Interfacing Tutoring and Reading Programs: Training Tutors to Do My Job.

A program for tutorial assistance and tutor training at the University of Texas at Austin is described in this document. The tutorial assistance program attempts to provide help with both study skills and specific course content, since students experiencing academic difficulty in a specific course may request tutoring aid, not realizing that their approach to learning may be interfering with their mastery of the course. Two types of positions for student tutors are: tutor consultants or advisors, who interview prospective tutees, serve as paraprofessional learning specialists, and act as consultants with student tutors in their efforts in guiding a student's learning; and student tutors, who actually tutor the student in a course. Training for the tutor consultants has focused on expanding their knowledge and expertise in interviewing skills and diagnostic techniques, learning skills and teaching strategies, consultation techniques, and administrative skills. Methods for training have included workshops on selected topics of interest, weekly staff meetings, and individual weekly meetings with the director. (MKM)