Tutorial class In British academic parlance, a tutorial is a small class of one, or only a few
students, in which the
tutor, a
lecturer, or other academic staff member, gives individual attention to the students. The
tutorial system at
Oxford and
Cambridge is fundamental to methods of teaching at those universities, but it is by no means particular to them;
Heythrop College (
University of London), for instance, offers a tutorial system but with one-on-one teaching. Another example is
Imperial College London, where tutorials in groups of three take place. It is rare for newer universities in the UK to have the resources to offer individual tuition; a class of six to eight students is a far more common tutorial size. At Cambridge, a tutorial is known as a
supervision. In
Australian,
New Zealand, and
South African universities, a tutorial (colloquially called a
tute or
tut) is a class of 10–30 students. Such tutorials are very similar to the Canadian system, although, tutorials are usually led by
honours or
postgraduate students, known as 'tutors'. At the two campuses of
St. John's College, U.S. and a few other American colleges with a similar version of the
Great Books program, a "tutorial" is a class of 12–16 students who meet regularly with the guidance of a tutor. The tutorial focuses on a certain subject area (e.g., mathematics tutorial, language tutorial) and generally proceeds with careful reading of selected primary texts and working through associated exercises (e.g., demonstrating a Euclid proof or translating ancient Greek poetry). Since formal lectures do not play a large part in the St. John's College curriculum, the tutorial is the primary method by which certain subjects are studied. However, at St. John's the tutorial is considered ancillary to the
seminar, in which a slightly larger group of students meets with two tutors for broader discussion of the particular texts on the seminar list. Some US colleges, such as
Williams College, offer tutorials almost identical in structure to that of an
Oxbridge tutorial. At Williams, students in tutorials typically work in pairs alongside a professor and meet weekly, while alternately presenting position papers or critiques of their partner's paper.
Tutorial schools There are also specialized schools for tutoring such as,
Kumon and EduHub. These supplemental hands-on learning programs are especially popular in Asia.
Conference tutorials Offered as a service or deliverable to its members, conference tutorials are one example of a continuing education activity sponsored by a technical and professional association.
Private study A tutorial in high schools in the United States may also mean a session for
homework or other private study. == Education ==