Personal Tutoring with the Scholars.
Weekly meetings with the people who wrote the book.
Oxford's core teaching is based around conversations, normally between two or three students and their tutor, who is an expert on that topic. These are tutorials, and it's the students chance to talk in-depth about their subject and to receive individual feedback on their work.
Adapted from Oxford’s Personalized Learning
Going Deeper.
A tutorial relies on the exchange of ideas so the student needs to be ready to present and defend their opinions, accept constructive criticism, and listen to the guidance of their tutor.
Usually students have one or two tutorials every week, often taking place in their college. Tutorials normally last about an hour, during which the tutor will give the student feedback on prepared work on a particular topic. They may also use the opportunity to introduce a new topic and discuss it. At the end of the tutorial, the tutors will assign a new piece of work by which the student will get ready for the next tutorial session. During the following week the student will be expected to work independently to complete the given week’s assignment.
Personal Knowledge.
In combination with seminars, lectures, lab work, and language classes, a student’s weekly tutorial provides for an extraordinary learning environment with aims of personal knowledge.
Such regular and rigorous academic discussion develops and facilitates learning in a way that just isn't possible through lectures alone. Tutorials are a fantastic way to explore ideas and get new perspectives. They develop the student’s ability to think for one’s self – an essential skill for academic success and something that the best employers look for in Oxford graduates.
“It’s almost impossible to do theology by yourself…We need one another and we need to do theology prayerfully together, so that together we can equip one another to serve the Church in the next generation”
— N. T. Wright, Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford