70 Activities for Tutor Groups

Citation

Cattell, A. (2000), "70 Activities for Tutor Groups", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 32 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/ict.2000.03732gae.003

70 Activities for Tutor Groups

70 Activities for Tutor Groups

Peter DaviesGower1999£45.00

Keywords Teachers, Students, Learning styles

This book is aimed primarily at tutors and teachers seeking to add elements of interaction with and among students as part of their teaching/learning strategies. In setting a context for the text, Peter Davies dedicates the book "to all tutors who are willing to vary the norm, experiment, and try different teaching strategies in their classes, and also to those students who are eager to learn, participate and engage themselves in the classroom".

The content is based on the author's recent research into small group work activity which has the potential for student participation and involvement as a catalyst for active and discussion-based learning. As such, it is of particular interest to tutors/teachers in the arts, humanities or social sciences (or other discussion-related subjects). As part of his research, Davies has interviewed and sought the input of a cosmopolitan range of sources including teachers, tutors, students, counsellors, trainers, church ministers and group work practitioners. In his introduction to the book, entitled Quote, Unquote, he presents the views of some of his research population with regard to small group discussion and activity. This section in itself makes interesting and informative reading as regards the pros and cons of group and discussion-based student learning.

The book is divided into two distinct sections. Part 1, "Activities by genre", covers display, games, worksheets, group work and role-play. Part 2 covers what the author terms as "Difficult territory", i.e. difficult topic/subject-matter such as abstract ideas, primary documents and numerical data, which could benefit from being approached in a more imaginative and interesting manner.

The main emphasis throughout the book is in providing the reader with a choice of exercises that have the potential to be adapted to suit a range of subject-specific topics. In essence, each exercise can be transferred to meet both topic and student needs. Each exercise contains a similar format: "In a nutshell" exercise description, "Aims", "What is needed" in terms of resources, "Time" needed, "How it works", an "Example", "Advantages", "Potential problems", "Main learning outcome(s)" and "Variation" of the exercise to meet different audiences and needs.

70 Activities for Tutor Groups is an extremely practical and easy to use resource, which is a useful addition to the tool-kit of any teacher/tutor wishing to add student discussion and participation to more didactic forms of teaching/learning. It offers choices, not solutions. In doing so, it presents ideas which do require creative thought on the part of those choosing to use the resource with respect to adapting the exercises to meet specific subject and student needs. Despite the research base of the book, it is not a theoretical text, but a dip-in, dip-out resource that is low on narrative content and high on practical exercises and applications.

Alan CattellStaff Development Manager and Health Lecturer, University of Bradford School of Health Studies