How to make the most of Academic Tutoring

This guide covers how you can work effectively with your Academic Tutor. It outlines what academic tutoring is and how to prepare for tutorials to get the most from them. It also explores topics you may wish to discuss with your Academic Tutor at different stages in your studies.

What is Academic Tutoring

Your Academic Tutor is the key and consistent contact in your School throughout your studies Your Tutor will help you to reflect on your academic progress and development, whilst signposting you to other opportunities and support where required.

Find out more about Academic Tutoring by visiting the Your academic tutor webpages.

What to discuss during Academic Tutor Meetings

There are a number of areas you may wish to discuss with your Academic Tutor, including but not limited to:

Your academic progress - they will be able to assist in reflecting on your progress and support with identifying opportunities for further development
Your academic feedback - they will be able to support you reflecting on the feedback received on your work, identifying opportunities to improve your performance in future assessments
Your personal development - they will be able to support you in reflecting on your personal development and, later in your programme, reflect on career opportunities (this could include discussing the outputs from your mySkills assessment)

Conversation topics with your Academic Tutor are likely to change as you move through your course. Here are some suggestions for discussion at different points during each year of your programme, if on an undergraduate programme.:

First year

At the start of the year you may find it useful to talk about the transition to studying in Higher Education.

As you move into the middle of semester one, you are likely to encounter your first assignment deadlines and to get the first feedback on your work. You may want to speak to your Academic Tutor about:

How you are getting along with your academic work so far Any specific challenges you have been facing (eg academic reading/writing) How you are preparing for upcoming assessments (e.g. revision planning)

When you reach semester two, you will have received more feedback and grades for assignments and exams. At this point you might find it useful to discuss:

Your reflections on your assessments and exams in semester one Areas where you might want to act on feedback received Reflections on your development of the Sheffield Graduate Attributes (this could be another good time to revisit your mySkills assessment) Opportunities to get involved in extracurricular activities Module choices for level 2

How you are finding managing your time
How you are using the feedback received on your work
Any non-academic issues which might be impacting your studies

When you reach semester two, you will have received more feedback and grades for assignments and exams. At this point you might find it useful to discuss:

Your reflections on your assessments and exams in semester one
Areas where you might want to act on feedback received
Reflections on your development of the Sheffield Graduate Attributes (this could be another good time to revisit your mySkills assessment)
Opportunities to get involved in extracurricular activities Module choices for level 2

Year two

When you move into the second year of your course, it is a good opportunity to reflect on how the first year of your course went and to identify areas you would like to focus on for the year ahead. During your Tutorial, you could talk about:

Your skills development progress over the year, using your mySkills profile.

Reflections on what you learned last year - your Academic Tutor may also be able to talk about how this links to your studies this year (eg are there any modules that build on material covered in level one)
Your thoughts on strengths and challenges from last year, along with the feedback that you received - you can discuss areas you wish to develop this year
Any areas where you feel you need additional support
Your thoughts about career planning, including career options, testing options via internships or placements and applications / CVs. (Remember that you can access a range of support from the Careers & Employability Service)
Extra-curricular activities that you want to get involved in, and discuss how these might contribute to the development areas identified in your mySkills profile
Module choices for level three.
Your skills development progress over the year, using your mySkills profile.

Level 3 and beyond

As you move into the later year/s of your programme, you may encounter new types of assessment such as a dissertation or final-year project. You may also be starting to think more about your broader skills development as you consider next steps after your degree. You might find it useful to discuss some of the following with your Academic Tutor this year:

Expectations of dissertations/projects etc and sources of support.
Your plans post-graduation, including careers and further study options.
Your mySkills portfolio as a point of reference for reviewing progress. Discuss what additional skills you might want to develop over the coming year, and how you might do this.
How you are feeling about your final assessments - you could discuss your approach to preparing for these with your tutor

How to prepare for Academic Tutorials

To get the most from your Academic Tutorials, it is important to spend time in advance preparing for the discussion. This could include:

Sketching out an informal agenda for the meeting to ensure you remember to speak about everything you want to discuss
Writing down any questions you wish to ask in advance of the meeting so that you have these available as a reminder
Taking a look at when your assessments are due and what you need to do for each of them
Reviewing feedback received to date and reflecting on this. You could bring examples of feedback from assessments to the meeting. Your Academic Tutor might be able to help you identify things to work on and/or suggest other resources to support your development
Reminding yourself of your most recent mySkills assessment results and any areas you identified for future development
Having a look through development opportunities in advance (e.g. mySkills pathways and the extracurricular activities database). You may wish to discuss these with your tutor

During the meeting

Now you’ve planned for the meeting, here are some tips for getting the most from the meeting itself:

Be receptive to feedback and ready to respond to both positive and critical comments
Be open to different ideas and ways of thinking
Ask for recommendations for other services and support that is available
Make notes during the meeting so that you can recall important ideas and information later
Be as open and honest as you feel you can be

What to do after Academic Tutoring Meetings

Following up on actions you can take after the meeting will help you get the most value from it:

Review your notes and use them to make yourself a development plan.
Record any reflections and actions in your mySkills portfolio
Take steps to put your plan into action

If there is a reason you need to change your Academic Tutor, get in touch with your school / department to discuss this.

Group Tutorials

Some Schools may organise tutorials in small group format. There can be benefits to discussing academic progress and opportunities in groups; hearing the perspectives of others can enrich the conversation. This is a supportive environment where you can discuss your academic journey with the input of an Academic Tutor. It's worth thinking about how you act in a group scenario, to ensure that you and others get the most out of the tutorial. A group atmosphere is created through the approach of everyone present, so each person plays a part in ensuring these tutorials are valuable for everyone.

Consider airtime; the proportion of time that each person uses during group discussion.
Aim for a balance of airtime amongst those in the group, so that all have space to contribute.
Think ahead of time about what you are comfortable to share within a group. If there is something important that could impact your academic progress which you'd rather not share with your peers, contact your tutor to arrange a one to one meeting.

For more information on working effectively in a group, visit the StudySkills@Sheffield pages on group work.

Next steps

Further Resources

Your Departmental Academic Tutor (central information on Academic Tutoring)

How to make the most of Academic Tutoring

Top Tips for your Academic Tutorial

Next steps

Further Resources

mySkills