Tutoring and the HSC (1 Viewer)

[enoilgam]

I have created this thread to discuss the role of tutoring in the HSC. I know this topic has probably been covered before, but given the immense rise in the prevalence of tutoring, I think it’s a discussion worth having again. Also, looking through some recent threads it is clear that the issue is waiting to be discussed in its own right.

Feel free to mention whether or not you are/were tutored for Prelim/HSC (there is a poll attached) and your opinions on the topic.

Some issues which could be considered in this thread include:

- What type of tutoring works best?

- Is tutoring beneficial? If so, to what extent is it beneficial?

- Is tutoring becoming a necessity in senior schooling?

- Is a tutoring culture developing in Australia similar to the ones present in many South-East Asian Countries? If so, is this a bad thing?

- Can tutoring have a detrimental impact on education?

 

[uhoohoo]

I get tutored in almost every subject, both prelim and HSC.
One-on-one works best for me since I need lots of step by step explaining... I've been to large group coaching places before and it didn't improve my marks or anything, I pretty much just went and socialized lol
Maybe 90% or more kids in my year get tutored, so it's not like you have an advantage, but rather the opposite if you don't get tutored in any way. Detrimental impacts? Yes, a lot of the time people (myself included) don't even listen to the teacher any more because our tutors will teach it better and/or we've already learnt it.

 

[Eg155]

I find tutoring is more like a 'trend' today. Especially among people of Asian heritage, not to sterotype as I know a lot of caucasians who have also caught onto the trend.
Eg. my friend goes to a tutoring place and he says he learns nothing and so I asked why he keeps going if it's not beneficial, he said that his parents make him go regardless.
Everytime I have tried tuturoing, I only stayed for max 2.lessons as I did not feel like I was gaining anything extra than what I could have taught myself at home.
Although I think for some subject one-on-one tutoring would be helpful, say in subjects such as Chemistry, Physics or Maths where little problems with calculations and methods can be twiked with the help of a personal tutor. So in 'mathy' type subject I see it beneficial. For english and humanities, if you're not catching on a tutor IMO won't be greatly beneficial as everyone does different modules/texts, especially in the case of a student tutor, they will most likely not have had all of the same texts to help you with.

 

[SunnyScience]

Was tutored in year 5/6, mostly because my twin needed it and I just tagged along.
0 tutoring throughout high school. I find my teachers and my own hard efforts be more than enough to give me more than an adequate understanding of the concepts I need to learn. IMO, people who are struggling should be the only ones who get tutored. It seems to be the 'quick-fix' these day: if i get tutoring, I will succeed. Also, I would imagine you would get quite reliant on the tutor, in which by university you will fall - independence in the key.

Waits for rebuttal .

 

[JINOUGA]

Was tutored in year 5/6, mostly because my twin needed it and I just tagged along.
0 tutoring throughout high school. I find my teachers and my own hard efforts be more than enough to give me more than an adequate understanding of the concepts I need to learn. IMO, people who are struggling should be the only ones who get tutored. It seems to be the 'quick-fix' these day: if i get tutoring, I will succeed. Also, I would imagine you would get quite reliant on the tutor, in which by university you will fall - independence in the key.

Waits for rebuttal .

I would just like to add that some students go to tutoring not because they struggle but also because

1) its a means of reinforcement if they lack confidence. They may not be struggling, but they feel as if they need to cement the ideas better
2) eager students that wish to accelerate but cannot be guided in this by their teachers or lack the ability to self-teach

However, I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment that kids should not be forced into tutoring by their parents. As someone who used to work in a tutoring centre, I have seen first hand students who are there against their will. They often lose confidence, lack motivation and can at times disrupt the learning process for other students. All in all, students who are there against their will tend to be wasting their time

 

[enoilgam]

It seems to be the 'quick-fix' these day: if i get tutoring, I will succeed. Also, I would imagine you would get quite reliant on the tutor, in which by university you will fall - independence in the key.

I definitely see these as being the two biggest issues associated with tutoring. Tutoring is not a quick fix - if a person is unmotivated or has a poor work ethic, tutoring will have a minimal impact. Also, people who are reliant on tutors often become unstuck in uni - because you have less time and support at uni. For instance, you have a whole year to work on MX2, so you have time to decide whether or not you need a tutor. Furthermore, there are an abundance of MX2 tutors out there. In uni, you have less time to identify whether you need outside help and there are limited people out there that can act as tutors.

 

[someth1ng]

I voted because I get tutored for English - I do not get tutored for any other subject and I feel that if you know where to find your resources, HSC isn't so hard.

 

[starshine02]

I used to go tutoring for maths and biology but then i stopped after a term. for my school (which is in top 10) it would seem that about 90% of my grade goes tutoring of some sort. in fact i think almost half goes for more than one subject too. i originally went tutoring in an attempt to get 'an edge' on my schoolwork but i found that by tutoring i was actually losing time because whilst it taught accelerated, it never really matched up with my school so i always ended up relearning at school anyways. Oh and doing hw for tutoring was so annoying. id like to go tutor just for the lectures but not get hw....even though i realise it wouldn't be as beneficial.

 

[LoveHateSchool]

Never had tutoring in my life.

I think it's becoming almost common place for the HSC nowadays. City kids are so lucky they have so many state ranking tutors they can be tutored by. Not so much in the country. I guess the people we see the best results with are motivated and smart already and tutoring gives them that "edge". For some kids that's already on top of going to a top selective and tutoring. for some kids it can help them get over struggles AS LONG AS THEY ARE WILLING.

I think tutoring is not so great in the fact that it discourages independent learning which is oh so important in university. But really to ace the HSC which is a game that's more about education(*cough* Belonging +many other areas), I can see how tutoring is so profitable.

I don't think it's necessary. Many people receive good results without it. Out of the city, most of the kids who seek tutoring are those that need the basics not those wanting the "edge" in the city. I think 1:1 or 1 on small group w/ SIMILAR abilities would work best, just how I don't see you'd absorb that much more in a big class atmosphere that wouldn't differ for school.

Hopefully at the end of the year I can be one of those that shows it isn't necessary for good results *we can live in hope *

 

[JINOUGA]

It is by no means necessary for good results. All that's necessary for good results is

Drive
Passion
Valuing Education
Hard Work
Belief
Determination

and a bit of natural ability and luck

whilst tutoring can provide for these, it is technically possible for any student to get this themselves. Tutoring can simply facilitate this

 

[pt1]

I guess tutoring is quite worth it if you put in the hard yards but if you dont it would be a waste of time. also it kinda forces you to do work rather than at home procastinating or something rofl

 

[alyssa21]

I don't get any form of tutoring right now, nor have I at any point throughout High School- partly out of my perception that it isn't incredibly beneficial, and a want to still learn in school. As someone who isnt tutored, I find those who get coached quite frustrating, for example, people who are learning the 4unit Maths course in Yr10 to 'get ahead' of the rest of the grade. I personally find that this negatively affects that individual's experience of class, and thereby influences the class around them. Attending a top-10 selective school, this is particularly apparent- I used to consistently be in the top 20 in my grade in Maths, yet once I hit Yr11, being in the 'top class' of ExtMaths and being one of the very few who didn't attend tutoring, my teacher began to teach incredibly fast, I lost interest, and subseqeutnly my marks dropped to the point where I am now doing 2unit.
So, I find 'coaching' really frustrating, where it clearly isnt needed by students since they are bright enough to understand the content. But since so many people do it, others do it too, and it becomes a self-perpetuating cycle where class time is much less effective.

Tutoring, on the other hand, where students feel they need extra help/revision over certain subjects which they do not understand as well, is something I respect. Because I would not have the patience and motivation to invest that amount of time into a subject I am not as good at!

Ultimately I feel the purpose of education is to train students to work hard, to motivate themselves towards a tangible goal of sorts, and allow the development of such skills and attitudes. As mentioned earlier, the 'quick fix' offered by tutoring largely diminishes this purpose, and in negatively affecting the surrounding class/school environments, I feel is does have a detrimental effect on education (made worse by the increasing levels of tutoring).

 

[2xL]

Tutoring allows one to use school as revision. Right now, studying for physics and chem is 1000x easier with most of the knowledge and understanding already in my head. Personally I think it is essential but thats just my opinion.

 

[Manroop]

Tutoring in no way is essential but i think on a psychological level it is slowly reaching that level of desirabiltiy

 

[will_]

finished tutoring for the last time. though it was a struggle, i will remember those afternoons and evenings fondly

 

[micwes12]

I get tutored in maths- it's really good, my tutor covers concepts before I do them in class so when I do the class work I already basically understand it. The important thing in maths is being able to recognise how to solve questions, and I've found tutoring really helps with that also because it forces me to sit down and focus for 2 solid hours on maths!
Having said that, I agree that it could be detrimental to students who are naturally very good at the subject they're tutored in- they possibly will get lazy and not bother listening in class. And I don't really see where it helps in english- i thought about getting an english tutor, but in reality all they're going to do is help tweak my essays, and I have a teacher who can do that!

 

[eat_well]

I go group tutoring for physics. It's really helpful and he is a very patient tutor. Regardless of my marks, I have a much better understanding of physics that my teacher at school could have never given me.

I also go tutoring for English and Maths which are both private.

Although I go tutoring, all the subjects I go to require independent learning. My tutors could give me as many notes, past papers and tips as they want but in the end it depends on me to actually do their work.

 

[U MAD BRO]

What do you guys think of Terry Lee tutoring, I heard good things about him and his prices are extremely low!
Isn't he the best maths tutor?
I mean why would people go to matrix ...etc while they can pay half the price and go to Terry Lee, there must be one problem with terry lee tuition that causes people not to go to him so what is that problem, the work load?

 

[Riproot]

Some issues which could be considered in this thread include:

- What type of tutoring works best?

- Is tutoring beneficial? If so, to what extent is it beneficial?

- Is tutoring becoming a necessity in senior schooling?

- Is a tutoring culture developing in Australia similar to the ones present in many South-East Asian Countries? If so, is this a bad thing?

- Can tutoring have a detrimental impact on education?

One-on-one

Yes. Depends on the person and the tutor.

Nope.

Not really. I don't think it's as extreme. I don't think it's bad, but I think the teachers in schools should be good enough so that big tutoring companies shouldn't have anyone in their classes and students only need one-on-one tutors for extra attention and help because teachers are divided across many students.

I don't think so. :/

 

[enoilgam]

Bump for some more opinions.