consultation of staff

Consultation of LSU Staff | Mike McDonald | September 15th, 2002

I have a somewhat delicate question concerning consultation of LSU staff by CPs. Essentially, I would like to ask whether there are any norms regarding the number of questions it is considered polite to ask, and whether frequent e-mail queries are considered an annoyance or a sign of interest. Obviously, the LSU staff have limited time, and can't handle unlimited amounts of mail, but I would like to know what is considered a "normal" amount of exchange between, say, a module supervisor and a CP.

The reason I ask is that, as a rather inquisitive person, I tend to ask lots of questions, whether in class or by e-mail, and I don't want to overstep the limits of the tutors' patience.

Mike McDonald

Re: Consultation of LSU Staff | Jerry Talandis Jr. | September 15th, 2002

Hi Mike,

I share your concerns about not overstepping the bounds of patience. Yes, the tutors are super-busy, as we all are, but it's also their job to take care of their students!

I think the best thing is to imagine you are a tutor. What kind of correspondence would you like to get from your students? I would imagine you'd like to see your students engaged and really trying to make sense of a problem or question. You need to show that you are making some concrete efforts. Give them something to comment on. For example, you could say, in effect, "I've done A, B, and C, but I don't really know where to go from here." Something like that. If you show you are doing something and just need their guidance, I'm sure that would be appropriate. Try and avoid the situation where you get the tutor to do the work for you. When you start out, you don't really know what to expect and what is the best way of doing things. Give your best effort and be confident that you'll learn "the way of things" little by little.

Any tutors wish to comment? What do you consider appropriate questions?

Jerry

Re: Consultation of LSU Staff | Steve Mann | September 16th, 2002

Hi everyone,

As tutors were specifically requested for a comment, I'll provide one. However, my first sentence provides a clue to my thinking on this issue. I like it when people ask questions through e-mail discussion and get responses from peers. You lazy git, I hear you cry! Partly true, perhaps but I think peer responses are often richer (certainly as rich) as anything a tutor might provide. I know that people often develop strong peer-relationships that provide a great deal of this? And support.

However, for the most part, we enjoy being tutors. The interaction with participants is, for the most part, interesting and rewarding. Some questions are best answered by tutors and subject specialists.

Participants tend to need more support and answers to questions in the early stages. We understand that sometimes the asking of questions is a question of building a relationship. People want to know that there is someone 'there' at Aston.

A few other comments: The Study companion is twelve years of answers to questions. It can be annoying for tutors when people would rather ask their tutor a question than use a comprehensive guide.

People need to ask subject specialists questions at the proposal stage. It still surprises me when people send off an assignment without any consultation.

I think people should ask 42 short questions or 67 long ones.

All the best,

Steve

Consultation of LSU Staff | Keith Richards | September 16th, 2002

Thanks very much to Mike for his question, which I think is an important one. All I can offer here is a personal response, but I don't think that my position is a million miles from that of my colleagues.

The first thing to say is that, although I've experienced huge extremes, most exchanges follow a fairly standard pattern:

1. Initial contact ("Here are my ideas for an assignment" or "I'm stuck for ideas, but here are some thoughts")

[Possible further contact if ideas need to be refined, things don't work out, or circumstances change.]

2. Outline of assignment

[Possible further contact if changes are needed.]

3. Questions about procedure ("Can I do this?" "Will this work?" "Am I off track here?" etc.)

[Possible further contact to discuss developments, or submission of brief extract - a few pages at most - from assignment because of doubts about approach.]

4. [Occasionally] Last minute hitches, questions about format, confirmation that the assignment is on its way.

I guess the average is about three or four major exchanges with sometimes the same number of briefer ones if things need clarifying.

What really matters, though, is not the number of exchanges but the quality of them. Obviously, we expect them to be things that are important to you and relevant to the module, but it's also very important that they show signs of careful thought. If someone has thought about something and done their best to understand it and overcome any problems it throws up, their questions are likely to be interesting and productive. They might demand more effort on the part of the tutor, but the rewards for both parties make this more than worthwhile. I can honestly say that I put the vast majority of the emails I get from participants in this category.

The final thing I'd mention is sensitivity - of both parties. Emails are a notoriously difficult form of communication when it comes to conveying subtle nuances of feeling, so things can go astray, but if both parties try to put themselves in the other's position and respond accordingly, I think it usually works. You can usually "feel" when enough is enough (usually because the real issues have been tackled) and if necessary the exchange can wind down from there. (Mike's email, by the way, shows evidence of just the sort of sensitivity I have in mind here.)

I appreciate that this is all a bit vague, but I hope it helps you to get a sense of what's involved.

All the best

Keith

Re: Consultation of LSU Staff | Mike McDonald | September 17th, 2002

Thanks very much to Keith, Steve, Jerry, and others for their helpful answers to my questions. Steve, I shall do my best to put together 67 long questions especially for you, as you suggest. :-) In other cases I shall try to limit myself to an average of 3 or 4 per assignment.

Mike McDonald

Re: weekend workshops | Raymond Sheehan | September 17th, 2002

A PS on communicating with tutors, by the way. My own practice bears out what Keith and Steve say- the most useful time to communicate is at the Proposal development stage and the feedback is always quick and so detailed and clear that it obviates the need, probably, for any further communications. However, certain modules such as CL (as you'll see from the Study Companion) strongly encourage CPs to stay in touch with the tutor throughout the course because of the nature of the course. I also got the impression that tutors are far more concerned about NOT hearing from CPs at all (for years?) than from hearing from them too often, evidenced by the general appeals issued every so often-"If I haven't heard from you, please get in touch!"