Drop-in peer tutoring is the most popular model on college campuses, but a high student-tutor ratio suggests that students will spend the majority of their lab time working without the aid of a tutor. This study observed students in a drop-in tutoring center serving developmental math students and explored what they do in that independent time.…

Provides brief descriptions of interactive tutorial and simulation programs for reading, writing, and mathematics; and of drill-and-practice courseware packages. (DMM)

Describes a study of factors accounting for low levels of student participation in academic assistance programs, based on case studies of eight university students on academic probation who had rejected offers of academic assistance, using structured interviews and the Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory and the Mooney Problem Checklist. Includes…

Reviews literature on developmental students' negative attitudes toward mathematics and themselves. Describes a model for math tutoring emphasizing the reduction of math anxiety and development of capacities for independent learning through dialogue, analysis of error, response to affective needs, reeducation about the learning process, and…

Describes a study of tutors' experiences with small groups, offering findings from interviews with 37 tutors from 3 colleges as they relate to existing group dynamics research. Discusses tutor and tutee roles, group cohesion, identification of students' needs, development of a workable plan and timeline, jumpstarting, and floor management. Details…

Investigates whether traditional academic tutors hired to work with underprepared university-level student athletes could learn to implement a strategic approach to tutoring. Indicates that tutors substantially changed their tutoring to include both cognitive and megacognitive learning strategies as well as subject materal. (Includes 27…

Reviews studies of psychosocial variables that maximize outcomes in peer tutoring programs. Considers research on tutoring behaviors and their relation to outcomes; effective tutorial instruction methods; expectations and attributions in tutoring settings; tutorial roles and student pairings; and cooperative learning formats. Makes recommendations…

States that matching tutors and students by gender had no effect on tutoring outcomes in a study at a large mid-Atlantic research university with a well-established tutor training program. A strong relationship was found between the grades students received in courses and hours of tutoring received, a pre-college academic predictor, gender, and…

Advocates grounding a tutor training program in research-based theoretical models, such as student development and metacognitive theories. Recommends that tutor training cover student development philosophy, effective communication skills, campus resources, instructional support materials, learning theory/learning styles, metacognitive approaches…

Analyzes factors internal to the tutor and tutee (i.e., cognition, metacognition, and affect) and external to them (e.g., teacher/tutor background knowledge, educational environment, content to be learned, socioeconomic status, family background, and cultural forces) that influence the tutoring process. Suggests a theoretical framework for…

Recommends instituting conversation workshops to help English-as-a-Second-Language students acquire language competence and factual and cultural knowledge. Reviews Hunter College's workshop program whereby students work with peer tutors in a writing lab discussing various informal and academic topics or the information covered in specific content…

Describes the following aspects of the Developmental Education Program at Triton College: student placement, courses, faculty selection, reading and writing instruction, mathematics instruction, the Learning Assistance Center (LAC), LAC tutoring, LAC special projects, LAC management, special needs assistance program for disabled students, and…

Describes a study of affective differences between 300 university undergraduates enrolled in an introductory psychology course, comparing students who elected to participate in Supplemental Instruction (a nonremedial, academic support model targeting high-risk courses) with those who did not. Assesses Supplemental Instruction's effects on locus of…

Reviews factors affecting the tutoring process, including students' expectations of tutors; equitable tutor-tutee relations; and tutor gender. Considers ways tutoring can capitalize on peer relationships and reasons that students earn higher grades with a same-sex tutor. Suggests that tutor training address cultural sex stereotypes, ethnic…