Academic Catalog

L A 61A: TUTOR TRAINING I

Foothill College Course Outline of Record

Foothill College Course Outline of Record
Heading Value
Effective Term: Summer 2025
Units: 1
Hours: 1 lecture per week (12 total per quarter)
Advisory: An earned "A" or "B+" grade with instructor recommendation in one of the following courses: ENGL 1A, 1AH, 1B, 1BH, 1C, 1CH, literature courses, ESLL 26, 125; not open to students with credit in L A 111A.
Degree & Credit Status: Degree-Applicable Credit Course
Foothill GE: Non-GE
Transferable: CSU
Grade Type: Letter Grade (Request for Pass/No Pass)
Repeatability: Not Repeatable

Student Learning Outcomes

  • The student will be able to develop interpersonal and communication skills necessary for effective team leading
  • The student will be able to employ tutoring techniques which will facilitate member's active participation and learning.

Description

This course is intended for students who are first-time tutors in English, ESLL, or other reading and/or composition based courses for the peer/student tutoring programs offered at Foothill College. Training in tutoring and communication skills, including study skills, learning skills, college policies, professionalism, ethics, and role modeling of successful student behavior, in order to guide the students they tutor to become critical thinkers and independent learners. Theories and techniques of subject-specific tutoring skills. Practice of these skills through sample student work, course assignments, and reflections on current tutoring experiences.

Course Objectives

The student will be able to:

  1. Apply interpersonal and communication skills necessary for effective tutoring sessions.
  2. Identify their position as an academic role model.
  3. Explain concerns regarding tutee's academic progress to the appropriate supervisor.
  4. Interpret tutee's progress effectively with tutee's instructor as needed throughout the quarter.
  5. Describe tutee's academic weaknesses and strengths.
  6. Apply tutoring techniques which will facilitate tutee's active participation and foster development of critical thinking and independent learning skills.

Course Content

  1. Communication during tutoring sessions
    1. Asking clarifying questions of tutee which avoid giving away answers
    2. Asking tutee to expand on answers in written form
    3. Explanation of tutoring session expectations
    4. Sensitivity to cultural differences in speaking styles
    5. Establish and maintain appropriate professional and pedagogical boundaries
  2. Recognition of self as academic role model
    1. Reviewing syllabus and deadlines with tutee
    2. Assisting tutee in preparing for exams
    3. Time management during tutoring sessions
  3. Communication with supervisor
    1. Obstacles to tutee's progress
    2. Tutoring challenges with professional and pedagogical boundaries
  4. Discussion with tutee's instructor as needed
    1. Articulating questions regarding assignments and expectations
    2. Identifying specific topics to review with tutee
    3. Explanation of limits and restraints on proofreading and editing
    4. Investigating ways to help a tutee brainstorm and/or explore a prompt
  5. Recognizing tutee's weaknesses and strengths
    1. Guiding tutee through difficulties with thesis and argumentation
    2. Explaining tutee's grammar errors without fixing them
    3. Encouraging tutee to write outlines and drafts
  6. Tutoring techniques
    1. Socratic method
    2. Giving reader-based feedback on thesis, clarity of sentences
    3. Teaching structure of a written argument
    4. Guiding tutee through writing prompt to generate key questions
    5. Helping tutee to utilize online resources: dictionary, grammar reviews
    6. Helping tutee to articulate questions for their instructor
    7. Encouraging tutee to discover and develop connections within their readings

Lab Content

Not applicable.

Special Facilities and/or Equipment

When taught via Foothill Global Access, ongoing access to a computer with email software and hardware; email address.

Method(s) of Evaluation

Methods of Evaluation may include but are not limited to the following:

Tutoring reflections and analysis of tutoring theory articles
Candid reporting of weekly tutoring challenges
Homework, including worksheets, articles, sample student work, and written reflections
Active participation in class discussions

Method(s) of Instruction

Methods of Instruction may include but are not limited to the following:

Requires team leader (tutor) check-ins each week so that the tutor can receive guidance and feedback from the instructor
The instructor uses lecture/discussion and interactive classroom techniques to deliver curriculum and generate strategies for tutors in training

Representative Text(s) and Other Materials

Articles on tutoring skills, learning styles, and subject-specific materials to be determined by instructor and, when applicable, tutee's instructor.

Types and/or Examples of Required Reading, Writing, and Outside of Class Assignments

  1. Students will be asked to read, annotate, and analyze articles, such as "Collaborator or Evaluator?," that convey accepted tutorial theories in reading and writing instruction
  2. Students may critique sample student papers using reader-based feedback techniques as taught in the course
  3. Students may also utilize case studies, role play, and other written exercises which require them to practice application of tutoring theories and which allow them to learn how to help a student while providing that student the opportunity to retain ownership of their reading, writing, and critical thinking processes

Discipline(s)

English or English as a Second Language (ESL)