U.K. schools better than U.S.?

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Roscoe Barnes III, Oct 20, 2003.

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  1. "The tutorial system at Oxford and Cambridge is far superior to the classroom system in American colleges."
    -- David Ogilvy
    "Blood, Brains & Beer." (p. 134)

    Two questions:

    1) Wasn't C.S. Lewis a professor who used the tutorial system as opposed to a large classroom of students?

    2) Is this method used by any American schools (DL or otherwise)?


    Roscoe
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 20, 2003
  2. agilham

    agilham New Member

    Lewis was a Fellow of Magdalen, it wouldn't have occurred to him to teach any other way and Magdalen would have been horrified if he had. Remember that at Oxford and Cambridge, particularly in the arts, tutorial teaching is primarily the province of the college.

    However, Lewis was also a university lecturer, so he would have lectured to fairly large classes: English has always had one of the two or three largest undergraduate intakes at Oxford.

    I suspect that the closest you'll get to the tutorial system in the US is at the smaller and wealthier Liberal Arts colleges, which can afford to have very small tutorial groups.

    Personally, I have a great deal of time for the tutorial system. It can be a wonderful experience for both student and teacher. I had a final year Comp Sci tutee a few years ago whom I taught for his dissertation, and it was a privilege to watch his mind work.
    However, the tutotial system doesn't exist anywhere outside Oxford and Cambridge in the UK on the grounds of cost. Here at Oxford, we reckon to lose something of the order of eight thousand pounds a year per undergraduate student because of the cost of tutoring.

    Angela
     
  3. drwetsch

    drwetsch New Member

    I did a significant percentage of graduate work by tutorial when I was in the Anticoh MA program.

    John
     
  4. Re: Re: U.K. schools better than U.S.?

    Thanks, Angela.

    Quite insightful, to say the least.

    Roscoe
     
  5. roy maybery

    roy maybery New Member

    Re: Re: U.K. schools better than U.S.?

    I did Archaeology at Leicester where tutorials were held twice per week in all subjects. My brother who did physics at the University of Wales also attended regular tutorials. I suspect that most other British universities are the same.
    Roy Maybery
     
  6. Tom57

    Tom57 Member

    U.S. schools do use tutorials, though their structure may not be identical to Oxford’s, and they are not likely to be the only (or predominant) form of instruction. In the U.S., they are more likely to be called seminars. As a math undergrad at Berkeley, I did a number of seminars. Most involved a handful of students working on some common problems. We met a couple of times each week to discuss. The seminar was led by a math professor. Usually he lectured a bit. Exams were take-home. It was a nice way to learn, but as others have mentioned, not very cost effective for the university, I’m afraid.
     
  7. agilham

    agilham New Member

    Re: Re: Re: U.K. schools better than U.S.?

    I rather suspect that what Leicester call a tutorial and what I call a tutorial are somewhat different things. Having been a student at Warwick, Sussex and Aberystwyth and having taught at Aberystwyth, Glasgow and Oxford, I have observed the difference between what Oxford and Cambridge can provide, and it's massive. Even back in the early 80s as an undergraduate at Warwick, I would never receive an hour a week in one on one tutoring in each of the subjects I was taking: I would be part of a seminar group of 4 - 8 students in addition to my lectures.

    Angela
     

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