Role of tutors

At the beginning of the IIP subject, each team is assigned a tutor who will be available throughout the project for regular check-ins, guidance and support.

As 4th-year BCII students are quite driven and self-sufficient, tutors are not intended to teach students how to undertake their projects or to be subject matter experts, but rather are there for students to ask questions, share ideas or raise concerns. Each tutor will be responsible for managing 6 student teams throughout the semester.

The role of a tutor covers the following:

Establishing Communication and Management Skills

  • Negotiate and establish practices for student teams to prepare for tutoring meetings to resemble real-world professional practices

  • Encourage teams to send materials, pose questions or identify a challenge prior to the meeting

  • Encourage students to establish similar communication practices with industry partners

  • Assist students with project planning, including setting deadlines and transitioning between different stages of a project

Harnessing Collective Genius

  • Support teams in establishing team self-management practices so that students can learn the most from each other

  • Monitor the evolution of team dynamics and provide team mediation / conflict resolution where necessary

  • Encourage students to think, question assumptions and help them push their ideas further

  • Guide the team in their development of their own unique innovation process
  • Help students to compile and utilise a toolbox of transdisciplinary methodologies they have learnt previously in the degree
  • Support students in being comfortable with complexity and uncertainty on their innovation journey

External Engagement

  • Drive students to engage with stakeholders and external networks

  • Encourage students to experiment with a range of engagement / enquiry / data collection modes, whilst considering ethical guidelines and limitations

  • Tutors will check in directly with partners as critical times (e.g. welcome event at start of project, mid-project check-in and final presentations)

  • Tutors will keep the subject coordinator and industry partnerships team abreast of any significant issues that arise over the course of a project

Academic Responsibility

  • Answer student queries regarding assessment expectations

  • Marking and providing feedback on student assessment tasks

  • Recording student attendance during designated class times

 

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.