Tutoring services often restrict their data collection and analysis practices to publicizing session counts and tutee GPAs. This study suggests that programs that offer writing consultation may enhance their sessions' epistemic power by researching their tutoring staff's instructional choices. After explaining why and describing how a…

Jim Valkenburg's article "Scaffolding and Tutoring Mathematics" that appeared in the Fall 2010 issue of The Learning Assistance Review (TLAR) addressed the characteristics of appropriate communication between a tutor and tutee as they approach their work together in study sessions. One strategy he examines is the use of scaffolding, a concept…

Students with disabilities face a vast array of physical, cognitive, social, and external barriers. The combination of barriers and negative attitudes faced by students with disabilities makes it difficult to develop skills to be more independent in future academic and career-related settings. This article examines the importance of faculty…

A longitudinal research study was conducted at a public university in Pennsylvania on a sample of 129 at-risk students from a state-funded program (Act 101) designed to provide support services for economically and educationally disadvantaged students. This research employed a non-experimental, ex post facto methodology to assess the impact 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…

The goal of this research was to use politeness theory to analyze the developing tutorial relationship between students and peer tutors in a university writing center. The study monitored two pairs of tutors and students over a period of six weeks, focusing on weeks one and six. Using partial transcripts of recorded sessions along with observation…

This study provided empirical support for tutor-led study groups using a physiological measurement and study survey data. The scope of this preliminary study included determining differences in biology and chemistry study group members' (N = 25) regarding learning styles and pulse rate changes. As hypothesized, there was significant evidence that…

In order to better understand the complex dynamic that often occurs during writing center sessions between native English speaking (L1) tutors and English language learners (ELL), this study investigates linguistic dominance through time-at-talk, turn-taking, agenda-setting, and content analysis. We conclude that, in keeping with theory and…

This study suggests that students repeating a first-year composition course benefit from working with specific tutors in the writing center. The article focuses on students who did not pass first-year composition and took a tutorial version of the course. A chi-square analysis shows that students working with a specific tutor had a higher pass…

Discusses a study that examines the effects of paired tutoring and mentoring on academic achievement of college freshmen in a probationary program. Results show that students with mentoring and tutoring services by the same person show greater academic gains as measured by compliance and academic achievement than do those students who were…

Analyzes a tutor survey conducted at Ball State University (Indiana) and addresses pragmatic questions related to issues of tutor motivation. States that the goals of the research are to improve hiring, training, and managing procedures of tutor coordinators, and to offer a better understanding of tutors. (Contains four tables and seven…

Discusses a hierarchy of concerns tutors can use in working with ESL writers. Suggests that the student's understanding of the assignment, development of a thesis, logical organization, and fully developed ideas all supplant minor issues, such as improper use of the definite article or subject/verb agreement. (NB)

Proposes that there is a need for a specially trained group of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) literacy tutors for college and university tutoring and writing centers. Argues that literacy tutors with a sufficient background in linguistics and second language acquisition would be better equipped to handle non-native speakers' requests for…

Examines the effects of tutoring on trained college tutors and tutees. Reports on interviews of 39 tutors and evaluations from 838 of their tutees, concluding that tutoring plays an integral role in the development of college students and that tutoring programs have value on campus. Lists the qualities of a good tutor, describes tutoring processes…

Discusses the benefits tutors gain from the tutoring experience, some of which--deemed "silent benefits"--include personal and professional growth, and even significant changes in future careers. Examines effects of tutoring job on three outstanding tutors, all of whom speak English as a second language. (NB)