A social studies tutor is responsible for conveying knowledge of multiple domains to the students, such as history, political science, civics, and many more. However, just explaining the subject's concepts is insufficient to ensure the best learning experience for the students.
Social studies tutoring is more than what's in the textbooks and online resources. Knowledge of current affairs, moral values, etc, holds equal importance. Similarly, there are multiple things that the tutors need to consider to improve the quality of their sessions. We have mentioned the top ones below. So, let's check them out.
4 Tips For Effective Social Studies Tutoring
Use Stories To Teach The Students
As a social studies tutor, you should try to spark interest in the students to learn the subject. When the learners are interested to know about a particular topic, their focus and grasping ability improve automatically. Social studies already have a lot of topics, around which you can weave a story. When the concepts are conveyed to the learners in a "story format", improved engagement levels are noticed.
For example, if you need to teach the economic policies of a particular ruler from ancient times. Give the students some context about the ruler's personal life and his kingdom. It will help them figure out why the economic policies were created in the first place. Consequently, they will be able to remember them for a longer time. This approach is far better than the traditional one, which involves "rote learning".
Incorporate Multimedia in Tutoring Sessions
At some point of time, the traditional approach of using a whiteboard and marker starts to seem boring to the learners. An effective solution to this problem is using multimedia in social studies tutoring sessions. Every once in a while, you can use a projector to deliver the tutoring sessions. Similarly, online tutors can use a PowerPoint presentation and share the screen with the students to present a particular topic.
For instance, instead of just telling about a geographical terrain orally, the teacher can show visuals to the learners. This way, they can easily understand what the tutor wants to explain. Not only do the students grasp the concepts fast, but also show more engagement in the class. Because the approach that involves audio and visuals to learn the subject is refreshing and interesting to most learners.
Organise Activities To Make The Learners Participate
Usually, what happens in a social studies class is that the tutor keeps narrating the points and the students just keep listening passively. It is one of the reasons why some students find the subject boring. To keep the learners active in class, the tutors should arrange activities that demand participation from tutees. This way, the tutors can bring an improvement in the learners' engagement levels.
One of the most common but effective activities is group discussion. After briefing the class on a particular topic, you can divide the students into different groups. Afterwards, you can allot time for learners of each group to explain their thoughts on the respective topic. This way, the students will take initiative and actually participate in the class rather than listening passively. As a result, their subject knowledge will improve, which is beneficial for them.
Connect The Complex Concepts To The Simpler Ones
While learning social studies, most students easily grasp the simpler concepts, but the complex concepts are something that creates problems for the learners. An ideal approach to deal with this issue is, firstly clarifying the basics to the learners. Afterwards, the tutors can move to the typical sections of the curriculum.
As all the topics in social studies are connected in one way or the other, the simple concepts can help the learners eventually understand the advanced ones as well. Moreover, the tutor can also relate the topics to daily life. When a topic gets connected to the real-life experience of the students, they are able to retain it in their memory for a long time.
Conclusion
The above are the top 4 tips that social studies tutors can use in the sessions to improve the learning experience for the students. By making dedicated efforts in the right direction, tutors can make social studies a subject that the students can actually understand, rather than memorising it. Not only does it simplify learning for the students, but also helps them improve their scores in the subject.