Tutoring Cycle in Lab Setting*
STEP
MacDonald, pp. 2632
1. Greeting
Goals
Set up the session
for success
Explanation
You obviously want your tutee to feel that you
are there to help her overcome the difficulty she
is having. Presenting a warm, accepting, open
greeting is essential to building an effective,
productive tutoring session.
MacDonald, pp. 2632
2. Identify the task
Provide the
opportunity for the
tutee to indicate
what she wishes to
work on
MacDonald,28
3. Break the task
into parts
Provide the
opportunity for the
tutee to work out
the sequence of
steps involved in
the task and
facilitate as needed
MacDonald, 28-31
4. Identify the
thought processes
that underlie the
task
Critical step
Help the tutee
learn how to
approach learning
the type of task
with which she is
having problems
( )Let the tutee be in charge of her learning, act
as a peer with you, and direct your attention to
her needs on her terms and at her pace.
( )If need be, respond with follow-up question to
help tutees clarify their immediate concerns.
( )Follow-up questions also reinforce that your
tutee knows something and that you intend to
build on her knowledge.
( )The use of a restatement allows the student to
hear what has been said and to ensure the
correctness of the task by correcting her
statement or going back to the assignment to
achieve clarity.
( )By pausing, the tutor allows time for the
needed student to process the information and
leads her to provide more information.
( )By asking the student to repeat the steps
involved reinforces that there are a specific
number of distinct tasks and suggests that there
is a sequence to them.
( )Since our task is to lead our tutee to
independence as a learner by replicating this
task and similar ones on her own, it’s essential
that we address how this type of task is
accomplished using this particular problem.
( )Utilizing class documents reinforces what
materials the student has available to help her
and what she needs to find elsewhere. Here
again you help build tutee independence.
( )It’s important to remember that whatever
particular task she wants help with is just one
example of a collection of similar tasks.
( )In the example used in the last column, our
focus is just not inserting the table but also how
the menu is used to accomplish the given
assignment. Given this knowledge, the tutee can
later approach similar tasks more thoughtfully:
“OK, I used the Table in the menu to insert my
table. What if I want to insert something else? I
didn’t see that option under Table. Hmm…let me
recheck the menu items. I see there’s also one
labeled Insert. I’ll try there.”
Strategies
( )Use a warm, positive tone
of voice accompanied by eye
contact and a smile
( )Approach from side
opposite your dominant hand
to avoid using the mouse
( )Consider using a chair with
wheels to avoid hovering
over the tutee and to put
yourself on the same level
( )Sitting also encourages
more discussion beyond a
simple question-answer
situation
( )Follow-up open-ended
questions
( )Restatements
( )Empathetic statements
( )Active listening
( )Restatement
( )Pause
( )Question for reinforcement
( )Active listening
( )Restatement
( )Pause
( )Question for reinforcement
( )Follow-up open-ended
questions
( )Active listening
MacDonald, 32
5. Set the agenda
Provide an
opportunity for
students to learn
how to manage
their time to
complete a given
task
MacDonald, 32
6. Address the task
Focus is on the
information
obtained from the
tutee in Steps 2-4
MacDonald, 33-35
7. Tutee
summarizes the
content
Provide the
opportunity for the
student to
demonstrate what
she has learned
and therefore
strengthen the
connection to longterm memory
( )During this step, the tutee will have a better
idea of how to accurately budget her time.
( )Working together to make the agenda specific
helps the student have an active role in deciding
what to learn and planning adequate time to
learn it.
( )Allow the tutee to indicate the amount of time
she needs. For example, if it appears that she has
little understanding of basic computer
operations, it would be wise to have her
schedule a 50-minute appointment for more indepth learning. If the student needs to have the
table set up in 5 minutes so she can turn in her
paper, helping her at this point would be
counter productive.
( )Keep in mind that the course materials are the
first source of information and help tutees learn
from them
( )Included in referral sources are procedures in
a similar computer program known to the
student that can be compared to identified tasks
( )If the student responds spontaneously,
stay out of the way and let her continue
( )Listen carefully as you evaluate the
accuracy and completeness of her
response
( )Look for the “fake light bulb” where she
believes she should have understood it,
but hasn’t; intervene and provide the
opportunity for her to explain further or
correct the misinformation; intervene as
needed
( )Discuss the differences between shortterm and long-term memory to stress the
importance of this step and encourage her
to do this in all her study sessions
( )IRP
( )Active listening
( )Tutoring Options
 Initiate
 Reply
 Evaluate
 Explain
 Active listening
 Quiet
( )IRP
( )EALP
( )Open-ended questions
( )Restatement
( )Active listening
( )Pause
( )Open-ended questions
( )Backtrack to Step 6, if
necessary
MacDonald, 35-36
8. Tutee
summarizes the
process
Critical step
MacDonald, 37-38
9. Confirmation
Based on Step 4,
help the tutee learn
the underlying
processes in the
identified task and
develop skills for
doing similar tasks
independently
Let the tutee know
that what she has
learned is accurate
and appropriate
MacDonald, 38
10. What next?
Help the tutee
anticipate what she
will do next
MacDonald, 38-40
11. Arrange/plan
next session
MacDonald, 40
12. Goodbye
Help the tutee
anticipate
upcoming learning
Leave on a positive
( )Ensure that a student summary of the
learning process occurs
( )The tutor may have to intervene if this does
not come spontaneously
( )Active listening
( )Pause
( )Open-ended questions
( )Backtrack to Step 6, if
necessary
( )Reinforce specific accomplishments by tying
praise to specific parts of a student’s work
( )Separate the value of the work from the value
of the person producing it
( )Encourage tutees to evaluate themselves and
to take pride in their own work; this enables the
evaluation to be internalized
( )Recognize that if the tutor-tutee interchange
ends up in a place where the tutee is not
productive that the tutor has had a hand in
creating that situation; do not focus on who is at
fault but rather acknowledge that “we” got off
track and need to refocus on the task
( )Reinforce the role of planning to make the
most of each study session
( )Reinforce the connections between what she
learned in tutoring and what she’ll be learning
next
( )Help the tutee to apply and build on what she
learned during the session
( )Proper use of positive and
negative evaluations
( )Avoidance of blame when
the session has not gone well;
accept the tutor’s role in how
it progressed and make
corrections as needed
( )Let the student know the times that tutoring
assistance is available
( )Let the student decide for herself
( )Be sincere and positive
Master Tutor By Ross MacDonald (Perez, Reserve Section SC Library) &
California Tutor Project, 1993
( )Active listening
( )Open-ended questions
( )Open-ended questions
( )Emphatic statements