RAPPORT
Issue 5 (August 2020)
There is a similar embedded, situated
quality and sense of complexity to a
tutor's account of a student failure to
understand the assessment regulations
and why a module's marks had been
capped:
Robert was concerned about being
treated fairly. I was a bit worried that
in the middle of the 2nd year, Robert
seemed to think that it was okay to
get a low mark in the first module
assignment as he could make it up in
the second. He didn't know that
some modules only lasted for one
semester and presumed that he was
being penalised for being on work
placement rather than in university.
Robert was okay with my explanation
and his second submission being
capped at 40% but was completely
unfamiliar with the process. He
seemed content with the idea that his
current standard would achieve a
2.2. (Portfolio 9, CS 3)
There is some ambivalence here about
what the student understands and what
he would like to challenge. At the same
time the student is applying a moral
judgement of fairness to a technical
process. It is easy to see the scope for
misunderstanding here and how carefully
the tutor needs to work to untangle the
situation and provide an alternative
explanation as to why their marks had
been capped.
These accounts of tutorials highlight some
significant features of the context in which
academic support is provided. It is now
central to the modern university
experience that students are expected to
synthesise information from a range of
sources and translate complex
regulations and assessment processes
into actions. From these tutorial accounts
it seems this experience generates some
misunderstanding and concomitant
anxiety and stress. The role of the tutor
here seems to be a guide, a
knowledgeable informant to help the
student navigate learning pathways that
now define the modern student
experience in massive institutions.
Quality of Tutorial Interaction
In a number of these tutorial accounts the
dialogic nature of the event stands out,
where tutor and tutee together establish a
shared narrative and joint reflection, with
many referring to 'initial discussion' early
on in the tutorial, creating space to hear
the students' perspective. Consider this
example:
We discussed Julie's experiences
from last year. Part of the problems
arose from a period of ill health, and
this was compounded by her tutor
last year also being unwell at the
times when Julie felt she needed to
speak. We reflected on how she
could access support should the
same thing happen again. (Portfolio
11, CS 1)
The tutor then goes on to consider the
implications of this for the course
communications policy and advice to
students, conscious that the dialogue
here is not between two equal partners:
In this discussion I was conscious of
asking Julie to be assertive regarding
this, should she experience this
again. I feel the reluctance to chase
things stems in part from students'
not having 'demanding' traits, but
also perhaps from a fear of what
consequences there might be if a
tutor felt they were being 'hassled' by
their tutee. As another student put it
to me recently, she was very
cautious of how to chase a tutor for
assignment support as she knew he
would be marking her work. This
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