RAPPORT
Issue 5 (August 2020)
Students agreed that tutorial meetings
offered support, both when they needed
early intervention and when they
recognised the need:
Tutorial meeting helped me to
identify where I need to focus and try
and keep track. I was aware of the
issue and I was able to work on it.
They were very beneficial, and I can
see that they can be beneficial for
other students who may not cope in
class, it would give them that extra
support they need. It took a bit of
pressure off in my case. It made it a
bit easier to focus on what I need to
do because I knew that there is
someone I can come and talk to if I
ever need help.
I try to keep my study up, but I know
that sometimes I drift off. These
issues were clear to me in the tutorial
meetings with the support teacher. It
puts me in the driver seat of my
studies. It was more about what
direction I want to go in, whereas
previously I was told this is where
you are going, and this is what you
have to do. It gave me more freedom
but at the same time under control. I
was aware of my strength and
weakness. [S1]
The above comment indicated that the
student had learned to reflect on his
learning skills and built up his confidence
in being self-directed. These are crucial
skills in learner engagement and the study
journey. Similarly, S2 was of the view that
the tutorial meetings were critical to
providing the much-needed academic
support:
Tutorial meetings offered me
motivation and kept me on track.
The meetings helped me with my
time management and support as I
knew I can go to someone for help.
[S2]
Having tutorial meetings made it a bit
easier to focus on what I need to do
because I knew that there is
someone I can come and talk to if I
ever need help. [S1]
Knowing that I have that support
network gave me that extra level of
reassurance. The sessions were
beneficial. [S3]
Tutorial meetings were a positive
experience. Having someone to talk
to who can guide me during my
study was very beneficial. I was not
aware of some of the available
services for students until the tutorial
meetings, when we discussed them
in one of the sessions. [S6]
For some, tutorial meetings helped with
time management by guiding them and
assisting them to have a realistic sense of
the time they have to complete academic
work:
I discussed with the tutorial teacher
ways to improve my time
management and techniques to
overcome uncontrolled distractions.
[S4]
I had difficulty studying and focusing
for a long time, so the teacher
suggested that I gradually increase
the study time at home by adding
half an hour of study every week.
This technique helped me to focus
better and trained me to study. [S11]
I had issues with the amount of study
load during the semester. I
discussed these issues in the tutorial
meeting because I was overwhelmed
by the amount of work. The teacher
suggested that I break down the big
problem into smaller, manageable
pieces. That was a very good advice
and I made a plan for each day of
the week and allocated tasks for
each day. I worked through the Plan
and crossed out the tasks. I
completed all the tasks and found
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