Information for Tutors

The person who coordinates the tutors is Linda Stals. If you are interested in applying for a tutoring position in the department send her an e-mail, along with a short CV listing which mathematics courses you have taken and any previous tutoring experience.

Changes for 2009: Lecturers will attend at least one session given by each tutor. The intention is for the lecturer to give the tutor some guidence and to create an opportunity for the tutor to give the lecturer feedback about the structure of the tutorials.

Introduction

This document contains information for people interested in tutoring in the Department of Mathematics at The Australian National University. It is designed to complement the information given in tutors@anu and focuses on the administrative aspects of tutoring in the department. Please read tutors@anu first.

Who Can Tutor?

Priority is given to Honours and PhD students in the department. If positions are available we will also consider other people with a strong mathematics background, such as graduates with a degree in mathematics. It is not the departments policy to hire second year students as tutors, although there may be an opportunity to work in the drop-in centre. Third year students will be considered if positions are available.

When Will You be Notified About Your Tutoring Position?

Unfortunately we do not know student numbers before the start of each semester. This is particularly the case in first semester when the numbers may not be known until the second week of semester. As a consequence we cannot confirm if you are tutoring or what courses you are tutoring before the first week of semester. We appreciate that it would be preferable if you could be notified earlier, and it would also make life much easier for us if it could be sorted out earlier, but we don't have the information needed to finalise the tutorial allocations.

What is Involved in Tutoring?

The structure of the tutorials depend somewhat on the particular course but some general guidelines are listed below:

• The rule of thumb is that tutors give two tutorials per week, one initial tutorial and one repeat tutorial. This rule may be broken but you will need to argue your case. You are paid less for the repeat tutorial.
• Tutors are expected to attend regular tutor-lecturer meetings. These are not optional as you are usually paid for your time.
• Regularly check Wattle. As a tutor you will be given access to Wattle, which is where all of the course information is held. Lecturers will post important information such as exam dates on Wattle; information that the students will expect you to know.
• Keep very careful records of the student grades. It is your responsibility to keep a record of the grades that you have assigned to the students. The grades will be uploaded and collated on Wattle but you still need to keep your own copy. Students will regularly question their grades, so it is important that the tutors can verify the grade.
• Let the lecturers know of students who appear to be having difficulties in the tutorials. The lecturers can take exceptional circumstances into account when finalising the grades, but they need to know about the student's situation.
• Students are expected to attend the tutorials they been assigned to. We try as much as possible to distribute the workload and resources evenly across all of the tutorials. If a student can't attend their tutorial because they are sick, for example, they need to talk to the lecturer about making other arrangements.
• At the beginning of the semester the lecturer will organise a meeting to discuss the structure of the tutorials, please do not make any changes to the tutorial structure without discussing it with the lecturer. As you are the ones actually implementing these ideas and dealing with the students the lecturers appreciate (and need) any feedback you can give. However, we have to make sure the tutorials are run in a consistnt manner within a given course. We need to make sure that changes are implemented in all of the necesary tutorials.
• Check the timetable and make sure you will be available during the teaching period.
• We appreciate that it is necessary for Honours and PhD students to attend conferences, but if you will be away for more than one week during the semester you need to let Linda know before applying for the tutoring position. It is no help to anyone if you are not actually on campus to give the tutorials. It is your responsibility to organise for another tutor to take the tutorial if they are going to be away. The lecturer should also be notified of these arrangements.

An overview of what is required in each course is listed below:

• Calculus and Matrix Models - MATH1003 :
  • Starts in Week 3.
  • Each tutorial consists of two 50-minute sessions, the last 1/2 hour is for quizzes.
• Mathematics and Applications 1 - MATH1013:
  • Starts in Week 3.
  • Each tutorial in MATH1013 goes for 1.5hrs. All of the grading is done in the tutorial and tutors are given the questions and solutions for each tutorials. The tutorials are very structured with a lot of work being packed into each tutorial, so the tutor needs to be well organised.
• Mathematics and Applications 2 - MATH1014:
  • Starts in Week 3.
  • Tutorials last 90 minutes. The first 10 minutes will be a quiz, then students will work through worksheet questions with the help of the tutor. The tutor is required to mark both the quiz and the workbook during class.
• Mathematics and Applications 1 Honours - MATH1115:
  • Starts in Week 3.
  • Tutorials are held every second week. Tutors are required to grade assignment questions during those weeks that do not have a tutorial. Students work on questions similar to the assignment questions during the tutorials.
• Discrete Mathematical Models - MATH1005:
• Starts in Week 3.
• There are ten two-hour tutorials. The last two tutorials of semester will be held in lab rooms and will involve a computer component. An hour of preparation is expected per week, some time of which will be allocated to tutor's meetings.
• Mathematics and Applications 2 Honours - MATH1116:
  • Starts in Week 3.
  • Tutorials are held every second week. Tutors are required to grade assignment questions during those weeks that do not have a tutorial. Students work on questions similar to the assignment questions during the tutorials.
• Games, Graphs and Machines - MATH2301:
• Starts in Week 3.
• Each tutorial relates to a specific Question Set. Students are invited to present solutions (verbally, preferably at the whiteboard). Tutor corrects and/or moderates class discussion as appropriate. Tutor presents solutions him/herself for questions (or parts of questions) causing difficultly for most of the class.
  Tutors monitor and record student participation in tutorials and provide a mark out of 10 for each student at the end of semester. Tutors mark three assignments. Solutions and marking schemes are provided.
• Differential Equations and Applications - MATH2305:
  • Starts in Week 3.
  • Tutors are required to mark the assignments (8 in total) and put the grades up on Wattle. In the tutorial time, the tutors are expected to solve exercises similar to those in the assignment for that week. The lecturer will provide the assignments and their solutions, which will be emailed to the tutors. Tutors need to be well prepared and ready to answer students' questions related to assignments.
• Mathematical Methods 1 Honours - MATH2405:
• Partial Differential Equations and Applications - MATH2306:
  • Starts in week 3
  • There will be 10 assignments. Tutors are required to mark the assignments and put the grades up on Wattle. Tutors are also required to present the solutions of assignment in the tutorial, but they can  ask some student to present  the solution of assignments . Each tutorial lasts one hour. The lecturer will provide the assignments and their solutions. Tutors need to be well prepared and ready to answer students' questions related to assignments.
• Mathematical Methods 2 Honours - MATH2406:

Who to Contact?

• If you are interested in applying for a tutoring position contact Linda Stals (x53966).
• To arrange payment and to collect pay sheets contact Kelly Wicks (x52908).
• The tutorial rooms should be fully equipped, but items such as white board markers do have a habit of disappearing. If you need any equipment please speak to Kelly Wicks (x52908).
• Kelly Wicks (x52908) is also the person to speak to about room keys and card access.

Advice from Previous Tutors

If you have previously tutored or are just starting to tutor please contact Linda and let her know about any words-of-wisdom that you would like to pass onto new tutors. What are the things that you would have liked to have known about before tutoring? Some advice that tutors have passed on include

• Be aware that the students will assume that the tutors know everything about the course, including course administration procedures.
• Students may not be up-to-date with the lectures so don't assume they know the material, you need to be aware of the lecture content.