Developing a Collegial Approach to Initial Teacher Education: the Westminster B.Ed Primary Internship Project

This paper describes Hong Kong research into peer tutored instruction in reading. Tutors were trained to use Paired Reading, a technique appropriate for use across a range of ability levels, and adaptable for reading instruction in languages and orthographies other than English.

The Hong Kong research confirms that peer tutors can successfully deliver reading instruction, with both tutors and tutees benefiting in terms of enhanced reading proficiency, intrinsic motivation to learn, and self‐concept. It also suggests some factors which may enhance the effects of peer tutoring upon achievement. For tutees these are content coverage, peer self‐concept and intrinsic motivation to study. For tutors the predominant factor is locus‐of‐control.

Interestingly, tutors’ instructional behaviours during tutoring sessions appear not to have any effect on tutoring outcomes, except in so far as they might slow down coverage of the material being read.

     

The impact of AVID tutoring on developing a teacher identity Bradley Bowen,Stacy Duffield

ABSTRACT

There is extensive research demonstrating the benefit tutoring has on the tutee. However, minimal research exists about the impact tutoring has on the tutor, and particularly, how being a tutor influences pre-service teacher development during teacher preparation. Using qualitative measures, we documented the influence participating in the tutoring program, Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), has on a pre-service teacher’s development of their teacher identity, predominantly in the areas of pedagogical knowledge and practice. We revealed how the AVID tutoring program influenced the tutors’ development of their teacher identity, implications of the findings, and areas for future research and practice.     

Pastoral Care for Senior Students: An Analysis of a Voluntary Staff Counselling Scheme in a Sixth-form College

This article is written for new and experienced tutors to review the ways in which they are supporting their students’ learning. It considers the purposes of tutoring, drawing on the voices of students themselves. The article then considers the ways in which the tutor can support the learning of young people, including academic tutoring. It concludes with some guidance for the tutor to develop their own learning about tutoring.     

Tutoring online tutors: Using digital badges to encourage the development of online tutoring skills

Online tutors play a critical role in e‐learning and need to have an appropriate set of skills in addition to subject matter expertise. This paper explores how digital badges can be used to encourage the development of online tutoring skills. Based on previous research, we defined three digital badges, which are examples of essential tutoring skills. These skills were self‐assessed during two weeks by online tutors in K‐12 mathematics, who also wrote a self‐reflection based on their experience. The digital badges motivated tutors to reflect on online tutoring practices. The tutors described that they gained a more detailed understanding of the tutoring process when continuously analyzing ongoing conversations. However, it was a challenge for the tutors to balance the private activity, reflection on tutoring skills, and the social activity, communication with the K‐12 students. It is essential to take into account when tutors will have time to reflect, for example, by scheduling time for reflection or enabling opportunities for reflection that is flexible in time. A challenge for further research is to better understand the potential benefits of different types of badges.     

The role of questioning in writing tutorials: a critical approach to student-centered learning in peer tutorials in higher education

ABSTRACT

Peer tutoring in higher education aims to enhance student learning, and confidence. In writing centres, peer writing tutors use critical questioning to make the tutorial sessions student-focused and productive. The nature of questions influences the outcomes of the tutorials, yet research has not devoted sufficient time to unpacking what form this questioning takes, and the potential value for students and tutors. This paper explores the kinds of questions asked, the challenges posed to students and tutors, and implications for the learning process. Tutors’ experiences during tutorials and their reflections in written reports are used to unpack and explore questioning in tutorials. The paper highlights questioning as relevant in writing centre spaces due to its central role in shaping student learning about writing. The findings have relevance for peer tutoring in higher education generally, and indicate the importance of peer tutors learning to use questions to engage effectively with students.     

Prospective teachers’ perceptions of development during fieldwork: Tutoring as a vehicle for professional growth

Abstract

This study examines elementary and secondary prospective teachers’ perceptions of the ways in which their experiences as tutors in school‐based tutoring programs influenced their professional development. Data collected from a survey questionnaire, reflective papers, and individual and focus group interviews revealed five main ways that these undergraduate and graduate education students perceived the tutoring experiences contributed to their professional growth. They described development in the following understandings: school students, pedagogical strategies, relationships with colleagues in school settings, the teaching/learning process, and reflective practice. All of these understandings were reported as increasing their self‐confidence as developing educators.     

A Science-Mythology Relationship Among Indian Children

Abstract

The study examines the effects of cross age tutoring in school on the tutors’ empathy, altruism, and self-esteem. The sample consists of 73 high school freshmen, who participated in a year-long program of tutor-training, and a comparison group of 98 other freshmen. Controlling the effects of initial attribute scores, students’ sex, and socioeconomic status, it was found that program participation significantly increased the tutors’ empathy, altruism, and self-esteem. The findings, interpreted according to role-taking theory, suggest that school programs of cross-age tutoring may have some psychological benefits in addition to their already established influence on students’ academic achievements. Since no interactions were found between the effects of program participation and students’ social background on the increases in attribute scores, such programs may perhaps be used for the integration of students from different social-cultural backgrounds.     

Analysis of the Dynamics among Tutors in an After-School Tutoring Program in a Homeless Shelter for Families

Researchers of after-school tutoring primarily focus on educational outcomes with little attention to the social dynamics of such programs. In our qualitative case study, we examined the nature of interactions among tutors in a tutoring program at a homeless shelter for families. Employing Bourdieu’s concepts of social capital and field, we found that the dynamics between tutors were complex, with tutors jockeying for position amid contestations over the rules and organization of the tutoring sessions. The implications include the significant impact that the dynamics among tutors can have on the overall program.     

Cross-age peer tutoring of science in the primary school: influence on scientific language and thinking

The development of deeper understanding and transferable skills in science requires continuous interactive discussion and feedback and extended practice in various contexts for generalisation. In primary schools, these desiderata are difficult to supply through direct teacher instruction, but might be feasible through interactive peer tutoring. This study aimed to evaluate cognitive and affective gains from cross-age peer tutoring for both tutees and tutors in science, using the “paired science” programme. For the first time this programme was used to focus on peer rather than parent tutoring and on junior school rather than early years pupils, and for the first time an objective measure of cognitive gain in science was used. Experimental peer tutees were a whole class (n=32) of seven- to eight-year-olds; tutors a whole class (n=33) of eight- to nine-year-olds in the same school. A parallel composite class of seven- to nine-year-olds (n=24) served as controls for tutees and tutors. A peer tutoring paired science intervention was implemented for two 30-minute sessions per week for eight weeks. Video and observational data indicated implementation integrity was satisfactory. Pre- and post-project assessments of understanding of scientific concepts and keywords of a random sample of tutees, tutors and their respective controls (4×n=10) were conducted. Additionally, the attitudes of all the tutees, tutors and their teachers towards their experiences were explored by post hoc questionnaire. On pre-post assessments of understanding of scientific concepts and keywords, the experimental group made significant gains while the control group made no gains, yielding effect sizes greater than one. Tutees made greater gains than tutors. The attitudes of the paired scientists and their teachers towards their experiences were generally very positive. It was concluded that cross-age peer tutoring of science using the paired science programme offers an effective pedagogical strategy, with both cognitive and affective benefits for both tutors and tutees. Recommendations for future research are made.     

Cross-age tutoring: how to promote tutees’ active knowledge-building

Cross-age tutoring is characterised by status and age differences between tutors and tutees. Tutees are often inactive in this setting, because responsibility for effective learning is transferred to the more experienced tutors. This study focused on improving the outcomes of cross-age tutoring for tutees by providing tutors with a tutor training session that emphasised knowledge-building instead of knowledge-telling. The tutors learned to encourage tutees’ autonomy, competence and active knowledge construction. In a quasi-experimental design, an experimental group of 74 tutors, who were 8th-grade secondary school students, received the tutor training in knowledge-building, and a control group of 82 tutors received no training. The students in both groups subsequently tutored 583 3rd-grade primary school students in small groups on elementary aspects of electric circuits. The tutoring process was videotaped and coded. Trained tutors showed more knowledge-building and less knowledge-telling behaviour. In the tutoring interaction with trained tutors, tutees showed more active behaviour and tutors showed more restrained behaviour. Tutees coached by trained tutors reported more experiences of autonomy, competence, and intrinsic motivation and learned more than tutees instructed by untrained tutors. The study showed that cross-age tutoring can be improved by providing tutors with training that focused on knowledge-building.     

Peer Mediated Intervention in Reading Instruction Using Pause,Prompt and Praise

A multiple baseline research design across subjects (pairs) was used to examine the effectiveness of peer tutoring in reading using the Pause, Prompt and Praise tutoring procedure. Twelve 11 year‐old, Year 6 students of varying reading ability were trained in the systematic use of delayed attention, prompting and praise to tutor 12 Year 6 students of a similar age and similar reading ability. Individual trends in tutor behaviours were examined using a statistical programme specifically designed for analysing data from interrupted time series research designs. A one‐tailed t‐test was also computed to test for significant differences in pre‐ and post‐test means in reading achievement. Continuous data collection throughout the programme indicated that all peers were effective in increasing their use of the tutoring behaviours; not all tutors experienced statistically significant increases, however. Both peer tutors and tutees made statistically significant gains in reading accuracy and comprehension over the course of the intervention.     

The Relative Effectiveness of Human Tutoring,Intelligent Tutoring Systems,and Other Tutoring Systems

This article is a review of experiments comparing the effectiveness of human tutoring, computer tutoring, and no tutoring. “No tutoring” refers to instruction that teaches the same content without tutoring. The computer tutoring systems were divided by their granularity of the user interface interaction into answer-based, step-based, and substep-based tutoring systems. Most intelligent tutoring systems have step-based or substep-based granularities of interaction, whereas most other tutoring systems (often called CAI, CBT, or CAL systems) have answer-based user interfaces. It is widely believed as the granularity of tutoring decreases, the effectiveness increases. In particular, when compared to No tutoring, the effect sizes of answer-based tutoring systems, intelligent tutoring systems, and adult human tutors are believed to be d = 0.3, 1.0, and 2.0 respectively. This review did not confirm these beliefs. Instead, it found that the effect size of human tutoring was much lower: d = 0.79. Moreover, the effect size of intelligent tutoring systems was 0.76, so they are nearly as effective as human tutoring.     

Peer‐tutoring: what’s in it for the tutor?

Drawing on role theory and socio‐constructivist ideas about learning, this study explores how peer‐tutoring can support tutors’ learning. The sample comprised ten 16–17‐year‐old biology tutors, working with twenty‐one 14–15‐year‐old students from a science class over eight weeks. Data were collected through an online wiki, tutor interviews, paired tutor discussions and video recordings. Tutors’ perceptions of their role motivated them to learn the material, and their learning was supported by discussion and explanation, revisiting fundamentals, making links between conceptual areas, testing and clarifying their understanding, and reorganising and building ideas, rehearsing them, and working through them repeatedly, to secure their understanding. When tutors employed long answer questions, there was evidence of reflection on their learning and links made between conceptual areas. When preparing to tutor, tutors could focus on key points and engage with basic ideas from alternative perspectives. Mental rehearsal of peer‐tutoring episodes helped them appreciate weaknesses in their own subject knowledge.     

Tutor learning: the role of explaining and responding to questions

Previous research on peer tutoring has found that students sometimes benefit academically from tutoring other students. In this study we combined quantitative and qualitative analyses to explore how untrained peer tutors learned via explaining and responding to tutee questions in a non-reciprocal tutoring setting. In support of our hypotheses, we found that tutors learned most effectively when their instructional activities incorporated reflective knowledge-building in which they monitored their own understanding, generated inferences to repair misunderstandings, and elaborated upon the source materials. However, tutors seemed to adopt a knowledge-telling bias in which they primarily summarized the source materials with little elaboration. Tutors’ reflective knowledge-building activities, when they occurred, were more frequently elicited by interactions with their tutee. In particular, when tutees asked questions that contained an inference or required an inferential answer, tutors’ responses were more likely to be elaborative and metacognitive. Directions for future research are also discussed.     

Tutoring styles that encourage learner satisfaction,academic engagement,and achievement in an online environment

This study was aimed to find which tutoring styles significantly predict learners’ satisfaction with an e-learning service, academic involvement, and academic achievement. The tutoring styles included subject expert, facilitator, guider, and administrator. In this study, 818 Korean sixth-grade students (ages 11–12 years), enrolled in the e-study program, and completed tutoring style and academic satisfaction evaluation surveys. Students’ login and posting frequency in the e-study program were measured to assess their academic involvement. Academic achievement was computed using completion rates and assessment scores. Multiple regression analyses indicated that there is some association between tutoring styles and academic outcomes. Of the four tutoring styles, facilitating tutoring styles particularly showed strong associations with the three outcome variables. Tutors’ guiding activities as opposed to facilitating were not significant contributors to students’ academic outcomes. The effect of tutors’ facilitating styles in an online learning environment was significant as being found in the existent literature.     

Effects of Tutor‐Tutee Intimacy,Tutoring Conditions and Tutor Background on College Student Tutor Satisfaction

Path analysis was used to examine the effects of tutor‐tutee intimacy, tutoring conditions and background variables on overall tutor satisfaction, as well on specific satisfaction from achievements, rewards, and relationships. University student tutors (n = 472), who worked with younger children under the auspices of the PERACH Project in Israel, participated in the study. Results revealed higher satisfaction among tutors who reported greater intimacy with tutees and who were able to hold tutorial sessions without difficulty. More intimate tutoring relations were found when pairs were matched by ethnicity, when telephone contact with the tutee was easy, when sessions were easily held, and for female same‐sex pairs.     

Computer-Assisted Tutoring in Success for All: Reading Outcomes for First Graders

Abstract

This article presents a randomized experiment evaluating a computer-assisted tutoring program. The software program, Alphie's Alley, provides reading tutors with assessment and planning tools and performance support. It provides students with animated presentations and engaging activities. In a yearlong study involving 25 schools using the Success for All reading program, 412 low-achieving first graders were randomly assigned to be tutored daily for 20 min with or without Alphie's Alley. Tutors were also randomly assigned. On individually administered reading measures, controlling for pretests, there were no significant differences overall, but among students with tutors rated as “fully implementing,” those who experienced Alphie's Alley scored significantly better on three of four measures. These results suggest that if well implemented, technology that enhances the performance of tutors has promise in improving the reading performance of at-risk children.     

Effects of training peer tutors in content knowledge versus tutoring skills on giving feedback to help tutees’ complex tasks

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of training tutors in content knowledge of a particular domain versus training them in tutoring skills of pedagogical knowledge when tutoring on a complex tutee task. Forty-seven tutor–tutee pairs of fourth-year secondary school students were created and assigned to one of the two treatments. Twenty-two tutors received training in content knowledge and the other twenty-five tutors in tutoring skills. Tutors formulated written feedback immediately after the training. Tutees first interpreted the tutor feedback and then used it to revise their research questions. The results showed that tutors trained in tutoring skills formulated more effective feedback than tutors trained in content knowledge. In addition, tutees helped by tutoring-skills tutors found the feedback more motivating than those helped by content-knowledge tutors. However, no differences were found in tutee performance on revision. The findings are discussed in terms of the set-up of this study and implications for improving the effectiveness of peer tutoring.     

Book Reviews

Abstract

The verbal and nonverbal behaviors of sixth grade children tutoring third grade children were analyzed. Results showed that when the tutee was doing well there was a greater proportion of positively toned affective statements made by the tutor, and when the tutee was doing poorly there were more negatively toned affective statements. Similarly, the nonverbal behavior of tutors tended to reflect the performance of the tutee. The relationship between verbal and nonverbal behavior was examined.     

A Study of the Learning of Mature Adult Students on a Professional Course

Abstract

The aim was to explore the way in which mature professional adults learn. A number of different strands within current thinking about adult learning were incorporated into a semi‐structured interview. This was given to 17 nurse tutors taking a professional qualification. Results indicated a general rejection of the surface in favour of the deep as their dominant approach to learning. Rote learning was rejected as being of no use to them. Motivation was based mainly on becoming a competent practitioner. A significant minority indicated stress both in sitting examinations and in peer tutoring situations. Some were social learners, some solitary and the rest a mixture of the two.