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Research findings into online tutoring

It’s an absolutely natural question to ask – is online tutoring helpful and effective, and are there college studies to back this up?

Academics continue to find the efficiency of online tutoring, and the most recent by Best Practice in Online Tutoring says that “though the effectiveness of face-to-face tutoring is supported by frequent studies, in the rising field of online tutoring, there are few research papers examining the practice.”
“The Effect of Access to an Online Education Service on College Algebra Student Outcomes”

Back in 2011 some group of researchers from several universities across the UK and USA used online tutoring and education to assess how college students could enhance their grades in the field.
They analyzed gains achieved by students over time. What they found that was students who often used tutoring services made considerably greater gains (gains are evaluated by their test scores) than for those who did not have access.

“Using live, online tutoring services to inspire post- sixteen students to connect with higher level mathematics”

A more current UK paper a group of researchers from the additional Mathematics Support Program of the Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI) group searched at an online tutoring system and used it to tutor three groups of students attractive in mathematics at a post-sixteen level – all using online tutoring.

The first group used it to study and support learning for a whole AS and A Level module, evaluated to be Further Mathematics – by no means an easy topic.

Group one students found it a ‘crucial’ piece of their learning, allowing them to get the right support for such a demanding topic as Further Math’s.  According to the findings within the research paper, it may not have been probable to get in the same way they wished had they not been given access to the system.  Students found that they would also focus easily using online tutoring, remaining focused throughout.  Their work-rate was also supposed to be excellent – close to that of a face-to-face tutoring set-up.

The second group used the programme for ‘supplemental learning’ – this was curative support and was module specific – it was taken as and when the group needed some assistance in a particular field.

Group second found the tutoring system to be a ‘valuable reassurance’ and it ‘pleased their requirement for extra support’ – particularly given the demands of supplemental learning with restricted contact hours with their regular tutor.

The 3rd group of students used the programme for live revision sessions, again definite to different modules that they were studying within post-16 mathematics.

Third group students had the maximum praise of all, saying that it was a high quality revision method.  Particularly, students found that the topics were accurate and they could concentrate on what they required to prepare for when it came to the exam.

The report also showed some of the other potential pros of online tutoring:

There is no time or cost concerned in travelling – it will happen exactly from your kitchen table (much like me writing this article, really.)

It allows for greater selection in module selection – sometimes such choices would not be locally available, whereas it becomes a potential alternative because there are fewer restraints on physical resources.

There is superior potential for student-student interaction, thanks to this interactive programmes and tools that can be utilized.

Of course, the report shows the requirement for students to be willing to talk to new tutors and to have the similar level of concentration as if they were with a face-to-face tutor, but I suppose this is what we are already use to – there are various potential distractions out there that even for me it can take a while to get started!

To conclude, even though concerns about the number of research studies into online tutoring, we can see that there is proof to support what we already know – online tutoring is a precious addition to learning.

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