Introduction:
The Virtual Tutoring (VT) project was part of a
university partner’s sub-award within the Math
Science Partnership of Greater Philadelphia (MSPGP),
a project funded by the National Science
Foundation (NSF). The project was based on the
organizational strategy of linking partner
entities together in a manner that makes the whole
greater than the sum of its parts. One of the
grant-wide program areas was the exploration of
new technologies to achieve the main MSPGP project
goals, which were to:
- Ensure that all students have access to, are prepared for, and are encouraged to participate and succeed in challenging and advanced mathematics and science courses;
- Increase the quality, quantity and diversity of pre-service teachers interested in pursuing math and science secondary education through more effective field experiences and recruitment activities;
- Develop evidence-based outcomes that contribute to our understanding of how students effectively learn mathematics and science; and
- Develop evidence-based outcomes that contribute to our understanding of how to achieve 6-12 institutional reforms to support the mathematics and science components of the preparation of 21st Century citizens.
While the specific goal of the VT project was to
determine the efficacy of using technology to link
university and secondary school students,
projects such as VT have the potential to support
all four of the above goals.
The following theory of action which guided the
project illustrates this point:
IF: |
| |
a) Hatfield (pseudonym) University faculty and students and high schools (teachers and students) work in partnership to support use of the Interactive Mathematics Curriculum, and |
| |
b) Hatfield students and high school students utilize the affordances of virtual technology |
THEN:
|
| |
a) high school students will learn more mathematics, |
| |
b) high school students will use virtual technology to explore mathematical concepts, |
| |
c) high school teachers will learn more about the teaching and learning of mathematics, especially in terms of the use of technology, and |
| |
d) college students may become more interested in teaching high school mathematics as a possible career option. |
Background
Interest in online education continues to grow,
and educational institutions have increasing
opportunities for experimenting with a variety of
synchronous and asynchronous communication
channels, as well as increasing opportunities for
experimenting with blending face-to-face and
electronic communication. The potential for
increased access to expertise as well as the
potential for developing new types of
collaboration are frequently assumed to be two
ways that e-learning can revolutionize the nature
of teaching and learning at many levels. For
example, a summary of a recent report about online
learning posted on the Blackboard learning system
website concludes: “As online learning becomes
more integrated into day-to-day instruction, the
compartmentalization of education breaks down.” (Net
Day: Speak Up 2006 and Blackboard, 2007).
To address just this issue, this project was
explicitly designed to build a bridge between high
school and university communities.
The e-learning literature also describes an
increasing awareness of the wide range of
variation in purposes, structures, and
participants in e-learning. In a 2005 concept
paper about effective evaluation methods for
e-learning, Ellen Mandinach noted that e-learning
“is being conducted for many reasons and often
without a clear specification of its educational
objectives…. Is its purpose to make money, save
money, enhance learning, increase accessibility,
improve instruction, or something else?” (p. 2).
It is widely recognized that effective
implementation and replication will depend on
identifying and assessing project-specific goals,
contexts, and implementation processes (Bonk and
Graham, 2004; Cavanaugh, 2001; Greener, 2008; and
Knolle, 2002). As the research about e-learning
becomes more sophisticated, there is also
increasing attention paid to how particular types
of online formats and activities interact with or
contribute to particular pedagogical goals (see
for instance Greener, 2008 and Russell, 2007).
Given this need for articulation of goals, this
project commenced with much discussion around its
intended purposes and the structures for achieving
them.
A scan of the literature about e-learning helps
place VT in the larger universe of online learning
and helps to identify potential lessons from VT’s
pilot year. This review suggests that the growth
of digital technologies means that young people
are now growing up in a world that is shaped as
much by electronic relationships as it is by
face-to-face relationships. According to one
current report, due to the impact of developing
technologies, “the way we work, collaborate, and
communicate is evolving as boundaries become more
fluid and globalization increases.” (The New Media
Consortium and the Educause Learning Initiative,
2008). This annual study of technology trends in
higher education suggests that the 10-year
“mega-trends” with the most momentum and relevance
to the VT project are:
·
the use and growth of web-tools that support
collective sharing and generation of knowledge,
and
·
the continued increase in the interpersonal
connections through the network which has been
fueled by wireless capacity.
The success of this project was dependent on
tutors’ and tutees’ facility and comfort with
online technology, at least to the extent of not
interfering with effective communication and
learning. Empirical studies of technology used by
young people are consistent with the Horizon
Report’s analysis of increasing online connection
(The
New Media Consortium and the Educause Learning
Initiative, 2008). A
study of electronic communication and writing by
teenagers reports that 94% of teens go online to
use the Internet or email; 6 in 10 have a desktop
or laptop computer, and 7 in 10 have a cell phone.
85% of teens use electronic forms of text such as
text-messaging, email, instant messaging,
and posting comments on social networking sites to
communicate with friends and family members (Lenhart,
et al., 2005). Another recent study finds that
one out of five students in grades 6-12 has taken
an online or distance
learning course on their own or at school (Net
Day, 2007). According to several researchers,
teenagers and college students are so likely to
take technology for granted that they have a hard
time answering questions about how they use it (Lenhart,
et al., 2005; Oblinger and Oblinger, 2005).
For this VT project, it was also important to
consider how particular types of online formats
and activities interact with or contribute to
particular pedagogical goals (Greener, 2008;
Russell, 2007). While it is clear that young
people are growing up in a world rich in
electronic connections, educators and researchers
are still working to identify the pedagogies,
course structures, and curricular materials that
help to translate skills and dispositions learned
in the virtual world into high quality teaching
and learning in formal academic settings. For
example,
the study of teens and writing mentioned above
indicates that teens want to write well, but 60%
think of their online texts or text-messages as
something very different from the “writing” that
they do in school (Lenhart, et al., 2005). This
suggested that it would be valuable to pay
attention to whether the participants in this
project saw the use of technology as serving the
goal of learning mathematics.
A related study found that college students’
immersion in a fluid electronic world encourages
them to think visually, seek out interpersonal
connections, and expect quick answers to their
questions (Oblinger and Oblinger, 2005).
Nevertheless, it is the quality of communication
and interaction, not technology in and of itself
that is important to college students: “It
isn’t technology per se that makes learning
engaging for the Net Gen; it is the learning
activity …. [S]uccessful learning is often
active, social, and learner-centered.”
Appropriate uses of technology support these
characteristics of successful learning, “but the
uses of IT [must be] driven by pedagogy, not
technology” (Oblinger and Oblinger, 2005).
Relating these themes to Hatfield’s VT Project, we
can identify several features that are valuable
for assessing its potential contributions. First,
it is an educational project that uses a variety
of online tools (e.g., chat rooms, white boards,
drawing tools) and channels (text, video, and
audio) that are commercially available through
Blackboard and Wimba. Second, and more
importantly, it uses these tools to create a
shared workspace that synchronously connects
members of two existing face-to-face communities –
one consisting of college students and the other
consisting of high school teachers and students.
Identifying these features helps to clarify the
similarities and differences between VT and other
online tutoring services for K-12 students.
Online tutoring is a proliferating business.
Companies offering online tutoring utilize
a variety of technologies and two-way
communication channels including email, chats,
white boards, microphones, and webcams. Like VT,
each of these tutorial services is described as
having well-trained tutors with expertise in the
appropriate content available to provide
individualized help to students in need. Each of
the services is described as providing skilled,
appropriately-paced, and student-centered
tutoring, and at least one of the services
(Kaplan) has tutors trained to work with reformed
mathematics curricula including the Interactive
Mathematics Program (IMP).
Another aspect of tutoring that has been addressed
in the literature is the impact of tutoring on
student tutors. Hedrick, McGee and Mittag (2000);
McCabe and Miller (2003); and Baker, Rieg and
Clendaniel (2006) endeavored to describe such
impacts as changes in student attitudes,
self-concept and pedagogical awareness. In their
literature review on peer and cross-age tutoring
in mathematics, Robinson, Schofield and Steers-Wentzell
(2005) noted several studies that
reported increases in tutors’ own performance of
the specific mathematical concept they were
tutoring. For example, tutors who were tutoring
students in geometry were gaining in that domain;
however, they were not gaining in other
mathematical domains. These findings are of
special interest in the VT project because its
value proposition extends not only to the tutees
but also to the tutors, and even to the teachers.
To support the multiple levels of potential
impact, VT was designed so that participating
teachers and high school students would work
together at a particular time in a particular
computer lab. Similarly, participating tutors
would work at the same time in a computer room at
the college. One purpose for synchronous physical
locations was to structure the project so that
classroom teachers could be engaged as teachers
(supporting tutors and tutees working with reform
mathematics) and as learners (thinking about
mathematics instruction). Similarly, when
participating college students were in a shared
space at the same time, they were able to work
together in exploring the technology and to help
each other in the process of tutoring.
In contrast, despite some attention to
professional development, commercial tutoring
services are primarily structured as supports for
individual tutees. In the commercial tutoring
programs, tutors and tutees have one-on-one
interactions that are usually scheduled at the
convenience of the individual student and his or
her parents. These can use a range of synchronous
or asynchronous communication channels, which vary
depending on the provider.
As will be discussed below, after-school tutoring,
even on-line tutoring, was not particularly
enticing for most of the students who were asked
to participate. Based on the low attendance
during the pilot year, school staff offered a
number of recommendations to build on the
strengths of the program while avoiding some of
the pitfalls. High attrition rates in after
school programs for high school students are
common and have led advocates to recommend that
out-of-school time programs for older youth
incorporate the principles of youth development,
provide flexibility in scheduling and activities,
offer a variety of high interest programs, and
ensure that teaching methods are interactive and
youth-led (American Youth Policy Forum, 2006; Hall
and Gruber, 2007). VT’s model was developed by
mathematics educators, not specialists in after
school programming, and did not incorporate all
the features that are most likely to attract older
youth. However, the model--which creates a common
workspace with virtual and face-to-face components
in order to catalyze new learning communities--is
precisely one of the types of online interventions
that educators and researchers are asking for.
Future iterations of VT will undoubtedly
incorporate different arrangements of physical,
virtual, and human components. It is hoped that
as adjustments are made, program developers will
continue to focus on the importance of fostering
collective, cross-role learning. As VT projects
continue to evolve, it will also be important to
remain alert to the subtle and not so subtle
challenges and affordances that come along with
situating virtual work spaces within the gritty
reality of space and time in American high schools
and institutes of higher education (IHEs).
The components of the VT project which focus on
cross-role learning place the project within the
field of collaboration within virtual
environments. There is much excitement about
virtual realities and gaming as a way of capturing
young people’s involvement in the online world.
The VT project shows that a "shared virtual
workspace" is another kind of application that can
promote collaboration and creativity in a K-16
partnership.
How It All Unfolded:
Engaging the Schools
A retired mathematics teacher and MSPGP technology
coordinator met with several MSPGP partners
including those with expertise in instructional
technology. Two professors from Hatfield
University, one of MSPGP’s thirteen higher
education partners, decided to incorporate it into
their university’s sub-award.
After an abortive attempt to start the program at
one school, the program restarted,
with different partner schools: Morrisville
(pseudonym) High School Ninth Grade Academy during
summer 2007 and Mid-Atlantic Charter (pseudonym)
during spring 2008. Both of these schools had
adopted the IMP curriculum, with which the
critical project staff had extensive experience
both as teachers and workshop facilitators.
Furthermore, the math coordinators at both schools
enthusiastically welcomed the opportunity, as did
their instructional technology departments.
Setting Up the Technology
Hatfield University was only able to provide audio
and video internet access via Wimba media, which
at the time of the inception of this project was
only supported on the commodity internet.
Therefore, all participants had to adjust to the
slower speed of the audio and visual feeds than
would have been possible through the Internet 2.
In one case, the students at the remote high
school location logged onto Hatfield’s Wimba with
access provided by the university. In the another
case, the school had its own Wimba access through
the Blended Schools Consortium and their IT staff
preferred to have both tutors and tutees use this
system. In this situation, the Hatfield tutors
logged onto the remote school’s system. At one
point during the summer of 2007, tutors worked
simultaneously with a student at one school on
Hatfield’s Wimba and with a student at another
school site utilizing the Blended School access.
This demonstrates the compatibility of both
systems being used from different remote
locations.
Designing the Research Project
Recognizing the potential value of VT as a pilot
project,
Hatfield
University hired an ethnographer to study and
document the project. The research project was
initially guided by questions about impacts on
high school students, high school teachers, and
college students. As the project evolved, the
research also changed to address questions about
implementation and logistics. The research
activities were not strictly ethnographic in
nature, but the flexible approach to documenting
this evolving project grew out of the project’s
interest in using ethnographic methods. The
ethnographer conducted interviews with the three
high school students who participated most
consistently at Mid-Atlantic Charter, three
participating high school teachers (one from
Morrisville High School who participated during
the summer of 2007 and two who were involved
during the winter and spring of 2008 at
Mid-Atlantic), and the high school administrator
(the Teaching for Learning Coordinator) who took
the lead in implementing the project at
Mid-Atlantic. In addition, the ethnographer
conducted baseline interviews with five university
tutors, conducted a focus group with seven tutors
involved during the late spring of 2008, observed
informal tutor training-sessions, observed high
school students and teachers at Mid-Atlantic
during one online tutoring session, and reviewed
archives and artifacts from other tutoring
sessions.
Tutoring Sessions
The project started with a summer run-through of
technology and training with Morrisville,
involving three Hatfield tutors, one Morrisville
teacher, and a single Morrisville tutee who
participated sporadically. Since several of the
tutors came from traditional high school
mathematics programs, the project leaders felt it
was important to help them understand the content
and pedagogical strategies that underlie the
curriculum with which they would be working.
Consequently one Hatfield student tutor was
enrolled in a week-long IMP institute for
teachers. There was a hiatus in program
implementation due to a variety of factors,
including changes in personnel at participating
high schools. However, Mid-Atlantic Charter,
which had not participated in the summer
run-throughs, had a longstanding professional
development relationship with MSPGP staff and was
eager to get involved. Tutoring started at
Mid-Atlantic in February and sessions took place
for nine weeks with time off for the schools’
spring breaks. VT took place at Mid-Atlantic in a
computer room adjacent to the library, and
students were supervised by math teachers who were
paid for this extra duty by the grant. The
Hatfield tutors worked together in an on-campus
computer lab.
Initially, tutoring was scheduled to take place
two days a week at the end of the school day. The
specific days were soon changed to because of
scheduling conflicts. During the last two weeks
of the program, there was also a plan to provide
online tutoring in geometry (supervised by the
librarian) during class hours of one of the
participating teachers.
When tutoring began, six tutors were involved.
Over the next eleven weeks, there was some
turnover among tutors, with a total of twelve
tutors having been on the payroll by the end of
the semester. For the most part, tutoring was
available for Mid-Atlantic students two days a
week. In addition to being paid for tutoring
hours, Hatfield students were asked to participate
in paid training sessions several hours a week.
Two teachers (one IMP-trained, and one not
IMP-trained) were identified to assist at tutoring
sessions and be the liaisons with Hatfield.
Fourteen students whose math curriculum included
IMP were identified for participation. By chance,
these initial students were not in the
participating teachers’ classes. According to
staff interviews, these students were identified
on the basis of their previous scores on the
Pennsylvania State System of Assessment (PSSA)
test. It was hoped that tutoring would help them
move from “basic” to “proficient” on the PSSA and
would also help with their ACT scores. Six of the
students who fit this profile actually
participated (one girl and the others boys).
Towards the end of the project, one participating
teacher identified several of his non-IMP geometry
students whom he thought would benefit from
participating in the program. Attendance was
sporadic for many of the students, both IMP and
non-IMP. According to interviews and
observations, there were seldom more than three
students, sometimes only one, and occasionally no
high school students attended.
Initial Reaction
In short, the project was successful in overcoming
technical difficulties and demonstrated the
feasibility of university students using the
Internet to tutor their high school counterparts.
The major obstacle stemmed from the project’s plan
to offer after school tutoring to high school
students, a plan that did not take into account
the difficulty of attracting high school students
to remedial after school programs. The school
administrator suggested a few alternative
proposals (see below) for the future; these
suggest a variety of potential connections between
VT and already existing high school mathematics
classes.
Findings
The findings of this case study represent both the
strengths and challenges of the VT pilot project
as identified by the ethnographer and the project
staff. The first section of findings relate
directly to the four anticipated outcomes in the
project theory of action, the second section
presents other findings that emerged from this
pilot study.
Anticipated Outcomes:
a) High school students will learn more
mathematics
Due to the limited time the tutoring was actually
in place and inability to gather specific measures
of learning, this outcome was untested. The
enthusiasm of the teachers and the administrator
who worked most closely with the program, however,
suggests that they felt the experience was
effective in helping tutees learn mathematics.
The administrator explained that participating
students became more comfortable with using the
language of mathematics possibly because the
college students phrase things differently from
teachers when they are asking questions. She
illustrated this by describing a session she saw
in which the students were doing problem-solving
involving functions. While the students were
speaking in terms of the specific numbers, the
tutors were using language referring to the
variables in the equation. Once the students saw
that, it was easier for them to do the graphs and
to move between graphs and equations. The
administrator concluded, “It’s starting to
close the math language gap. The kids here have a
hard time explaining how they do their work.
Explaining it to the tutor helps.” The
administrator also felt that communication between
the tutors and students was effective: “the
tutors were able to tune into where these guys
were coming from [at the same time that]
the students got used to how the tutors use
language. The tutors always spoke in mathematical
terms. They never reverted to the language of the
kids.”
b) High school students will use virtual
technology to explore mathematical concepts
As described above, the high school students who
did attend used the virtual technology to explore
mathematical concepts. Students’ use of
technology was challenging, however, because
hardware at Mid-Atlantic initially thought to be
accessible only to the VT program was also used
for other instructional purposes. Because of
this, the Smart Board could not be left configured
for VT after tutoring sessions. The staff and
students adapted by using their desktop drawing
tools instead. This was initially challenging
because as the administrator noted, “there’s a
level of ease on the Smart Board.”
The tutors found some of the high school students
were more at ease with the technology than
others. One tutor said that “[This] generation
now is basically growing up with this technology,
and more and more I think they’re getting more
comfortable with this rather than person to
person.” An interesting observation, however,
was that the Hatfield tutors noted that some
students avoided eye contact with the webcam.
Even though one such student reported that he did
not use technology very much, both the tutors and
his teacher interpreted this more as an indication
of social awkwardness than with his discomfort in
using the technology for developing an
understanding and facility with mathematical
concepts. On the other hand, one young woman, a
regular and engaged participant, was described by
one of the teachers as follows: “She has done a
good job. She was good from the beginning. She
came in, knew how to talk, ask questions.” In
an interview, the student described herself as
someone who liked technology and who was familiar
with microphones and webcams used for VT. The
Mid-Atlantic administrator, herself, expressed the
belief that technology is so much a part of the
technological world today that “everyone needs
to be used to [it].”
Tutors also felt that the technological platform
positively impacted tutees’ attitudes towards
mathematics. One observed that, “[W]hen they
do it on the computer it almost makes the
mathematics seem less obsolete to them -- more
pertinent to something they’re interested in [such
as] chatting, playing with the video, playing with
the e-board.”
The
Hatfield tutors had mixed reactions, however, to
some of the specific applications that they used
in teaching mathematics. One tutor felt that the
drawing tool that allows manipulation of a virtual
pencil to draw freehand shapes impedes quick
illustrations: “It’s more difficult, or takes
more preparation ‘cause … you have to draw it on
the screen.” However, another tutor
acknowledged the power of other electronic tools,
such as pre-embedded geometric shapes for students
to manipulate. For example, the student can see
how many triangles will fit perfectly into a
square the tutor has pulled up. According to the
tutor, “Somebody wouldn’t have that on a blank
sheet of paper. So it gave me more applications
right at [my] hand.”
c) High school teachers will learn more about the
teaching and learning of mathematics
Mid-Atlantic
staff reported that they enjoyed learning about
the technology, they generated many ideas about
the future of such projects, and they believe that
college students have a lot to share with high
school students. In addition, the administrator
indicated that teachers gained a better
understanding of the mathematics that college
students need, and that the teachers came to
believe that college students have a lot to share
with high school students. Specific impacts on
their teaching of mathematics were not observed or
described.
d)
College students will become more interested in
teaching high school mathematics as a possible
career option
Interviews with the tutors provided evidence that
the VT project did have a positive impact on the
college tutors. The impact was felt not only as a
result of the tutoring itself, but also as a
result of preparation for the tutoring.
First, the project provided tutors with the
opportunity to envision themselves as future
teachers. One tutor commented, “[T]o
me it’s . . . an insight to the possibility of
how teaching can be, or is going to be by the time
I might be teaching.”
Another said, “It’s been great for me because
it’s given me that much more experience on whether
I want to teach or not.” A third quipped,
“I got to try teaching out [by] being a high
school math teacher for the day. That was
awesome.”
In addition, all five Hatfield students who
participated in interviews reported that the
project exposed them to ideas about the teaching
and learning of mathematics that were different
from what they had experienced themselves. Two
students who were taking a mathematics education
methods class commented that the project was
exciting and different from what they learned in
their education courses. A third, who had been
discouraged from becoming a math teacher by her
family, was rethinking the possibility.
The project provided
college tutors with an opportunity to
strategically think about pedagogical strategies.
One who had an opportunity to attend a week-long
training session with teachers commented that it
was “like taking a plunge into teaching”
and observed how interesting it was “to be on
the other side [and] hear the teachers
discuss all the different teaching methods.”
Additionally, three tutors spoke
enthusiastically about their connection with a
participating teacher and student over the
summer. They met with the teacher face-to-face,
felt they understood her approach to teaching, and
explored the use of the technology together with
her even when the student was not present. One of
the tutors said, “It was really great about
[the teacher]. She constantly gave us the lesson
plan for the week. We knew exactly what she was
doing, where she was going, and how it was going
to connect to the thing that she was going to
teach.... She also tells us, ‘Make sure that you
don’t do it this way. I don’t want [the student]
to know about this yet.’ ....We would work with
her, rather than against her.”
Another contributing factor was that the tutors
responded to the fact that they were considered
equal partners in the project: “[We]
like being involved in the project development. …
[We’re] not just [being expected to] show up and
tutor and [be told] … what to do. [W]e’ve really
been involved in the project; it’s nice.”
Other Findings:
1.
Hatfield students were enthusiastic about the
potential of the project, although logistics
limited the extent of their involvement.
All students interviewed report that they were
motivated when they heard about the program. The
tutors who were involved during the summer were
also excited about identifying and exploring the
capacities of Blackboard (the drawing tools, the
backgrounds, math tools, visuals, etc.). Many of
the capacities discovered by the tutors were
subsequently used during tutoring sessions with
Mid-Atlantic students. Later, though, some of the
college students quit the VT project when they did
not have the opportunity to do actual tutoring
because of the challenge of scheduling the high
school students. One stated that, “People are
motivated when they hear about the program but
when there aren’t students, they drop out.”
2.
Initial technological issues were successfully
addressed, but challenges around technology point
to the attention that must be given to the social
and physical relationships in which the technology
is embedded.
The tutors experienced some frustration with not
having administrator controls over some of the
software and felt that they would be able to do
more with the software if university staff
responsible for the computer lab were more aware
of the needs of the project.
There were some challenges that the tutors
experienced in establishing a working relationship
with the tutees as evidenced by the webcam shyness
mentioned above. The assumption that this was an
issue of self-confidence rather than technological
awkwardness was not tested; however, whatever the
cause, it did not appear to significantly impact
communication between tutor and tutee.
At times, though, the tutors felt that the
technology hindered a natural flow of
communication. One experienced tutor, comparing
VT to person-to-person, said:
It’s completely different ... so much harder. …
I think tutoring is very easy when you’re with
someone side by side so you can see their facial
expressions. And … on the computer it’s just
harder to … explain everything. And … you can’t
just pick something up and draw it … You have to
draw it on the computer and … it tends to be
harder.
3. The
connection between IMP and the processes of VT
needs further exploration.
It is not clear to what extent Mid-Atlantic
students focused on practice for the PSSA’s and to
what extent they worked on problems from the IMP
curriculum. Geometry tutoring was also added
later, but not observed by the ethnographer. The
Mid-Atlantic administrator noted with satisfaction
that the students were more interested in geometry
and IMP than in test preparation. Several
Hatfield students commented that IMP exposed them
to a different approach to learning math, and they
enjoyed tutoring it.
4. There
are several potential advantages of conducting a
real-time, virtual tutoring program during the
school day, as opposed to after-school,
asynchronous or at home tutoring.
The Mid-Atlantic administrator emphasized that one
of the key advantages of running the VT sessions
as part of a partnership is that it provided
opportunities for trust and relationship building
between tutors and tutees: “You can’t lose the
personal touch. There’s mutual respect between the
tutor and student. But one of the things that is
different about VT than a correspondence course is
that the kids have a connection with the tutor.”
The Mid-Atlantic administrator also expressed
her belief that VT has greater potential than math
software products that are available for classroom
enrichment: “We’ve looked at the math software,
but most of it is pretty limited. This has
infinite possibilities.”
5. The
Mid-Atlantic staff had recommendations for
continuing and refining the program in the future
for example: offering an accelerated after-school
program for advanced students and/or integrating
online tutoring into the actual math classes.
6. There
was a positive impact on the tutors own learning
by strengthening their
mathematics content knowledge. One tutor
explained that she was tutoring concepts she
hadn’t encountered since her own ninth or tenth
grade mathematics class, and she was able to make
connections between those concepts and her college
mathematics course.
Limitations
Since much of this pilot program was focused on
logistics, it is highly likely that this study has
missed capturing some of the highest value lessons
to be learned from such a project. These lessons
would be focused on the nature of the interactions
and potential transformations between tutors and
tutees, among the tutors themselves, among the
tutees themselves, between the teachers and
tutors, and finally between the teachers and
tutees. In addition, the small sample size limits
the generalizability of the findings and
conclusion.
Conclusion
As a pilot, this project was successful in
demonstrating the feasibility of utilizing some of
the available technology for VT. Furthermore,
there are indications that the project’s Theory of
Action is worth continuing to explore in the
future. That is, this pilot suggests that the
first three anticipated outcomes can be attained
and documented in future iterations of an on-line
partnership:
| |
a) High school students will learn more mathematics; |
| |
b) High school students will use virtual technology to explore mathematical concepts; |
| |
c) High school teachers will learn more about teaching and learning and of mathematics.
|
In addition, there is substantial evidence that the fourth outcome was met in the pilot:
|
| |
d)
College students became more interested in teaching high school mathematics as a possible career option. |
Whether the lack of more substantial evidence was
due to the scope and challenges of the project,
limitations in the research, sample size or
inherent weaknesses in the underlying theory is
difficult to determine. That being said, a number
of findings clearly demonstrate the effectiveness
of this project on multiple levels.
Typical of a good pilot project, many new
questions emerged. These questions fell into four
primary areas:
-
How can program logistics be changed to improve participation by K-12 students and college tutors?
-
How can the impacts on K-12 students and college students be better identified and measured?
-
Are there other pedagogical strategies such as mentoring, partnering, or asynchronous chat rooms that could be combined to increase the effectiveness of achieving all four goals of such a project?
-
What aspects of technology are most important to continue exploring (e.g., audio, individual text chat, shared chat rooms, Smart Screens, Smart Boards, webcams, email, archives)?
Other questions focus on more substantive aspects
of the virtual model itself.
Perhaps most important is the consideration of the
unique contribution of this kind of partnership to
creating a learning community. Online,
synchronous tutoring is becoming increasingly
pervasive. It is essential to consider whether
the goal of VT is to provide the same types of
services that are being provided elsewhere through
vendor relationships, or whether there are unique
opportunities for VT within a K-16
partnership.
Acknowledgements
This study was funded as part of a sub-award to
Arcadia University through the Math Science
Partnership of Greater Philadelphia (MSPGP).
Funded by NSF # 0314806
