Understanding Tutor Learning: Knowledge-Building and Knowledge-Telling in Peer Tutors' Explanations and Questions
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| Title: | Understanding Tutor Learning: Knowledge-Building and Knowledge-Telling in Peer Tutors' Explanations and Questions |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Roscoe, Rod D., Chi, Michelene T. H. |
| Source: | Review of Educational Research. 2007 77(4):534-574. |
| Availability: | SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 41 |
| Publication Date: | 2007 |
| Intended Audience: | Researchers |
| Document Type: | Information Analyses Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Elementary Secondary Education Higher Education |
| Descriptors: | Prior Learning, Tutors, Methods, Training Methods, Tutoring, Peer Teaching, Metacognition, Educational Strategies, Effect Size, Intervention, Hypothesis Testing, Outcomes of Education |
| Assessment and Survey Identifiers: | Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test |
| DOI: | 10.3102/0034654307309920 |
| ISSN: | 0034-6543 |
| Abstract: | Prior research has established that peer tutors can benefit academically from their tutoring experiences. However, although tutor learning has been observed across diverse settings, the magnitude of these gains is often underwhelming. In this review, the authors consider how analyses of tutors' actual behaviors may help to account for variation in learning outcomes and how typical tutoring behaviors may create or undermine opportunities for learning. The authors examine two tutoring activities that are commonly hypothesized to support tutor learning: explaining and questioning. These activities are hypothesized to support peer tutors' learning via "reflective knowledge-building," which includes self-monitoring of comprehension, integration of new and prior knowledge, and elaboration and construction of knowledge. The review supports these hypotheses but also finds that peer tutors tend to exhibit a pervasive "knowledge-telling bias." Peer tutors, even when trained, focus more on delivering knowledge rather than developing it. As a result, the true potential for tutor learning may rarely be achieved. The review concludes by offering recommendations for how future research can utilize tutoring process data to understand how tutors learn and perhaps develop new training methods. (Contains 2 tables and 1 note.) |
| Abstractor: | Author |
| Number of References: | 121 |
| Entry Date: | 2008 |
| Accession Number: | EJ782047 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Prior research has established that peer tutors can benefit academically from their tutoring experiences. However, although tutor learning has been observed across diverse settings, the magnitude of these gains is often underwhelming. In this review, the authors consider how analyses of tutors' actual behaviors may help to account for variation in learning outcomes and how typical tutoring behaviors may create or undermine opportunities for learning. The authors examine two tutoring activities that are commonly hypothesized to support tutor learning: explaining and questioning. These activities are hypothesized to support peer tutors' learning via "reflective knowledge-building," which includes self-monitoring of comprehension, integration of new and prior knowledge, and elaboration and construction of knowledge. The review supports these hypotheses but also finds that peer tutors tend to exhibit a pervasive "knowledge-telling bias." Peer tutors, even when trained, focus more on delivering knowledge rather than developing it. As a result, the true potential for tutor learning may rarely be achieved. The review concludes by offering recommendations for how future research can utilize tutoring process data to understand how tutors learn and perhaps develop new training methods. (Contains 2 tables and 1 note.) |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0034-6543 |
| DOI: | 10.3102/0034654307309920 |
