So I'm looking through the Master Timetable, and a lot of second year classes seem to only have lectures that are three times a week, and no tutorials. I suspect that this is normal possibly because the classes are smaller? Does the third lecture act as a tutorial and you have discussions with the professor?

The third lecture won't substitute as a tutorial but that doesn't mean there can't be class discussion. Classes also aren't much smaller than what you should be used to in first year (At least this was the case in Commerce).

I know in 2nd year commerce I had a lot of tutorials, and now when figuring out my schedule, I have zero tutorials this year. It's normal, just the luck of the draw really.

It really depends on the course as to what happens in that third lecture. I was in a second year class (Anthro 2U03) of around 400 people. We had three lectures, no tutorials, and no class discussion. Last year I was in another second year class (Indig. St. 2B03) where there were only 8 of us in the course, so it was discussion-based as a whole.

Depends if the course merits closer discussion, or extra help. I think in all my years at Mac, I only had 3 or 4 courses with tutorials.

It depends on the course and the prof. Most of my first year and second year classes were 2 hour lectures with 1 hour tutorials.
For third year, I had mostly 3 hour lectures and no tutorials.

Sometimes profs will completely drop one of the 3 hours of lecture, or use it as a time for a discussion with the class (not exactly a tutorial, per say, but more than a lecture).

Originally Posted by HeatherH

It depends on the course and the prof. Most of my first year and second year classes were 2 hour lectures with 1 hour tutorials.
For third year, I had mostly 3 hour lectures and no tutorials.

Sometimes profs will completely drop one of the 3 hours of lecture, or use it as a time for a discussion with the class (not exactly a tutorial, per say, but more than a lecture).

Thanks guys, wow, I hope some of my professors drop a lecture - that'd make my timetable even sweeter.

But you would have the tutorial during the same time, in the same place. That's my understanding anyways. The prof will just make it a discussion based class.

Just to clarify, profs don't just 'drop' a lecture and turn it into a tutorial...or at least they shouldn't! What it means is that one of your three lecture slots is a small, classroom environment to permit discussion.

If your schedule says 3 lectures and 1 tutorial, then that won't be changing. (Also feel free to look up your course in the undergraduate calendar. It may say 3 hours (Lecture) or 2 hours (Lecture) 1 hour (Tutorial) or something to that effect)