Consultation Critique
The purpose of this assignment is to help you reflect on tutoring from the perspective of a
tutee. The questions below might help you begin to think critically about the tutoring session,
but may not cover all that you experienced or noticed. So, do not feel limited by this prompt as
you compose your critique.
Consultation Basics:
1. Did the tutor greet you in a friendly way and engage you in small talk?
2. Did the tutor discuss how the session was going to be conducted?
3. Did the tutor review your assignment and your goals for the session?
4. Did the tutor answer your specific questions during the session?
5. Did the tutor offer revision techniques, brain-storming ideas, or resource
suggestions that met or went beyond your initial goals?
Description
1. Describe the tutor’s mood and behavior.
a. Was the tutor friendly?
b. Was the tutor engaging?
c. Was the tutor eager to discuss writing?
2. Describe the plan you and the tutor created for the session.
a. Did you agree on what needed to be discussed during the session?
b. Were you able to complete the plan, or did you run out of time?
c. If the plan changed part way through the session, describe how.
3. Describe how the tutor made suggestions.
a. Did the tutor ask leading questions?
b. Did the tutor provide related examples?
c. Did the tutor provide explanations?
d. Did the tutor prompt you to demonstrate what you had learned?
e. Did the tutor utilize the white board, laptop, and/or resource library in the
room?
4. Explain a difficult moment in the session and how the tutor worked through it.
a. If there wasn’t a difficult moment, explain a moment in the session that you felt
could have gone differently, and why.
5. Explain one technique that the tutor used that you want to remember and use for
yourself, and why the technique was important to you.
Reflection
1. Look back over your answers for the previous questions. How did this consultation
change the way you look at sessions? What are the most important points you want
to take from the session? Think about your personal experiences, in-class readings,
research, other consultations, and class work; how did this observation compare?
No more than 2-3 pages, informal style, no outside sources, e-mailed electronic copy only.