Student Union
New in the Glossary of Confusing Words: Tutorial
Tutorial
In general, a tutorial is any sort of specialized or intense instruction. It's related to the word "tutor," and technically describes a session taught by a tutor. These days the "tutor" tends to be someone on the internet who has prepared learning materials on a specific subject. So you could watch a Photoshop tutorial on YouTube if you wanted to learn how to color correct photographs, for example.
At university you will encounter this meaning of "tutorial" as a set of instructions for learning a specific skill. Here are some tutorials that the University of California offers to help students learn how to use their library.
But at universities, a tutorial can also imply something much closer to its original meaning. You may have heard of the tutorial system in connection with Britain's Oxford and Cambridge Universities, where students meet each week in groups of two or three to engage in deep discussions facilitated by a faculty "tutor."
A small number of American universities offer tutorials based on the Oxbridge system. But it's more common for American universities to use tutorial-style sessions as a discussion-based companion to traditional classes. At many universities students meet outside of their class sessions in smaller groups, often led by a teaching assistant. These sessions are intended to talk about the class material, to reinforce what was taught in class with additional practice, and sometimes to teach material not covered in the lecture.
Not all universities hold tutorials, and many that do don't use that terminology. Princeton University, for example, includes small discussion sections as a component of its classes but calls them "precepts" (and the facilitator is called a "preceptor"). Many other universities that include discussion sections as a component of their courses call them "recitations."
What can you expect if your university asks you to attend tutorials?
The University of Pittsburgh's guide for teaching assistants is useful for getting a sense of what a tutorial might be like. It suggests that the discussion in a tutorial should help "to clarify confusing materials and to develop students’ critical and evaluative skills."
"In a discussion section, students are encouraged to express their own ideas and to discover applications for the concepts and theories they have learned in the lecture class. In a math class, discussion may be used to explore alternative approaches to solving a problem; in a literature class, you might critique D. H. Lawrence; in a political science class, you might spend your time examining the practical consequences of environmental policy."
Essentially, you should go in having done the necessary reading or homework, and ready to discuss some of the concepts it raised. The guide suggests that discussions could take the form of: small group conversations, case studies, exercises, role-playing, question and answer, and group brainstorming.
And, with all its tips for TAs who are struggling to start discussions or to keep the conversation flowing, the guide's also useful for something else: remembering that no matter how intimidated you are to speak up in a discussion session, your TA is just as intimidated worrying that the discussion might not go well!
Our Glossary of Confusing Words is entirely made up of words submitted by you! Share words that have confused you or that might confuse others about studying in the U.S. and we’ll add them to our growing list! Leave your suggestions in the comments, or use the form below.
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Police arrest 33 at George Washington University protest encampment
Police in Washington cleared a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at George Washington University early Wednesday, arresting 33 people, authorities said.
Arrests were made on charges of assault on a police officer and unlawful entry, the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police Department said.
A congressional committee canceled a hearing on the university encampment Wednesday. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Washington Police Chief Pamela Smith had been scheduled to testify about the city’s handling of the protest before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
University parents and faculty members gathered Wednesday afternoon for a press conference to condemn the handling of the protests by police and school leaders.
“The university clearly does not value the students at all and has endangered the safety of our children by unleashing officers dressed in full riot gear to assault and spray our children in their eyes with pepper spray,” said Hala Amer, whose son participated in the campus protests.
Police said they dispersed demonstrators because "there has been a gradual escalation in the volatility of the protest."
American University professor Barbara Wien said she stayed in the encampment with GW students. She described the student protesters as democratic and peaceful.
Police started to shut down the tent encampment after dozens of protesters marched to GW President Ellen Granberg's on-campus home on Tuesday night. Police were called, but no arrests were made.
Speakers at the conference called for Granberg’s resignation because, they alleged, she refused to meet and negotiate with student protesters.
“You keep inciting violence and ignoring the students,” Amer said about Granberg in an interview with VOA after the conference. “It will just lead to more violence. You need to talk to your students.”
GW officials warned students that they could be suspended for engaging in protests at the school’s University Yard, an outdoor spot on the campus.
"While the university is committed to protecting students' rights to free expression, the encampment had evolved into an unlawful activity, with participants in direct violation of multiple university policies and city regulations," a GW statement said.
More than 2,600 people have been arrested at universities across the country in pro-Palestinian protests, according to The Associated Press.
Students are calling on their university administrations to divest investments from Israel or companies with ties to Israel. Demonstrators have gathered in at least 50 campuses since April 17, carrying signs that read "Free Palestine" and "Hands off Rafah."
Rafah is Gaza’s southernmost city, where most of the territory’s population has clustered. The area is also a corridor for bringing humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory.
Israel seized the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing on Tuesday, while shutting off the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing, drawing criticism from humanitarian groups. Israel said Wednesday that it had reopened Kerem Shalom.
The nationwide campus protests started in response to Israel's offensive in Gaza that began after Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.
More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel warned it could "deepen" its operation in Rafah if talks failed to secure the release of the hostages.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
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