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| Tutoring Techniques |  Explaining and Lecturing
Now and than a tutor has to clear up and explain a topic if he finds that a tutee has not understood a main thing (or piece of information) that is necessary to comprehend the concept. When you explain something, be sure that your explanations are clear, minimal, and essential. It is better to lecture only when necessary.
Remember, you are not an instructor. It is advisable to keep in mind that you are there to provide opportunity - the opportunity for the tutee to find and employ the available resources he/she has at his/her disposal. Sometimes this will mean you but, more frequently than not, this will mean the tutee's textbook, his/her lecture notes, his/her past tests, previous examples and so on. Be sure to provide the possibility to employ resources other than yourself.
Questions and Listening
It is just as essential (if not more important) for the tutor to have the tutee do most of the explaining. This will intensify learning for the tutee and help the tutor find problem areas. There are two main components in guiding this successful interchange, they are: posing questions and active listening.
The following examples of questioning techniques are:
• Ask open-ended questions.
• If you ask questions that require more than a yes/no answer, you make the tutee to think.
o "Where do you think we should begin?"
o "What are the steps involved in working this problem?"
o "What is the definition?"
• Ask probing questions.
• Probing questions follow up on a student's contribution.
o "What will happen if what you said is true?"
o "Why do you think so?"
o "What is the opposite of this position?"
o "You're correct. The answer to this question is false. How to make it true?"
• Paraphrase questions.
• Try to ask once again your question in a somewhat different manner.
• Reword your original question.
• Break your original question into smaller parts.
• Change the modulation in your voice when repeating the original question.
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