What Works Personal Tutoring

1. Supporting students through
integrated Personal Tutoring
Susan K Robbins
BSc PGCE MPhil PhD FHEA
Principal Lecturer and University Teaching Fellow
Dept of Biological and Medical Sciences
Oxford Brookes University
Tel: 01865 484192
Fax: 01865 483242
Email: srobbins@brookes.ac.uk

2. Workshop Plan
 Introductions
 Groupwork
 Feedback from groups
 Presentation: How can we engage staff
and students in personal tutoring?
 Discussion

3. Group 1
1. Why do we have Personal Tutors?
2. Is the concept of Personal Tutors outdated?
3. Would students notice if they didn’t have a
Personal Tutor?
4. What would we lose if we abolished Personal
Tutoring?

4. Group 2
1. Who should be a Personal Tutor?
2. Should all academics be Personal Tutors?
3. Should all Personal Tutors be academics?
4. What functions does the role of Personal Tutor
cover?

5. Group 3
1. What is pastoral care?
2. Who needs pastoral care?
3. Why should Personal Tutors get involved in
pastoral care? Should they?
4. What is a Personal Tutor’s role in pastoral care?

6. Group 4
1. What do students want from Personal Tutors?
2. Is this realistic? Can we deliver it?
3. Should we give them what they want?
4. How does the new fee structure impact on
students’ expectations of Personal Tutors?

7. Importance of Personal Tutors
Literature evidences relationship-
building between academics and
students as key to students’ sense of
belonging and future academic success
(Hixenbaugh, 2006; Tinto, 1993; Yorke
and Longden, 2007)
The person in pole position to support
students is their Personal Tutor

8. Personal Tutor responsibilities
Facilitating personal development of
their tutees
Monitoring their progress
Providing a link between student and
the university authorities
Intervening with the university
authorities on behalf of their tutees
Being a person in whom the student
can confide (Wheeler and Birtle, 1993)

9. Personal Tutor models
Pastoral Model: Specific member of staff
assigned to each student, giving guidance
throughout their degree
Professional Model: Students who approach
staff on personal matters are immediately
directed to professionals. Requires good
links between Faculties and Student Services
Curriculum Model: Timetabled tutorials with
PT within the curriculum. Students learn
skills, university procedures, PDP, etc
(Earwaker, 1992)

10. What works for students?
Effective personal tutors:
Have good communication skills ‘listening’
Care about you
Make time to see you - accessible
Know who you are – relationship building
Are knowledgeable – academic systems
Offer guidance and advice
See you as a person ‘a whole person’
Know where you can go for support
Developing a relationship with your personal tutor
depends on their commitment to personal tutoring

11. PASS: Personal and Academic
Support System
Holistic approach to supporting students
Pro-active personal tutoring through
discipline-based group tutorials with PTs
Delivers academic skills training while
building cohort identity, good staff-student
working relationships
Builds peer support within disciplines
Picks up students with non-academic
issues
Safety net for pastoral support of students

12. PASS Tutorial Programme:
Semester 1
Week 0 Induction: Introductions: one-to-one meetings between
Personal Tutor and new Tutees: understanding your timetable
Week 2 Tutorial 1: Time-task management; set essay assignment;
what to do if you are ill; understanding the module timetabling
Week 4 Tutorial 2: Give feedback on lab notebooks; review progress
on essay assignment; making notes from written sources; receive
feedback from your students
Week 6 Tutorial 3: Making notes from lectures; plagiarism (University
regulations on cheating); citing sources and referencing practice
Week 8 Tutorial 4: Feedback on annotated bibliographies, essay
plans, draft library research logs; study time expectations;
assessment criteria
Week 11 Tutorial 5: Feedback on essays and library research logs;
role of feedback in learning; effectiveness of time management;
feedback from students on their Brookes experience

13. PASS Tutorial Programme:
Semester 2
Week 1 or 2: Individual interviews: Results from Semester 1: how are
you getting on? Are you on target?
Week 3 Tutorial 6: Review instructions for group poster assignment;
devising effective literature search strategies; review groupwork
roles; discuss groupwork issues
Week 6 Tutorial 7: Planning your 2nd and 3rd year programme; review
progress with poster assignment; writing scientific reports
Week 8 Tutorial 8: Peer review of scientific reports; review progress
with poster assignment
(Week 10: Peer assessment of group posters)
Week 11 Tutorial 9: Return and give feedback on reports and posters;
review of the year

14. PASS Referral
Safety net for students with personal issues
that are interfering with their ability to study
Any Personal Tutor can refer students and
students self-refer
Use active listening skills to help the
student talk about their problems
Help the student to find their solution
Refer students on to specialists:
counselling, legal or financial advice,
accommodation, etc.

15. The greatest benefit is relational
Compared with other possible benefits of
PASS tutorials (eg: skills, peer relationships):
89% said they had enough contact with their
Personal Tutor through PASS to feel known
as an individual. Of these, 67% believe this
helped them through their first year.
88% felt comfortable enough to turn to their
tutor with academic problems. Of these 77%
found this helpful. (N = 68; 38% responses)

16. What students said…
“I feel it is a great system to get to know your
personal tutor and this makes me feel more
involved in the Life Science department.”
“you can hear other's opinions or difficulties which
maybe similar to how you feel or can learn from
them”
“if you are struggling and you don't email your
personal tutor for some reason, you will have the
opportunity in a PASS session.”
“… made me feel as a first year student that there
were people to talk to if needed…”

17. General issues for staff
Staff buy in: staff (dis)engagement affects
student engagement
Consistency between Personal Tutors
Clearly defined roles
Training for role: eg. listening skills
Academic credibility
Workload planning: proper time allowance
Recognition for ‘student centred’ staff

18. What works?
Relationships between students and staff:
Accessibility – availability (office hours)
Consistency – commitment of all PTs
Interest and concern – holistic approach
Staff engagement: being alongside students
on their journeys
Personal Tutor training: staff development
activities, peer support

19. Acknowledgements
My thanks to the following people and organisations:
Life Sciences’ Personal Tutors: for delivering PASS tutorials
Bryony France: Student Support Coordinator: first port of call
for students with questions and problems
Andrew Rendell: For helping to produce the Study Skills
materials
Peter Grebenik: For providing me with spreadsheets and
unearthing student data
Keith Cooper, Director of Student Services: For support on the
pastoral side of PASS; acting promptly with student referrals
Kirsten Hall: For collecting student and staff feedback on
PASS
University of Reading: Partners in ‘What Works?’ project
HEFCE/Paul Hamlyn Foundation for funding ‘What works?’
project

20. References
Earwaker, J. (1992) Helping and Supporting Students. Milton
Keynes: Open University Press.
Hixenbaugh, P. (2006) Relationships and Retention. Academic
Exchange, Issue 4, Summer, HEA.
Tinto, V. (1993) Leaving College: Rethinking the causes and
cures of student attrition. (2nd Ed) (p122) The University of
Chicago Press: Chicago.
Wheeler, S. and Birtle, J. (1993) A Handbook for Personal
Tutors. Buckingham: SHRE and OUP.
Yorke, M. and Longden, B. (2007) The first-year experience in
higher education in the UK. Report on Phase 1 of a project
funded by the Higher Education Academy. York, HEA.