Research paper (M.A.) -- Cardinal Stritch College -- Milwaukee, 1980. / A research paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Education (Special Education). Includes bibliographical references (49-51 p.).

M.Ed. / This study focuses on a tutor development programme within an academic literacies module called Language for the Economic Sciences (LES). Coordination of the LES module encompasses tutor development as tutors are the primary facilitators of the module. LES forms part of an Extended Degree Programme within the Faculty of Economic Sciences devised to meet the needs of “underprepared” first year students at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). To this end, LES falls within the ambit of academic development at UJ as it is designed and coordinated by an Academic Development practitioner. Higher Education in South Africa has in the recent past shifted from relatively elitist to a mass system of education with the aim to foster democratic nation building. One of the major changes that has occurred is the merger of a number of institutions of higher learning. As a result of the mergers, a new type of comprehensive institution offering a broad spectrum of academic formative, as well as vocationally oriented programmes, has been established. This study focuses on the UJ, as an example of a merged institution, and will examine how teaching and learning has been effected by the changes at UJ. This research is informed by the notion that the interface between tutor and student is vital for students to attain literacy as well as academic language and skills proficiency in their chosen field. Thus, the research problem posed in this study is: What is the role of tutor development in an academic literacies module? Much of the literature on tutoring practice discusses the need to train tutors and offers various means through which this can be done. Using an Action Research design and a global analysis of the data collected, the findings of this study suggest that in addition to the appropriate, focused and rigorous training of tutors, they also need to be developed for effective tutoring to occur. Moreover, the sustained support and mentorship of both individual tutors and tutor groups allows for the maximum benefits of tutoring to be realized by all stakeholders.

Among the variety of components comprising the PSI package originally described by Keller (1968) is the use of proctors which permit immediate scoring, tutoring, and personal-social interactions. Recent research has indicated that immediate scoring may not be an essential proctor function. However, personal-social interactions and tutoring may affect student academic performance and consumer satisfaction. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of the personal-social aspect of proctoring. A counter-balanced reversal plus control group design was utilized to investigate the effects of: (a) trained and untrained proctors and (b) trained and untrained proctors who participated in a lottery which was based on student performance and satisfaction. Data were collected on proctor behaviors during grading and student academic performance and consumer satisfaction ratings. Although trained proctors and proctors with lottery contingencies seemed to engage in the target behaviors more frequently, the performance of students enrolled in the course did not seem to be differentially affected in terms of the dependent measures investigated.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether a peer mentoring program incorporating learning styles impacts upon the achievement and persistence of entry-level academically underprepared college students. PROCEDURE: Subjects were freshmen at Bemidji State University during the fall terms of 1985 and 1986 who were assigned to remedial/developmental English because of low placement test scores. An experimental group of 31 English 100 students participated in Connections: The Student-to-Student Mentoring Network, a pilot program designed to help underprepared students make a successful transition into college. The experimental group was compared to a control group of 40 students who were not mentored but who took the course the previous year from the same instructors. Analysis of covariance procedures and chi-square statistics were used to assess the effects of peer mentoring on grades and reenrollment status. Effects of mentors and students matching and mismatching in learning style, age-level, and gender were analyzed by comparing grades and reenrollment status of matched and nonmatched pairs. The Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator was used to assess level of learning style match. FINDINGS: 1. Students in remedial/developmental English who received peer mentoring achieved a more favorable reenrollment status than comparable students who took the course without mentoring. 2. Mentored students attained more satisfactory grades than nonmentored students. 3. Matching students and mentors by learning style was not found to be a factor in improving students' grades or reenrollment status. 4. Matching students and mentors by gender was not found to be a factor in improving students' grades or reenrollment status. 5. Matching students and mentors by age-level was not found to be a factor in improving students' grades or reenrollment status. Contrary to the research hypothesis, the findings suggested that students who had mentors of a higher age-level attained a more favorable reenrollment status. 6. Mentored students were more knowledgeable about campus resources and used them more frequently.

Many crisis intervention programs have been developed for child abuse but very few primary prevention programs exist. Teaching prospective parents to cope with aversive child behaviors might prevent the occurrence of child abuse later. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of using peer (high school students) and college students as trainers in a preventative approach to child abuse for high school students. It was proposed that peers would be better trainers because the trainees would be more likely to model their behavior and more at ease when asking the trainers questions. One hundred and thirty-four high school seniors were randomly assigned to one of three groups: control, college trained, or peer trained. These students rated their responses to potentially aversive child behavior situations and also role played their responses in these situations. Results indicated that there were no significant effects of training or types of trainers but the author concluded that more work should be done on the type of peer trainers used.

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published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education