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Problem Solving with Communication

  • Listening With a Purpose 
      When a tutor listens actively, it shows students that they are important enough to have your undivided attention. You can demonstrate active listening by
      • making eye contact,
      • leaning slightly toward the student,
      • nodding appropriately,
      • responding with appropriate facial expressions, and
      • relaxing when you are watching the student communicate.

     

      When it is time to respond, an active response may be to
      • paraphrase what the student communicated,
      • to ask questions that will lead the student to her/his own solution,
      • offer constructive feedback rather than criticize,
      • guide students to make appropriate choices, and
      • ask the student if there is anything else s/he can share.
      • Be familiar with difficult situations.
  • Active Probing & The Socratic Method 
      More often than not, students have gaps in their learning. A good way for tutors to figure our where students are fumbling is by asking questions. (This is not meant to be a police interrogation. Refer to Active Listening.)

     

      When students are answering your questions, you can begin to see where students are "getting it" or "not getting it." Good questions to ask the student are open-ended which allows them to give you a detailed response. Avoid yes or no questions, which would most likely give you nothing beyond the standard "yes" or "no" answers. Open-ended questions often begin with how, why, where, when, who or what. Here are some examples of the questions you could ask:
      • "How did class go yesterday?"
      • "How did you come to that answer?"
      • "How does that apply to this?"
      • "Why do you think that's the answer?"
      • "Why do you think this happened?"
      • "Why do you think the teacher said this?"
      • "Where would you go to find the answer?"
      • "Where do you study?"
      • "Where do you think the teacher is going with this information?"
      • "When is the best time for you to study?"
      • "When are your tests, projects due?"
      • "When will your class be studying this topic?"
      • "Who said this?"
      • "Who do you think you could study with?"
      • "Who pioneered this technique?"
      • "What did you learn from reading this chapter?"
      • "What do you think the teacher will test you on?"
      • "What does your teacher emphasize most in her lectures?"

     

      The kinds of open-ended questions you could ask your students are endless. Tutors should jot down a few questions they would like to ask their students during the next session or while the student is explaining their thought process.

Commonly-Used Techniques
  • Role Reversal
      Using Role Reversal encourages the student to think for himself, and assimilate what he has learned in class and in tutorial sessions. (This can force a sleepy, unmotivated student to become active and involved during his tutoring session. It also works well as a review session.)
  • Give student time, time, and more time
      Let the student try to figure out what the answers are. Showing patience and gentle encouragement reduces anxiety and allows the student to be active in the learning process.
  • Tutor in a quiet environment
      Deaf students often find visual noise distracting. Keep distractions to a minimum and encourage others to do the same. Be aware of what you are wearing. Solid shirts with neutral or cool shades of blue are more "quiet" than a shirt with busy print or neon colors.
  • Present information in manageable steps
      Isolate each step. Use index cards, bullets, or single sheets of paper to present each piece of information.
  • Give examples
      This is a popular technique. A lot of information is new or abstract and our minds often need association to absorb it. For example, a student has not encountered the theory of "social construction" before. You might say "social construction is like the human body. Each part of the body has a responsibility to make the body run. For example the heart is responsible for pumping blood, lungs are responsible for breathing, legs are responsible for walking. Likewise each member of society has a responsibility to contribute to society to make society function, like firefighters, teachers, doctors, janitors. That is what 'social construction' means."
  • Write directions for assignments
      For most of us recall is only good for a short amount of time. If you want your student to practice a study skill, remember an assignment, or rehearse vocabulary, write it down. This is also true for presenting information in small manageable steps.
  • Relate material to student's everyday life
      This is a highly effective tutoring technique. Remember the Chinese saying, "Tell me, I forget. Show me, I remember. Involve me, I understand." How true that is! If you can relate your course material to something that your student has experienced before, this will help the student remember it better.
  • Experiment with LARGE print
      This applies to presenting information in small manageable steps. Sometimes material is too crowded and so overwhelmed with data that it becomes hard to extract important pieces of information. Sometimes when the print is larger information becomes easier to read and absorb. Use the copier to experiment with LARGE print. If the information is on a computer, increase the computer's screen resolution.
  • Elicit brain storming - ask "Why?"
      Asking "why" helps students explain how they reached a particular answer. Asking "why" helps students
      • recall information;
      • make corrections;
      • understand how they got the answer.

     

      Asking "why" also helps the tutor
      • see how their students are processing information;
      • ensures that the student is on the right track;
      • helps the student become independent thinkers.
  • Ask students to paraphrase information
      Paraphrasing is a powerful tool that helps students assimilate and rethink information. It turns them into active learners and it helps the tutor check to see if the student genuinely understands the material.
  • Encourage questions from students
      Students who ask questions are active-learners. They are taking charge of their learning and often overcoming little voices that say something akin to "People will think I'm stupid if I ask." Assure your students that no questions are bad. Educational exchanges happen when people ask questions, no matter how blighted the questions may seem.
  • Offer materials for students to keep
      Reviewing material is important for memory retention. Additionally, when you give or lend materials to students, this bolsters their motivation to study. (Use the photocopier to make copies.)
  • Drill for rote learning while walking
      Rhythm leads to clearer thinking. This is a good technique to use when students need to memorize material such as vocabulary, formulas, and algorithms.
  • Allow frequent breaks
      Studying is exercise for the brain. And as with all exercising, the body and mind need a break. Allow a few minutes for the student to get water and go to the bathroom after 30 to 45 minute intervals. Concentration will improve.
  • Restate information differently
      You may have a student say, "In ASL, please." Signing aloud is a way of restating information in a way that students believe they will better understand. We do not encourage Tutors to sign long texts aloud from course materials but rather encourage Tutors to have students sign the material themselves. When they read aloud they are in fact processing information better than they would if a Tutor signed it for them. Tutors, in turn, can watch the students signing to see if they are accurately restating information. Tutors do at times need to restate information. Tutors can draw images, paraphrase, identify different references, color code, and/or isolate information.
  • Prepare students for changes in routine
      Students are often taken by surprise when a tutor tries something different. It's better for a tutor to inform the student what will happen beforehand so that the student remains comfortable and focused on the tutoring session.
  • Show information in different ways
      Although this is less true these days, a student occasionally will come across education material that weighs heavily on reading and very little on visuals. Use text, graphs, charts, and drawings to stimulate your student's visual comprehension of the material. Conversely, but less common, some students retain information better through text than through pictures. Be sure to observe your students and identify learning styles that work well for them.
  • Use technology
      We live in the Information Age because of technology. Technology has given people different avenues of acquiring knowledge. It is a huge improvement over the traditional "read-text-for-hours-or-else-you-fail" approach of the bygone days. Allow technology to enhance your tutoring sessions. Take advantage of the internet, course-related software, high speed photocopiers, and videophones to work with your students.