Peer mentoring is the most common type of peer support framework used in English secondary schools, involving a one-to-one supportive relationship between pupils. Interpersonal benefits have been found for pupils who provide support to others, but there has been little exploration of the experience of being a peer mentor. This qualitative study…

This article reports on evaluation studies of the Virtual Tutee System (VTS) designed to enhance students' engagement in academic reading. The VTS is a web-based peer-tutoring environment in which students teach a virtual tutee about the content in course readings that students have been assigned to learn. With the VTS, students interact with…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the openness, growth and loneliness of typical peers volunteering at a summer day camp for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Design/methodology/approach: In this study, the authors obtained descriptive data on the attitudes and behaviors of 38 adolescent peer buddies without…

The relations among children's theory of mind (ToM), their understanding of the intentionality of teaching, and their own peer teaching strategies were tested. Seventy-five 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds completed 11 ToM and understanding-of-teaching tasks. Subsequently, 30 of the children were randomly chosen to teach a peer how to play a board game,…

This paper discusses the results of an intensive mentoring program trial designed to address retention issues with first year students in Justice degrees. The purpose of the program was to reduce student attrition, specifically for non-school leaver Justice students, by creating a culture of student cooperation and support. In line with previous…

Peer mentoring is a powerful strategy to support students in their first year of tertiary education utilised by a large number of tertiary institutions. While social justice principles such as rights, access, and equity as outlined by Creagh, Nelson, & Clarke (2013) highlight the importance of "student centredness," Taylor (2013)…

This study relates to the results obtained in the development of reading comprehension (RC) and self-concept as a reader in students who participated in "Llegim en parella" ("Reading in pairs"), a Catalan peer tutoring programme. The research combines a quasi-experimental design with the use of comparison groups and…

In this study, we analyze the experience of students in the Physics Learning Assistant (LA) program at Texas State University in terms of the existing theoretical frameworks of "community of practice" and "physics identity," and explore the implications suggested by these theories for LA program adoption and adaptation.…

Research shows that peer interaction supports learners in understanding and applying new vocabulary, developing reading skills, and improving reading comprehension. Teachers play a vital role in supporting peer learning, yet we know little about teachers' perspectives on the value of peer learning. This study explores the processes through which…

The dramatically increasing number of international students at University of California (UC) campuses has had a marked effect on its campus writing centers, causing a reconsideration of personnel, pedagogy, training, services, and cross-campus partnerships. In this article, writing center administrators and staff at 3 UC campuses--UC Irvine,…

People find it easier to learn about topics that interest them. Recent neuroscience research has demonstrated that memory is improved when learning material about which we are curious. Therefore teaching in the context of what students are interested in should result in improved learning. How do we figure out what our students are curious about?…

An improved first year student experience is a strategic focus for higher education in an increasingly competitive marketplace. A successful peer tutoring program creates a visible community of practice, supports the student learning experience, elevates senior students as ambassadors of the program, and reinforces an emphasis on learning through…

Background: Group work is often used in Physical Education (and Health-HPE). In this paper, we propose that despite: (1) its widespread use; (2) advances surrounding HPE models that utilize group strategies; and (3) a significant amount of literature dealing with group work in other school subjects, we do not have a particularly good theoretical…

Makerspaces and accompanying technologies are exciting new services being offered in libraries. However, these come with their own challenges and successes. Training for maker learning locations continues to be difficult to obtain. Inservice librarians rely on peers in the field and online resources for their training. Most preservice librarians…

A PAL (Peer-Assisted Learning) project supported research that focused on e-learning and Web 2.0 technologies as part of a pedagogical approach in the context of a tertiary institution. This project responded to a call for a rejuvenation of conventional approaches to pedagogy while teaching an early childhood unit in a large Australian university.…