TUTOR EFFECTIVENESS: CONCEPTIONS OF STUDENT TEACHERS AT
ZIMBABWE OPEN UNIVERSITY IN MASVINGO
NGARA ROSEMARY
ZIMBABWE OPEN UNIVERSITY, ZIMBABWE
NGWARAI RICHARD

TUTOR EFFECTIVENESS: CONCEPTIONS OF STUDENT TEACHERS AT
ZIMBABWE OPEN UNIVERSITY IN MASVINGO
NGARA ROSEMARY
ZIMBABWE OPEN UNIVERSITY, ZIMBABWE
NGWARAI RICHARD

NGWARAI RICHARD

Tutoring is an age - old practice .There are some requisites for tutors to be effective. Content
knowledge is an essential ingredient for effective tutoring and many other personal attributes. If
a tutor is received as genuine and having a genuine desire to listen, students will be willing to
open up and discuss their problems. Good mastery of subject matter by the tutor contributes to
tutor effectiveness as students turn up for tutorials if they feel they benefit from tutors`
contributions. Much of the quality of tutoring depends on the attitude of the instructor and their
capabilities in using technology. Research suggests that the effectiveness of distance learning is
based on preparation, excellent communication skills and the instructors’ understanding. A
survey was conducted at Zimbabwe Open University in Masvingo region to establish tutees’
perceptions of the effectiveness of the tutors’ teaching courses in the Bachelor of Education in
Early Childhood Development Programme (BECDECD) using questionnaires. Respondents
were of the opinion that most tutors had impressive subject mastery and were usually thoroughly
prepared for tutorials and methodology used was viewed by most participants as suitable.
However, there were sentiments that tutors hardly communicated with students outside tutorial
sessions. Tutors’ marking was viewed as communicative, but feedback was not timely and tutors
did not use any modern teaching media. Some of the personal attributes such as openness,
humility and accessibility were viewed as wanting on the part of some tutors. The study
recommended that more tutor workshops be run to emphasize and reemphasize essential
ingredients of effective tutoring and that the tutors make use of technology available at the
regional campus, among other things

European Social Sciences Research Journal

2013