Tutoring

Using a commercial tutoring program called myCyberTutor (from effedtech.com), together with the assessment algorithms developed through our research, we have studied the effectiveness of tutorial type problems in helping students work through subsequently given homework-type problems (which also had embedded help). In a class of 80 students, we observed strongly significant improvement due to a single tutorial. In a larger class it would be possible to compare the effectiveness of alternate versions of a tutorial on a particular topic, thus allowing the improvement of individual tutorials.

Figure 4 As a result of working through a preparatory tutorial, the group “Prep” (P) has significantly less difficulty on each of several homework problems than the equally skilled group “Non-Prep” (NP) that did not do the tutorial first. The ability to measure the learning due to a single tutorial is unique and will allow the improvement of such tutorials (Effectiveness of tutorials in web-based physics tutor - Morote, E. S., Warnakulasooriya, R., Pritchard, D. : in preparation).

We also find evidence for the effectiveness of hints. Administering related problem pairs to two equally skilled groups in different orders we find that the group which solves a problem in a given problem-pair second requests 12% fewer hints than the group which solves it first. Also, the groups benefits from the hints in the first problem in answering the second problem in the pair. The maximum reduction (19%) in requests for hints occurs for a problem after solving its related tutorial problem. These findings support the cognitive theory that feedback is a form of information that helps students in learning. Further studies on this will help improve our hint structure and would increase their effectiveness in tutoring.

Figure 5 In "post-collision orbit" group A which solves it first requests more hints and requests less hints in its related problem "cross-section for asteroid impact" which is solved second. The same conclusions hold for group B for "post-collision orbit" having solved "cross-section for asteroid impact" first. The proportion is the fraction of students using a particular hint as the last hint before submitting the correct solution relative to the total number of students giving the correct solution to the main part of interest. (see Hints really help! - Warnakulasooriya, R., Pritchard, D.).