In a previous post I described the approach I take when I’m introducing even and odd functions to my class. I thought I’d follow up with a post exploring the similarities and differences between teaching and tutoring. Certainly, there will be times in a tutor’s life that he or she will be teaching a topic to a student. For example, if a student is catching up after having missed a lecture. Much of the time, however, the tutor will not be teaching in this way.

Who leads?

One clear way of drawing a distinction between teaching and tutoring is by asking the question, “Who’s leading the discussion?” There’s not always a hard and fast answer, for teaching or for tutoring, but in broad strokes one might say:

  • The teacher leads the discussion with the students.
  • The student leads the discussion with the tutor.

In general, a teacher is introducing a new concept to a whole class of students for the first time. He or she may structure the lesson as a lecture or as a series of exercises, but is always juggling students’ learning speeds and styles.

In general, whether a tutor is working one-on-one with a student or with a small group, it’s up to the students to decide what the direction of the lesson is. The student should be leading the session as soon as he or she says, “I need help with [insert topic here].”

Diagnosis

Ideally, a student would arrive in the tutoring center ready to ask a specific question.  It would be great if a student began with, “My instructor showed this example on the board in class, and I’m stuck at this step. Is this true for [insert reason here] or for [insert another reason here]?” and “I read the definition of [insert object or property here] but I’m having trouble coming up with an example. Is this an example of what I’m trying to understand?”

Unfortunately, not every student is prepared or ready to ask such a specific question. “I don’t understand anything!” is probably a more common starting point. In this case, it’s up to the tutor to perform a diagnosis on the student. The tutor should ask questions that help determine which topics the student needs help with, and then ask questions to help determine what about those topics is presenting trouble. Is the student struggling with a new definition? With basic skills? With applying a new concept to a particular problem?

Not a homework machine

Diagnosing a student’s needs is usually not very easy and can require a lot of patience. Our role, as educators, is to help students learn and to help students learn how to learn. Indeed, a tutor who is diagnosing a student should be actually be helping the student diagnose himself or herself. A tutor may face resistance from a student who rushes into the ALC waving a review sheet and demanding to see a solution to a particular problem, but in the long run it will be better for the student and for the tutor for the tutor to take a disciplined and measured approach. A tutor is not a machine for doing homework.

One method is to ask a student to pull out his or her lecture notes or textbook and turn to the relevant section. Young students, especially, struggle with the patience that it takes to focus on one little detail until it becomes clear, but a tutor can really help a student learn by guiding him or her through a definition or example. Sometimes what the student is missing is the big picture. A tutor might ask, “What is this question asking you to do? What topic is this question about? What section of your book should help you with this question?” Can you find an example asking you to do something similar?” In particular, the tutor should be asking questions that help lead students to solve their own problems.

Revealing the big picture

There is a real opportunity to get students out of the mindset that doing math is about just repeating procedures that they’ve watched their instructors or tutors perform. So much of their mathematical lives has been about remembering algorithms that it’s easy to forget that these procedures are there to accomplish something, it’s easy to forget that there is a big picture! “Show me how to solve this problem!” can be interpreted as “I’m not really sure what this problem is about, or what a solution to it means, and I’m not sure how to connect it to the things that I understand.” As a student is working through a problem, rather than helping him or her along by asking “What is the next step?” you can ask, “What problem are you trying to solve here? How does your last step fit into your overall solution? How will your next step fit into your overall solution?” Tutors should give students a chance to understand and answer these questions themselves.

Ask questions!

Overall, one of the biggest differences between tutoring and teaching is that tutoring can involve much more question asking. An effective tutor may not even answer any questions during a session; he or she may simply ask very strategic and motivating questions and allow students to come to the answers themselves.