Distance Education: A Systems Approach View - Tutoring

Context:
In this selection from their book the authors explain several functions served by tutors in distance education. They also summarize some perspectives of faculty on issues related to teaching at a distance.

Source:
Moore, M. G., and G. Kearsley. 1996. Distance Education: A Systems View. Wadsworth Publishers, pp. 146-51.

Copyright:
Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

Tutoring

In some forms of distance education, notably correspondence courses and open university courses, there is little or no use of teleconferencing, little group work, and little or no real-time interaction between the student and an instructor. Instead, the student is assigned a personal tutor, who is usually not the person who designed the course and presents the content of the course. The tutor interacts with the student on a one-to-one basis by mail as the student works with the content in a study guide and other recorded materials.

Table 7-2 lists some of the functions that correspondence tutors may perform. While tutors normally interact with students via writing, they may also use telephone, computer networks or even face-to-face meetings. In general, tutoring in distance education courses bears many resemblances to conventional tutoring (see for example, Cohen, Kulik, and Kulik, 1982; Frey and Reigeluth, 1986). In the training world, the role of the tutor can be performed by supervisors or managers.

The primary rationale for having tutors is to provide students with individualized instruction in their courses. In many cases the tutor is the only person a distance education student ever has contact with. Having tutors in a distance education system greatly improves student completion rates and achievement, although such outcomes depend on the nature of the course, the tutor, and the student. Not all students take advantage of tutoring services when they are offered, although most students who do so report that it improves their satisfaction with the course (Ahlm, 1972; Rekkedal, 1983). While there has been ample theoretical discussion about the significance of tutors (e.g., Baath, 1981; Holmberg, 1977), it appears that in practice many tutors are not very sophisticated in their capabilities (e.g., Murgatroyd, 1980), presumably because being drawn from the ranks of conventional teachers they find this different way of teaching to be unnatural.

A number of research studies have examined the relationships between student perceptions and specific teaching strategies or program design characteristics. St. Pierre and Olsen (1991) surveyed the attitudes of students taking independent study courses from Penn State University. They found that the following factors contributed to student satisfaction:

• the opportunity to apply knowledge
  
  
• prompt return of assignments
  
  
• conversations with the instructor
  
  
• relevant course content
  
  
• a good study guide

In addition to grading student assignments and monitoring student progress, tutors fulfill other purposes. They serve as a bridge between students and the institution for the purpose of interpreting policies and solving problems (Coughlan, 1980). They can play an important role in adapting the curriculum to meet individual or local needs-which can be especially critical in international programs that span many countries and cultures (Perraton, 1974). In some programs the tutor has no specific course-related duties and the primary job is to provide counseling and guidance. Given the difficulties that distance learners often encounter, the role of counseling is much more important in distance education programs than traditional courses.

Successful tutoring is a difficult task. Gibbs and Durbridge (1976) identify the following characteristics of good tutors at the British Open University:

• excellent subject matter knowledge
  
  
• good general teaching skills
  
  
• good communication and social skills
  
  
• well organized, flexible, patient
  
  
• able to motivate/encourage students
  
  
• commitment to students and program
  

Tutors must also be knowledgeable and proficient with the media used in the program (i.e., writing, audio, video, computer). Most institutions that use tutors extensively have some kind of orientation workshop and printed manuals that outline responsibilities and provide guidelines for effective tutoring. Good institutions monitor the work of their tutors closely and provide continuing in-service professional training.

Tests and Assignments

One of the mains features that distinguishes educational programs from informal learning activities is some form of student evaluation scheme involving tests or assignments. In most educational organizations, this provides a means for awarding course grades as well as giving students feedback on their progress. In a distance education setting, taking care to design ways of providing feedback and ensuring that instructors give regular feedback of good quality is of great importance because students are usually isolated and have limited opportunities for comparing their progress with others in the course.

Assignments

Most formal distance learning courses involve a series of assignments, nearly always an essay or other written exercise, to be completed on a regular basis (e.g., every week or two) during the course. This structure serves not only to provide the student with feedback on progress but also to pace the student through the course. In general, setting assignments with cutoff dates motivates the student to keep up with the work, and helps to prevent them from dropping out. However, assignments are only effective if the student receives meaningful feedback from the instructor or tutor. If students only receive a grade or acknowledgment that the assignment was received, the utility and motivational value of assignments is significantly diminished. Instructional designers have to be careful not to overload students with too many assignments, so that the workload of distance education courses does not become unreasonably greater than traditional classes (Malan and Feller, 1992).

Student Expectations

Here is what students say they expect in terms of grading and feedback on assignments (Cole, Coats, and Lentell, 1986):

• fair and objective grading
  
  
• to have their work treated with respect
  
  
• an explanation and justification of the grade awarded
  
  
• a clear indication of how they can improve both in terms of specific responses to questions and in general
  
  
• encouragement and reassurance about their ability and progress
  
  
• constructive criticism and advice
  
  
• an opportunity to respond if desired
  
  
• a timely response (i.e., before the next assignment is due)
  

Satisfying these criteria takes considerable time and effort on the part of the instructor or tutor. However, it must be realized that this is where most of the interaction occurs in a distance education program (as opposed to what occurs in a teleconference course) and therefore this work is central to the whole process of teaching. In the traditional classroom model, little time is allotted for personal interaction with students and therefore teachers are not encouraged to do so; in a distance education approach, this interaction is essential and must be a major part of the teaching process.

Test Security

Testing in a distance education setting presents some special challenges with respect to security. If students were to take an exam or quiz at home or at a learning center with no supervision, it would not be possible to ensure the integrity of the test. Consequently, in most distance education programs, students must complete their final exams in a proctored setting at a learning center or school. Proctors are usually teachers or administrators who are selected by the student and approved by the distance learning institution. Another procedure is to use computer-based testing in which each student receives a different subset of questions randomly selected by the computer. In many adult learning courses, students complete a project report based on a research study instead of a final exam. While these alternative forms of testing and evaluation do not eliminate the possibility of a student cheating, they reduce it to a level of insignificance.

Faculty Perspectives and Training

Dillon and Walsh (1992) reviewed faculty perspectives and evaluations about distance teaching. Here are some of their findings:

• Faculty indicate that distance teaching requires a personalized and empathic rapport with students.
  
  
• Communication skills (voice quality, eye contact, body language, clarity) are critical for distance teachers.
  
  
• Faculty who teach at a distance are generally positive toward distance education, and their attitudes tend to become more positive with experience.
  
  
• Faculty motivation for teaching at a distance comes from intrinsic (e.g., challenge) rather than extrinsic (e.g., financial rewards) motivation.
  
  
• Faculty believe that distance teaching experience improves their traditional teaching as well.
  

Blanch (1994) analyzed the barriers to faculty adoption of distance education approaches at California State Polytechnic University.

The greatest obstacles were:

• a lack of awareness on the part of the university community of the general benefits of distance education;
• lack of incentives for faculty to be involved in distance education;
• the unreasonableness of expecting faculty to commit themselves to a very different teaching approach without any trial period; and
• the faculty's sense that distance education was not integrated within the university's programs and plans. This last obstacle emphasizes the importance of an institution-wide policy regarding distance education.

Based on their experiences at Western Illinois University, Barker and Dickson (1993) offer the following recommendations to administrators who wish to support good distance teaching:

• Hire support personnel to provide assistance with instructional design and the installation, operation, or maintenance of equipment.
  
  
• Establish a faculty development laboratory to provide a place to try out and practice with technology.
  
  
• Provide administrative support for distance education efforts.
  
  
• Be sensitive to faculty's needs for incentives and recognition for distance teaching efforts.
  
  
• Provide faculty training, not only in the use of the technology involved but also in presentation and participation skills.
  

Studies such as these indicate that many changes must take place both institutionally and individually to ensure successful distance teaching; in particular, there is need for more training of persons wishing to teach at a distance. Currently, the procedures used to train teachers for distance education vary from informal orientations to workshops and training manuals that vary greatly in quality. In general, teacher training programs tend to be better planned and more structured in distance education institutions, since that is their sole purpose, and next, in the larger distance teaching units.