The Research Findings of Online Tutoring

"Tutoring is so fascinating. It's a fulfilling experience. I've had a wide variety of students." -Chris Heacock

Are you ready to join the club? Do you want to find out what all the fuss is about finally? Will online tutoring be the correct fit for you?

With some tutoring websites offering more than 1000 topics to choose from, every person can learn a new hobby, talent, or refresh their abilities to become fantastic students in the classroom or brilliant employees in the workplace. There isn't any topic that a private tutor can't teach!

Online tutoring has completely exploded in the past decade and has created a plethora of opportunities for all types of students that were previously unavailable.

Therefore, since nearly everyone around you is doing it, it’s a perfectly natural question to ask – is online tutoring effective, and are there academic studies to back this up?

In today's article, we shall examine how academics continue to look at the effectiveness of online tutoring, and some of the necessary findings that researchers such as Cherie Mazer, Benjamin Bloom and Kurt Vanlehn have used to demonstrate the benefits of tutoring.

So let's get started and peer into some US and UK based research about the overall effectiveness of online tutoring in each country and what can be learned from each nation.

Check for do it yourself guide for online tutoring here.

Should I Hire a Private Instructor?

The sole fact that everyone is doing it, and you should is not enough of a good reason to hire a private tutor. Why not? Well, while peer pressure is useful in many ways, you should take what your friends say about tutoring with a grain of salt and actually investigate the matter on your own and truly see what the pros and cons are in your situation.

So, why should I personally hire a private tutor? Will my test scores dramatically improve? Will I acquire more knowledge about a topic that I am passionate about? Well, before we get carried away about the subjects that can be studied on tutoring websites, the following are some of the most irrefutable motives to consult with a private educator:

• Cost-Effective: long gone are the days when you used to pay over £50 an hour for a private tutoring lesson. Oh yeah? Now, it is straightforward to find one-hour tutoring sessions that specialise in a wide variety of topics such as maths, geography, and foreign languages that cost less than £20; and the tutor is experienced! It's a win-win situation if you ask me.
• Comfortable: online tutoring has become so commonplace during the COVID-19 pandemic due to enforcements by governments to social distance, and, to be honest, we're not complaining! Why not? Well, because online lessons with a professional tutor allow you to stay in your pyjamas and learn a new subject from the comfort of your bed. With online courses, there is no need to rush out and arrive on time at a tutor's house.
• Personalised: the most commonly heard compliment of private one-on-one tutoring sessions is the personalised assistance that is received. Since most students seeking remedial are overwhelmed by the number of distractions present in a traditional classroom, the personalised and undivided attention of a private tutor make lessons more productive. A pupil can express their concern and tell the tutor what they would like to focus on without any reservations or the opinions of others.
• Flexible: since there are so many active and experienced tutors online specialising in the subject that you need remedial help in, it is relatively easy to undergo lessons at a time that is most convenient for you. Let's say you need to complete maths tutoring at 11 pm on a Wednesday, no problem; you'll find a tutor using a site like Superprof. Flexible classes that work around your ever-changing schedule make private tutoring an excellent learning possibility that is viable for all; no more excuses about not having time!

All we can say is this: hire a professional tutor today! The benefits outweigh any of the sacrifices made to make learning a priority in your life. Also, it's important to state that you are never too old to start studying a new topic of interest. So, for what are you waiting?

In the following subheading, we'll learn more about the specifically researched benefits for students who are seeking the remedial help of a tutor to succeed in their studies.

Make sure you conduct some online tutoring DBS checks to ensure child safety when selecting a tutor.

Researched Benefits of Students Who Learn With a Tutor

As we mentioned in the introduction of this article, there have been many researchers around the world who are curious in knowing if academic assistance with a qualified tutor is worth all the fuss. And while the previously mentioned benefits in the subheading above are worthy, some individuals prefer cold-hard facts from scientific research.

Guess what? We HAVE FOUND carefully investigated truths! Let's examine some tutoring benefits discovered by analysts in the US of A and the United Kingdom.

The Effect of Access to Online Tutorial Services on College Algebra Students

Back in 2011, a group of researchers from various universities across the USA used online tutoring to assess how college algebra students could improve their grades in the field and score higher on upcoming exams. To do so, they analysed the improvement of levels achieved by students over time.

What did they discover? Well, researchers found that students who frequently used online tutoring made a significantly more significant improvement on overall grades that were measured by their test scores than for those who didn’t have access to private tutoring. The proof is in the pudding!

Discover online tutoring's best practices.

Using Online Tutoring to Inspire Older Students to Achieve Higher Grades in Mathematics

A more recent UK-based paper that was published by a group of researchers from the Further Mathematics Support Programme of the Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI) looked at online tutoring. With what purpose? To see if three groups of students engaging in mathematics at a high secondary school level would improve their grades when using online tutoring.

What were the observations? Read the following bullet points to find out more:

• The first group used tutoring sessions to learn and support learning for an entire AS and A Level module of Further Mathematics which is by no means an easy subject to pass. In this group, students found tutoring a crucial part of their learning, allowing them to get the proper support for such a demanding subject as Further Maths.  According to the findings within the paper, it may not have been possible to achieve the grades they wished had they not been granted access to a tutoring system. Students found that they could also concentrate easily using online tutoring, remaining focussed throughout.  Their work-rate was also considered to be excellent in comparison to those who don't use tutoring sessions.
• The second group which had somewhere between 20-30 students used a programme for supplemental learning that offered remedial support and was module-specific. It was only taken when students needed some help in a particular field and not throughout their entire studying process. Group two students found the online tutoring system to be a valuable reassurance, and it satisfied their need for extra support, especially given the demands of supplemental learning with their regular tutor.
• The third and final group used the programme for live revision sessions, again specific to different modules that they were studying within Further Maths. Group three students had the highest praise of all, saying that it was a high-quality revision source. What did they specifically enjoy? Well, students found that the topics were precise, and they could focus on what they needed to prepare for when it came to the exam.

The report conducted with students in the UK also highlighted some of the other potential advantages of online tutoring such as its cost and time-effectiveness, a more excellent choice in module selection, and more significant potential for student interaction with other students and tutors.

Of course, the report highlights the need for students to be willing to talk to new tutors and to have the same level of focus as if they were with a face-to-face tutor. However, when you start to think about all the potential distractions that students have in the classroom, private tutoring sessions are much more recommended than group sessions.

To conclude, despite concerns about the number of studies into online tutoring, we can see that there is evidence to support what we already know: online tutoring is a valuable addition to learning. So, without further delay, visit the Superprof website to find a qualified and passionate tutor in your local area. You won't regret taking advantage of private tutoring sessions since success is assured!

Have you considered using Skype for online tutoring? You may want to find out about the risks.

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