Question Asking during Tutoring

TLDR

Whereas student question asking is infrequent in classroom settings, little research has examined questioning processes during tutoring. The study investigated the questions asked in tutoring sessions on research methods for college students and algebra for 7th graders. Questions were classified by degree of specification, content, and question‑generation mechanism to analyze their quality. In tutoring, student questions were about 240 times more frequent than in classrooms, and while their quality—not frequency—correlated positively with achievement, students also partially self‑regulated by targeting knowledge gaps, yet they need training to improve these skills, and the study proposes strategies for tutors and teachers to enhance question‑asking.

Abstract

Whereas it is well documented that student question asking is infrequent in classroom environments, there is little research on questioning processes during tutoring. The present study investigated the questions asked in tutoring sessions on research methods (college students) and algebra (7th graders). Student questions were approximately 240 times as frequent in tutoring settings as classroom settings, whereas tutor questions were only slightly more frequent than teacher questions. Questions were classified by (a) degree of specification, (b) content, and (c) question-generation mechanism to analyze their quality. Student achievement was positively correlated with the quality of student questions after students had some experience with tutoring, but the frequency of questions was not correlated with achievement. Students partially self-regulated their learning by identifying knowledge deficits and asking questions to repair them, but they need training to improve these skills. We identified some ways that tutors and teachers might improve their question-asking skills.