A 3-semester hour Master’s tutorial (M.A. Math)

[Shackleford]

I've emailed the M.A. Math program director about this, but I'm just wondering what exactly this entails - generally speaking of course. Is it like a mini-thesis? Or is it more akin to a research paper? How would I select a topic? Fortunately, I know that my interests are in set theory and analysis.

 

[Simon Bridge]

I've emailed the M.A. Math program director about this, but I'm just wondering what exactly this entails - ...

So am I ... what are you referring to by "this"?
But asking the person who set "this" up is a good start.

Note: if by "this" you mean:

A 3-semester hour Master’s tutorial (M.A. Math)

... then that is not grammatical English. What are you talking about?

Is a "semester hour" like a "man hour"?
Are you asked to attend or give a tutorial?
Is it a tutorial given at masters level or a tutorial at some other level to be completed as part of the requirement for a master's degree?

It sounds like the problem statement is incomplete.
Back up. Start at the beginning.

 

[Shackleford]

I assumed the term would be familiar. It's a requirement in the MA program along with 30 hours of coursework.

Of course, it's grammatical English. How are you not familiar with "semester hour"?

Let me see what else I can dig up on the website about "this." There's little to go by.

 

[Shackleford]

Ah. I was able to find this.

MATH 6315 - Master’s Tutorial
Credit Hours: 3.0 Prerequisite: consent of instructor. May be taken concurrently.
Open only to those choosing the non-thesis option for the M.S. degree. Special topics selected by student and instructor to be no less demanding than writing a thesis.

 

[Simon Bridge]

I assumed the term would be familiar.

That would be a poor asumption then ;)
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Assume
... when someone ask what something you wrote means, it is faster just to tell them.

It's a requirement in the MA program along with 30 hours of coursework.

Of course, it's grammatical English. How are you not familiar with "semester hour"?

... perhaps I live in a different country to you? ;)
But why not just answer the question?

Something like:
https://nz.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070113210108AA5jLCN

That would be "a 3 semester hour..." or "a 3 semester-hour..." rather than "a 3-semester hour"
(But hyphens can be like that...)

Let me see what else I can dig up on the website about "this." There's little to go by.

That's a good source too.
It looks like you are well on the way to answering your own question.

Ah. I was able to find this.

... and there you go.
It means whatever you manage to negotiate with your supervisor.
This sort of thing allows more self-motivated students to make a study that is not otherwise covered in the standard syllabus - like a personal interest. The effect is the lessons are somewhat informal, probably just you and your supervisor meeting in an office, hence "tutorial". Different colleges will call it different things, and the details will vary from college to college too.

Bottom line: the only person who can answer this is your supervisor.