor

Who the Academic Tutor is — a description of duties ...

Definition of a Tutor

A private teacher, typically one who teaches a single pupil or a very small group. A university or college teacher responsible for assigned students. USA: An assistant lecturer in a college or university. – Concise Oxford Dictionary.

Who can be a Tutor?

Academic tutors facilitate learning in areas that may be a considerable distance from a Learning Centre. A Tutor must be able to have contact with the student. A Tutor has at least a Bachelor qualification and preferably, experience in the field of the study programme. The Tutor is a person of solid character, who will be a pillar of strength to the student and able to give trustworthy progress reports on the academic and practical work the learner undertakes.

What is Expected of a Tutor?

Someone is needed to walk with the student to assist in the e-learning process. The learner needs someone to give guidance, advice, a sounding board or a wise opinion. Such a person must have a thorough familiarity with the field of study and, preferably, an understanding of the way of thinking in that field, gained by experience.

Monitoring Learning

The Tutor is the appointed person responsible for feedback to the student. In order to gauge the depth of understanding gained through the student’s reading, the Tutor must have regular interviews with the student and to check that the student performs the self-tests prescribed in the Course CD. The interviews should preferably take place in the context of a peer group and could lead to interesting discussions. The Tutor will also know whether the material was, indeed, read. Researching and reading of the texbook material is of critical importance. The student should also show an improvement in grasp of grammar and in academic vocabulary.

Assignment and Practical Marking

A portion of the marking (40%) is the responsibility of the Tutor. Marking schedules are prescribed for assessments (15%), tasks (10%), group work (10%) and the workfile (5%) as well as project reports where applicable. The remaining 60% of the marks will come from tests downloaded from the CU Website that are written on the student's computer and marked when submitted back onto the Website. The Tutor can help the student with these tests by encouraging the student to do the self-tests in the textbook and to use the Companion Website to help prepare for these randomised tests.

Sounding Board

The student should ask questions in order to get feedback during a discussion on how well the essays or academic reports were written. Issues to deal with could include:

• The general layout
• The correct usage of a reference system for citation and Bibliography
• The suitability of books or Websites used as source material
• How you have analysed the evidence found in the source material
• The way in which you have reached a logical conclusion
• How to formulate and reach your own conclusion or opinion
• How well you have formulated your work (sentence construction etc.)
• Whether you have shown reasoning ability
• Whether you have applied critical evaluation
• Whether your style is clear enough for others to read
• Whether you have demonstrated an understanding of the meaning of words

The report is then re-written or corrected, incorporating the advice given. When the prescribed assignments and tasks have been completed and marked according to set criteria, the tutor sends the marks to the Website database where the course professor is able to moderate the marks.

How a Tutor is Appointed

Tutors are usually registered through the nearest Learning Centre or Calvary Group to act as a tutor for CU. They have been examined by someone acting for CU to ensure suitable qualifications as well as the necessary practical experience needed for their tutoring function. A suitable candidate will give proof of qualification (at least a Bachelor) and Identification by submitting certified copies of these documents. If a personal interview cannot be arranged, a personal testimony from a local pastor or established academic/professional may be required.

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