Twenty-fifth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

Research on tutorial systems in South Africa and across the globe reveals that effective tutorial planning and implementation at higher education institutions has positively influenced student success, engagement and through-put rates. This study embarked on a SWOT analysis to investigate current tutorial practices at a South African university to gain a better understanding of tutorial programmes and implementation. The study employed quantitative and qualitative approaches for information gathering and analysis of the tutorial system at the university. Informal conversations with the faculty’s’ Deputy Deans teaching and learning provided valuable information on operational issues while an online questionnaire on tutor practices, sent to academic staff, provided in-depth information of the structure, challenges and successes of tutorial practices. The study revealed a constrained relationship between faculties and institutional structures with regard to effective implementation of tutorial processes. The lack of physical space and tutorial funding also created a challenge to implementing effective tutoring. However, in spite of these constraints, tutorial programmes that were successfully implemented did have a positive influence on students’ academic performance. The data collected from this study provided a platform to reinforce the need for formal tutorial structures as a tool to improve student learning, academic success and retention.