First year tutorial programme

The purpose of this tutorial programme is to enable you to develop the skills needed to be a successful undergraduate politics student.

Specifically, the small tutorial groups, led by experienced tutors, create an active learning environment to better understand the type of reading and writing that are involved in becoming a competent user of the language of politics.  Critical reading skills go beyond memorizing the textbook and involve a selective reading of a wide variety of texts. Critical writing skills involve using evidence effectively, arguing successfully against other positions and placing your own original arguments in the context of what other people have already said on the subject at hand.

The tutorial program consists of 16 workshop sessions for the year (8 each semester), delivered in small-group settings of about 15 students in each group.  Each of these sessions is meant to give you a combination of skills delivery and a workshop element relating to your first year course assessments for ‘Political Institutions’ taught by Dr. Mary Murphy and ‘Democracy and Active Citizenship’ taught by Dr. Bora Isyar.

In each session you will be presented with the chance to identify and start developing a specific skill in relation to an assignment (essay/exam) that you are working on for these courses. As such tutorials are a key component in both of these first year courses.

The tutorial sessions are NOT meant to be time for tutors to teach you the content of these two lecture courses. Instead, tutors will use examples from the content of the course to demonstrate certain sets of skills to you. As always, if you have content questions about the course, feel free to contact the first year lecturer directly.