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Student and tutor perceptions of effective tutoring in distance education

  • Linda Price
    ,
  • Anne Jelfs
    ,
  • John T.E. Richardson
  • Open University Milton Keynes
Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Abstract

Questionnaire responses of 457 students and 602 tutors were used to investigate conceptions of a 'good tutor.' In each case, factor analysis identified scales that reflected key constructs; cluster analysis identified subgroups with different patterns of scale scores; and discriminant analysis determined the scales that contributed the most to differences among the clusters. Both sets of data yielded conceptions of tutoring that were described as task-oriented and student-oriented, respectively. The students' data yielded an additional, career-oriented conception. The tutors' data yielded two additional conceptions that were described as knowledge-oriented and impersonal, respectively. The distribution of the tutors' conceptions (but not that of the students' conceptions) varied across different faculties, suggesting that tutors from different disciplines have different beliefs about effective tutoring. The study suggests that both tutors and students would benefit from having a better appreciation of the importance of support in facilitating learning

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 419-441

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Distance Education (Volume 30, Issue 3)

Publication milestones

  • Published - 07/10/2009

Publication status

Published - 07/10/2009

ISSN

0158-7919

External Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/622631
  • Scopus: 70350379574

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