Content area
Self-regulated learners try to optimize their learning according to their own goals through self-generated thoughts, feelings, and actions that regulate their activity. Engaging in self-regulated learning is positively correlated with retention in higher education, especially for underrepresented students (Swail et al., 2003). Even though most universities have Math Learning Centers (MLC) that provide tutoring services, little is known about how tutors can support student development of self-regulatory skills.
This cross-case analysis explored the interactions of three tutor-student dyads during their first, third, and sixth session as they worked through 15-18 problems that covered 6 different Algebra topics. Students were concurrently enrolled in a College Algebra course and tutors varied in their expertise from novice to expert. Two of the tutors worked at the university MLC, one for one semester and the other for four semesters. The third tutor was the author of this study and was considered the expert tutor. Part of this study’s work was to develop a codebook of communication functions that was then used to analyze session activity. Importantly, this codebook includes nonverbal and paralingual means of communication which were observed to play a unique communicative function in dyad interactions. The codebook categorizes communication activity by Pintrich’s areas of regulation (Cognition, Motivation, Behavior, and Context). It also categorizes communication functions by the regulation ownership categories: tutor-regulation (tutor-direct), tutor-initiated co-regulation (tutor-indirect), student-initiated coregulation (student-indirect), and student self-regulation (student-direct).
Once the Communication Function Codebook was applied to session transcripts, patterns in regulation ownership were assessed for evidence of scaffolding. This study used Van de pol et al.’s (2010) definition of scaffolding as having three characteristics: contingency, fading, and transfer of responsibility. Both total problem-solving activity as well as activity during periods of struggle resolution and error recovery were analyzed for evidence scaffolding. Patterns in dyad activity are presented and compared to existing theory and prior empirical evidence. Future research directions and recommendations for tutor training are described where appropriate.