What's Old Is New: Improved Learning from Small-Group Tutorials

The ubiquity of Large Language Models poses a challenge to student learning in homework-based college courses, where access to easy homework answers devalues the intended productive struggle. To address this concern, we propose Oxbridge-style weekly tutorials, where students present homework problems without notes in a small group with an instructor or TA. We conducted a randomized experiment in an introductory probability class to evaluate the effectiveness of tutorials, finding a significant positive effect of tutorial enrollment on exam grades. We discuss the implementation, challenges, and opportunities in this style of course design.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
arXiv (Cornell University)
Published
2026-10-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2610.39538
Primary Topic
Statistics Education and Methodologies
Type
preprint
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preprint

What's Old Is New: Improved Learning from Small-Group Tutorials

Dennis L. Sun, John C. Duchi, Will Hartog
arXiv (Cornell University)
Statistics Education and Methodologies
preprint

What's Old Is New: Improved Learning from Small-Group Tutorials

Dennis L. Sun, John C. Duchi, Will Hartog
preprint en

Abstract

The ubiquity of Large Language Models poses a challenge to student learning in homework-based college courses, where access to easy homework answers devalues the intended productive struggle. To address this concern, we propose Oxbridge-style weekly tutorials, where students present homework problems without notes in a small group with an instructor or TA. We conducted a randomized experiment in an introductory probability class to evaluate the effectiveness of tutorials, finding a significant positive effect of tutorial enrollment on exam grades. We discuss the implementation, challenges, and opportunities in this style of course design.

arXiv (Cornell University)
Statistics Education and Methodologies
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What's Old Is New: Improved Learning from Small-Group Tutorials — Dennis L. Sun, John C. Duchi, et al. · arXiv (Cornell University) (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS