News & Views item - January 2011

 

 

Cambridge Considering Modifying One-on-One Tutorials. (January 26, 2011)

  Cambridge University Coat-of-ArmsJessica Shepherd reports in yesterday's Guardian that a draft document of Cambridge University's working group on Organisational and Financial Efficiency notes that the 800-year-old university would save £600,000 per year if  tutorials were extended to two students simultaneously putting an end to one-to-one tuition which is provided to about one in eight of the university's undergraduates. The suggestion being put forward is that "one-to-one supervisions should be restricted to situations where students 'genuinely need' individual teaching. These might include sessions on dissertations and project work".

 

Gill Evans, emeritus professor of medieval theology and intellectual history at Cambridge, told Ms Shepherd that abolishing one-to-one supervisions would mean students lost the "unique Oxbridge experience... The personal and intellectual engagement of a one-to-one supervision is worth 25 'big gang' lectures. This kind of individual contact is why Oxbridge graduates are so articulate and good at analysis – they have had to fight their corner."

 

In what could be construed as a virtual apologia John Rallison, pro-vice-chancellor for education says Cambridge needs: "to be open to other forms of teaching to complement supervisions and lectures, including seminars and group teaching, and the use of online material. Like all universities, Cambridge needs to contain costs. Against an increase in supervision costs of 2% per student per year in real terms in each of the last five years, a recent review of the supervision system has recommended that colleges and departments work together to agree guidelines for the number of supervisions a student might normally expect to receive, and to keep these norms under annual review."