On 25 March 25, I attended an online quality enhancement seminar, which is a seminar series that runs from time-to-time. What follows are some brief notes that I made during the event, and edited together afterwards.

Overview of tuition

The subtitle of this first session was ‘through the lens of the specification for the delivery of group tuition. The session aimed to present ‘an overview of the current position of tuition within the university’. I noted down a summary of tuition principles; it ‘aims to support learning and develop belonging, offer flexibility and take account of student needs, and aim to facilitate continuous improvement’. A description of the ‘specification’ was also shared.

Different types of tuition and tuition events were mentioned, such as tutorial, pre-recorded lectures, and the use of forums discussion forums. Assessment support events might relate to support for TMA submissions, resubmission support and writing workshops. Face-to-face is by exception.

Online Tuition Student Survey

This next presentation also had the headline: Feedback from the 2024 survey. Themes identified included motivations, expectations, tutors, dates and times, participation and recordings. For one year, there were 19k scheduled events, and 330k students attended. For the majority of events, are between 5-10 students attending. Module wide events account for 5% of all events, cluster events 59%, and tutor group 36%. The survey suggested that students want contact with tutors, learning with peers, and practice for TMAs.

We were reminded that tutorial recordings are now anonymised automatically, since tutorial recording files can be downloaded. There was also a comment that there was a lot of viewing of recordings taking place.

We were also reminded that tutorials should relate to the title and the group tuition policy descriptions, and that it is important to get the first (or early) tutorials right. If a tutor puts on their webcams, this may mean that students might be more willing to interact.

Differentiation of Tuition: case study and discussion

The next session, by Sue Pawley and Cath Brown described a MST224 case study. They summarised ‘a programme of tutorials which vary in terms of differentiation, style and focus, to ensure that a wide range of students with very different study goals were catered for. This has resulted in the highest retention figures in a decade and a significant increase in tutorial attendance.

More students, which means more tutorials. Tutorials were based around units, and were there to help students prepare for the exam. They were offered at different times: evening, weekend, weekday daytime. They also reported module wide tutorials, which covered core materials, further support, exam prep, enrichment.

Building belonging through tuition

The next presentation was from the law faculty. Some key points that I took away from this were the use of external speakers and alumni, as well as other lectures that are not connected to the module. I also made a note of ‘student coffee events’. A particular point was made about opportunities to have contact with staff, and opportunities to interact with each other, which reduce isolation and wellbeing.

Reflections

I always pick up some interesting ideas by attending these events. This time I was struck by the different types of online tutorials, and I particularly like the idea of guest speakers and talks. In a computing module, TM112, there have always been guest lectures, given by a central academic. For TM354, I’ve started to facilitate introductory module wide tutorials. I feel we need to do more of this at higher levels.

The question that drove this seminar was, of course: where next for tuition? The university has recently carried out some ‘pilot studies’ to learn more about face-to-face tuition. Whilst I don’t think I can share many words from an OU report, the following sentence, which reflects on face-to-face events appears to be significant: ‘overall students were very positive about their experiences with over 94% of students stating they would attend another event if it was offered’. The report this comes from shares an average cost per student, but also states there are ‘hidden costs’ on top that. I counter this by saying that with any face-to-face event, there are hidden benefits, which cannot easily or directly be accounted for. Face-to-face builds belonging for all participants, as well as students.

In recent years, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences has run a series of study days that I’ve attended as a student; an arts and humanities study day in 2024 and an arts and humanities day school in 2023. The university officially no longer running face-to-face tuition, arguing that attendance of tutorial does not justify the costs. When I used to deliver face-to-face tutorials, there were some instances where I would go to a tutorial venue, and no students would turn up. In times where finances need to be managed carefully, I do hold the view that returning to the model that the university had would not be appropriate, nor helpful. I understand that, since Covid, student behaviour has now changed. Also, technology has got better; more can be done through remote tutorials. All this said, larger day schools do seem to work, if planned well.

Returning to the question: what next for tuition? I don’t know whether it’s just me, but I do wish that others would say more about the importance and use of face-to-face teaching. I suggest programme and discipline specific days schools. The arts events I went to were really popular; they clearly motivated students and staff alike. This quality enhancement session suggested that having different types of learning events is both important and helpful. I argue that we should add the notion of ‘face-to-face’ learning event into this mix, to further extend the diversity of tuition that is offered.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the organisers, and all the facilitators.