Chapter 7 Focus Question: Teaching and Tutoring
Julie Barbadillo
EMC 598
Arizona State University
Summer 1998
Introduction
Background
In Chapter 7 "Teaching and Tutoring" of Moore and Kearsley's Distance Education: A Systems View (1996), the authors examine the roles of the distance teacher. As Moore and Kearsley mention in earlier chapters, in a total system model the teacher is not likely to also be the curriculum designer. This construct breaks with most traditional teaching arrangements where the teacher has a major, if not exclusive, role in the design of the curriculum. Moore and Kearsley propose that the teacher is one of many specialists in the systems model of distance education.
The distance teacher's primary role in the total systems model is "assisting small numbers of students to interact with content that is designed and presented by other specialists" (Moore and Kearsley, p. 125). Therefore, the teacher's specialization is facilitating interaction or tutoring (Moore and Kearsley, p. 125).
However, in distance teaching programs which do not utilize the total systems model, a single instructor usually has full responsibility for both presenting information and guiding students (Moore and Kearsley, p. 125). To illustrate the differences, a course such as EMC598: Distance Education at Arizona State University has the institutional support necessary for a total systems approach. EMC598 has three specialists who contribute in different ways to the course. Dr. Marina McIsaac is the facilitator or tutor, Kelvin Ralston is the content designer, and Steve Marti is the HTML/technical specialist. However, in a distance learning program such as the Evening and Weekend Program at DeVry Institute of Technology/Phoenix, the instructor is responsible for all three of these roles. Although the DeVry/Phoenix campus does employ several technical specialists, to date the program's focus would best be described as a distance learning program rather than a fully integrated distance teaching institution of the total systems type.
Whether a distance education course is supported by a total systems approach or housed in a distance learning program, distance teaching differs from face-to-face teaching in many ways. Moore and Kearsley note that the most obvious, from an instructor's point of view is the "delay in the flow of communication between . . . [instructor] and . . . students" (p. 126).
Therefore, it is important to study the three types of interaction practiced by distance teachers: learner-content, learner-instructor, and learner-learner (Moore and Kearsley, p. 127). The first type of interaction, learner-content, is when teachers assist students with presenting the content needed for students to "construct knowledge through a process of personally accommodating information into previously existing cognitive structures" (Moore and Kearsley, p. 128). Learner-instructor interaction is when teachers guide students to interact with the content in useful ways. And learner-learner interaction is when one student interacts with another, alone or in group settings and with or without the real-time presence of the instructor (Moore and Kearsley, p. 131).
An additional type of interaction is being studied in the distance classroom. Hillman, Hills and Gunawardena (1994) suggest that learner-interface is part of a new paradigm for understanding the interaction between the learner and technology.
Scope
First, I will describe the differences between teaching and tutoring and implications for the distance classroom. Next, I will expand on the three types of interaction by evaluating interaction in two on-line courses.
Teaching and Tutoring: Implications for the Distance Education Classroom
According to Moore and Kearsley (p. 133), "Some of the most common causes of failure in distance education result from decision makers being unaware of the multidimensional nature of teaching and consequently neglecting one or more of its constituent activities." The same could be said for many traditional educational programs. In fact, teaching is often reduced to the mere presentation of information. However, in the total systems distance model, the teacher acts as a facilitator/tutor, whose role is to interact with students in creating knowledge, rather than as a presenter of information. In the total systems distance model, rather than taking a passive role and receiving information from an instructor, the student takes an active role in his/her own learning. With the teacher-as-tutor's assistance, the student has the responsibility to explore information, make cognitive connections, and formulate new ideas.
The teacher-as-tutor role is preferable to the traditional teaching role because studies by researchers such as Alexander "Sandy" Astin at UCLA have demonstrated that students learn more from interacting with their peers than from a lecture by the instructor. And, finally, Astin has concluded that learner-instructor interaction outside of the classroom is a more significant factor in promoting student retention than face-to-face interaction in the classroom. Given that most traditional classrooms have large numbers of students and one instructor, the face-to-face environment does not allow for optimal learner-instructor interaction. In the distance classroom, students have more opportunities to present their ideas to the instructor and their peers and also more opportunities to ask questions of the instructor and their peers. This is because the distance class session lasts more than 50 minutes and dialog is required, via engaging in synchronous chat, posting discussions to a conferencing system, and responding to on-line publishing.
Certainly, the learner-interface interaction is an essential mechanism for assisting students with developing the basic skills necessary in a distance classroom. As Hillman et al. (p. 2) note, "Instructional designers must include learner-interface interactions which enable the learner to have successful interactions with the mediating technology."
Types of Interaction: An Evaluation of Two On-line Courses
While the distance learner has more opportunities to interact with the instructor and classmates than in the traditional classroom setting, much care must be taken to simulate the nonverbal cues that abound in the traditional classroom. For instance, in a face-to-face environment, an instructor can monitor students' participation, attention, and retention by body language. And, conversely, students pick up many nonverbal signals from the instructor, such as when an instructor changes his/her vocal pitch to emphasis an important concept. Duplicating this kind of interaction in the distance classroom is often referred to as "just-in-time teaching" (Tiffin and Rajasingham, 1995).
An evaluation of two on-line courses, one a first-year writing course at West Valley College and another a non-credit job search course at San Francisco State University, provides insight into the types of interaction and associated student benefits.
The West Valley College course, utilizes all four types of interaction: learner-content, learner-instructor, learner-learner, and learner-interface. The course electronic mailing list is an example of learner-learner interaction, where students "constantly write to each other electronically [e-mail] in an independent, self-paced, and multi-directional manner" (West Valley College, p. 2). Further, students exchange electronic messages synchronously during the class hour and asynchronously at other times. Students also server as moderators in threaded discussions. Therefore, the learner-learner interaction is strong, and so is the use of learner-content (via course readings, essay writing, and e-mails) and learner-interface (via printed text, e-mail, and synchronous and asynchronous chats). However, the learner-instructor interaction seems to be lacking, based on the course web page material. The only evidence I could find of learner-instructor interaction is that the instructor promises to fulfill his role: "to help you [the student] learn . . . by helping you do things" (West Valley College, p. 2).
Even though the San Francisco State University course is a non-credit course, the on-line curriculum includes learner-learner interaction in the form of "extensive discussion with . . . classmates"
(San Francisco State University, p. 3). This job search skills course also includes learner-content interaction: a resume project, interviews, self assessment, and online job search. Learner-interface interaction occurs on-line via e-mail discussions and access to the class web site. And this course even offers learner-instructor interaction. The instructor promises to "provide course structure, offer . . . 'hand-outs,' reflect on . . . 'hand-ins,' initiate trends of thought, and facilitate . . . discussions, and . . . share . . . expertise" (San Francisco State University, p. 3).
Conclusion
The instructor-tutor role is well suited to the distance teacher. Research by Sandy Astin and others indicates that students who bond with their peers and, also important, students who view their instructors as mentors, have a higher retention rate than students who feel isolated from peers and instructors. Although the distance classroom provides more opportunities for interaction with peers and instructors, students need to feel comfortable with the technology and feel connected to be successful.
References
Hillman, D.C., Willis, D.J., & Gunawardena, C.N. (1994). Learner-interface interaction in distance education: An extension of contemporary models and strategies for practitioners. The American Journal of Distance Education. 8 (2), 30-42.
McIsaac, M.S., & Gunawardena, C.N. (1996). Distance education. In D. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook for research on educational communications and technology: A project of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology. New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan.
Moore, M. G., & Kearsley, G. (1996). Distance education: A systems view. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Tiffin, J. & Rajasingham, L. (1995). In search of the virtual class. New York, NY: Routledge.
On-line
San Francisco State University. (1998). Job search--online [Course syllabus].
http://careercenter.sfsu.edu/Career_Class_Online.html.West Valley College. (1998). Special Emphasis English 1A [Course syllabus].
http://www.wvmccd.cc.ca.us/wvc/la/pelican/cd.html.