27/5/2014

How to Tutor Effectively - Some Research-Based Approaches

How to Tutor Effectively - Some

Research-Based Approaches

by MoonByTheSea
609 Follow ers

What does the research say about good tutoring techniques? And how can you be
an effective tutor by putting these principles into practice?

Think of yourself as a coach

Before moving on to specific tutoring
strategies, its important to get into the
right mindset for tutoring. Too often,
tutors get caught up in showing off
their knowledge, and they lose focus
on their students learning. Instead of
thinking of yourself as an expert who is
going to share your knowledge with
your student, think of yourself as a
coach.

Source: US Navy, Public Domain, via

Wikimedia Commons

What does it mean to be a coach? It

means that rather than doing a lot of telling and explaining, you should think of as
many ways as possible to get your student to do his or her own work and thinking.
Lets take a look at why this kind of approach is important.

The importance of deep processing

Its not unusual for students put in a lot of time studying, think they understand the
material, and then do poorly on their exam when asked to apply the concepts in a
different way. Take the following example cited in Effective Instruction for STEM
Disciplines: During a physics course, students practice a problem in which they are
asked to calculate how long it takes for a ball to fall from the top of a tower down to
the ground. On an exam, the students are asked to calculate how long it takes a
ball to fall to the bottom of a hole. Frustrated, the students protest that they
werent taught how to do hole problems.
Whats happening here? Why don't the students realize they are being tested on
the same concept? The students memorized how to do the tower problem without
really understanding the ideas behind itthis is called shallow processing. As a
tutor, part of your job is to make sure your students engage in deep processing
thoroughly understanding the meaning behind what theyre studying.
Part of the problem with doing a lot of showing and explaining as a tutor is that
these methods dont typically encourage deep processing. By thinking of yourself
as a coach, your job is to guide your students thinking so they achieve deep
processing. How can you do this?

Ask questions
Rather than explaining, try asking questions to get your students to think deeply
about theyre learning. As a tutor, one way to look at this is by thinking of your
student as the one who should be doing the explaining. What should your
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27/5/2014

How to Tutor Effectively - Some Research-Based Approaches

questions do? They should help your

student
build on what he or she already
knows
compare concepts with other
concepts
distinguish concepts from other
concepts
connect the material to his or her
personal experience
apply concepts to new situations
or problems

Source: Denelson83, CC-BY-SA-3.0, via

Wikimedia Commons

This doesnt mean you should never

explain anything to your students. That would just frustrate them to no end. When
you do explain something, though, you need to make sure you follow up by making
sure your student can explain the idea back to you and that they can apply the
ideas to other situations. For example, if you find yourself explaining a problem to
a student step-by-step, give them a different problem to try on their own. Dont just
use the same problem and change the numbers (remember the tower example?).
Instead, ask your student to try a completely different problem that forces them to
apply the concept in a different way. Really push your student to do the problem
with as little guidance from you as possible. Remember, your students won't have
you there to save them when they're taking an exam.

What about learning styles?

Most guides to effective tutoring
encourage tutors to adapt instruction
to the students learning style, so Id
like to take a few moments to comment
on this idea. There are many different
approaches, but in general, the
approach goes something like this:
Students prefer to learn in different
ways. Some are visual learners, while
Source: Saad Faruque, CC BY-SA 2.0, via
some prefer to learn by listening (the
Flickr
exact categories vary). If a tutor can
match instruction to the students learning style, then the student will learn better.
Its important to point out that there is no solid research to support this hypothesis.
In fact, there are some cases in which taking a learning styles approach can
seriously harm a students ability to learn effectively. Sometimes there are ways of
learning certain material that are simply more effective than others, regardless of
whether a student prefers to learn that way. Preference doesnt equal
effectiveness. For example, Ive seen learning styles tips for students that tell
them if theyre auditory learners, they should audio record their lectures and listen
to them over and over again! Instead, it would be more effective for the student to
develop effective notetaking skills (even though this involves a combination of
visual, auditory, and tactile styles) because it helps the student think about and
process what he or she is listening to.
So, what does this mean for effective tutoring? Worry more about learning
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How to Tutor Effectively - Some Research-Based Approaches

strategies than about learning styles. For example, if being successful at physics
means you should draw a diagram before you start a problem, coach the student
on how to do that. Try different approaches to add variety and to keep your
sessions interesting, but dont worry about trying to match your tutoring any
specific learning style.

"I've figured it out!"

Lets return to the idea of being a
coach that I mentioned earlier. A good
coach doesnt play the game for you.
He or she helps you develop the skills
you need to play the game on your
own. Thats what a good tutor does.
If you get to solve it for yourself, you
are doing the thinking. There is an
aha! kind of sensation: Ive figured it
out!its not that someone just told it
to me, I actually figured it out. And
because I can figure it out now, that
means I can figure it out on the exam, I
can figure it out for the rest of my life.
(Quoted in Effective Instruction for
STEM Disciplines)

References
Susan A. Ambrose, et. al., How
Learning Works: 7 Reserach-Based
Principles for Smart Teaching, JosseyBass, 2010

Source: By ( Own work), Public

domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Ross B. MacDonald, The Master Tutor: A Guidebook for More Effective Tutoring,
2nd edition, Cambridge Stratford, 2010.
Edward J. Mastascusa, et. al., Effective Instruction for STEM Disciplines: From
Learning Theory to College Teaching, Jossey-Bass, 2011.

Additional Resources for Tutoring

How to Tutor Effectively - Asking Good Questions
By asking the right questions during a tutoring session, you can make sure
your student is actively engaged in the learning process, promoting deeper
understanding of the subject matter.
How to Tutor Math Effectively - Techniques for Using the Textbook
Guiding your students in techniques for effectively using their textbooks will
help them build foundational skills for long-term success in math.
Last updated on January 22, 2014

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