Tutorial

If you are looking for a tutorial about editing Wikipedia, see [Tutorial].

Contents

1 Academia
2 On the Internet
3 Computing
4 See also

Academia

In British academic parlance, a tutorial is a small class of one, or only a few, students, in which the tutor (a professor or other academic staff member) gives individual attention to the students. The tutorial system at Oxford and Cambridge is fundamental to methods of teaching at those universities, but it is by no means peculiar to them (although it is rare for newer universities in the UK to have the resources to offer individual tuition). At Cambridge, a tutorial is known as a supervision.

In some Canadian universities, such as York University or the University of Toronto, a tutorial refers to something more like an American discussion section, that is, a class of between 12-18 students that is supplemental to a large lecture course, which gives students the opportunity to discuss the lectures and/or additional readings in smaller groups. These tutorials are often led by graduate students, normally known as "Teaching Assistants" or "TAs", though it is not unknown for the primary instructor of a course, even if a full professor, to take a tutorial. At Princeton University, these tutorials are known as preceptorials and are led by preceptors. Woodrow Wilson developed the preceptorial system, intending it to be the main form of teaching. However, preceptorials now largely occupy a role that is secondary to traditional lecturing.

In Australian and New Zealand universities, such as the University of Auckland, a tutorial (coloquially called a tute) is a class of 10–30 students. Such tutorials are very similar to the Canadian system, although tutorials can occasionally be led by honours or postgraduate students, known as 'tutors'.

On the Internet

On the Internet, a tutorial is a document, software, or other media created for the purpose of instruction for any of a wide variety of tasks. One example of this would be the [Tutorial] mentioned above.

For media to be properly identified as a tutorial -- the following attributes should be present:

A presentation of content, usually with an example or examples, often broken up into discrete modules or sections.

Some method of review that reinforces or tests understanding of the content in the related module or section.

A transition to additional modules or sections that builds on the instructions already provided. Tutorials can be linear or branching.

While many writers refer to a mere list of instructions or tips as a tutorial, this usage can be misleading.

Computing

In computing, a tutorial is a computer program whose purpose it is to assist users in learning how to use (parts of) a software product such as an office suite or any other application, operating system interface, programming tool, or game. There are two kinds of software tutorials: movie tutorials that you watch, and interactive tutorials where you follow on-screen instructions (and in some cases watch short instruction movies), whereupon you do the tutorial exercises and get feedback depending on your actions. Some computer tutorials can also be put up on the web.

Tutorial

Academia

On the Internet

Computing

See also