What is a tutorial? exploring ‘learning event literacy’ to address aspects of the hidden curriculum in higher education

The learning events that students attend, whether face-to-face or remotely, are intrinsically linked to their level of engagement with their studies. Learning events are labelled on timetables as lectures, seminars or tutorials but students are rarely given definitions of what these terms mean or what pedagogic approaches to expect when they attend, it is assumed they will know. This assumption is an aspect of Higher Education’s hidden curriculum which can limit opportunities for students to successfully match their expectations to their experiences. The closer this match, the greater the likelihood of ongoing engagement and success. This case study examined whether a series of sessions labelled as tutorials contained common characteristics and investigated the impact of providing a session with a clearly defined pedagogic approach. The findings showed a range of different pedagogic practices apparent within ‘tutorial’ sessions and students had concerns about what they would be expected to do when they attended. This lack of knowledge and understanding can result in a mismatch between student expectations and experiences so providing definitions of the pedagogic approaches used in sessions could reduce student anxiety, enabling them to feel positive about their ability to be actively involved in their learning.