In a technological society, demands for higher literacy are ever increasing, creating grievous consequences for those who fail to meet these demands (National Research Council, 1998). Both legislative mandates, such as NCLB, and developments in the provision of reading instruction, such as RtI, have increased the demand for high quality tutoring…

This article examines distance education (DE) in the context to which is most frequently applied, i.e., higher education, and from the perspective of some of its most important actors, i.e., teachers. This study, of a qualitative nature, was conducted at a public university in Brazil. Data were collected by means of unstructured interviews,…

My research assistant and I employed participant observation to study graduate tutors and children in a literacy camp setting. Research questions were: What types of literacy instruction do nine children receive from graduate education major tutors in a community of interest summer literacy camp? How do nine children respond to literacy…

During their rapid growth in the 1970s and 1980s, writing centers came to depend on "lore," what Stephen North defines as "knowledge about what to do," based on practice and inherited by one generation of practitioners from the previous one. This lore has been codified as "cherished beliefs," "default(s)," or the "bible." Codified writing center…

This article is derived from the qualitative portion of a larger study conducted on mathematics websites that provide expert volunteer help. Data consist of tutoring logs of five expert tutors from two help sites, plus interviews with these tutors. The researcher has employed theories about expertise in the educational domain to elicit details of…

This article examines survey results from 142 colleges and universities to identify various "Learning Center" functions in higher education. Surveys completed through telephone interviews and in person at two national conferences indicate that core student success services in higher education include tutoring, workshops, disability services, and…

Tutor training for distance education is still necessary and through a face-to-face mode despite advances in digital delivery mechanism. A questionnaire records the before, during, and after training perceptions and feedback of tutors on the training conducted over 1 day. Tutors become aware of the uniqueness of the course materials and the…

This paper reports on a pilot investigation into web conferencing in a distance learning module. It focuses on the perceptions and experiences of the tutors, all of whom were new to the web conferencing environment, but were experienced in online teaching. A number of web conferencing tutorials were studied through the collection of various…

This paper reports an extended analysis of the study reported in [Wood, C. (2005). "Beginning readers' use of 'talking books' software can affect their reading strategies." "Journal of Research in Reading, 28," 170-182.], in which five and six-year-old children received either six sessions using specially designed talking books or six sessions of…

Problem-based learning (PBL) and Context-based learning (CBL) are often cited as having a positive impact on student learning. However, the discourse of these innovative teaching approaches often centres on gifted and/or experienced learners. The aim of this article is to report on the development of resources for a mixed ability cohort of…

With a view to facilitating good practice and enhancing further exchanges and collaboration with the Open University UK, the Open University of China initiated a joint programme of training to offer online tutors and academic management staff three courses: Student Support, Tutoring On-line, and Course Design. The programme brought in not only a…

The Maui Hawaii Educational consortium sought evidence for the effectiveness of the "Cognitive Tutor[R] (CT) program, published by Carnegie Learning, to help inform adoption decisions. The question being addressed specifically by the research in both years of previous studies was whether students in classes that use "CT" materials…

Personality type theory describes normal differences in how people are energized, take in information, make decisions, and approach work and life--all key elements in how people teach and learn. Understanding one another's personality type preferences helps teachers share their instructional strategies and classroom information. Type theory…

The goals of this study are to evaluate a relatively novel learning environment, as well as to seek greater understanding of why human tutoring is so effective. This alternative learning environment consists of pairs of students collaboratively observing a videotape of another student being tutored. Comparing this collaboratively observing…

Academic staff who work away from the university campus have few informal opportunities to keep in touch with their peers, and the provision of appropriate professional development for them can be problematic. At the Open University in Scotland an online forum provides a platform for the development of an informal community of distance tutors. It…