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A Study of the Impact of Cross-age Tutoring on an Elementary Spanish Distance Education Program

Singleton, Michele Ann Lowers (2007) A Study of the Impact of Cross-age Tutoring on an Elementary Spanish Distance Education Program. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of and potential factors associated with utilizing high-school-aged students as on-site tutors to assist elementary students in a Spanish distance education program. The study focused on the qualitative and quantitative exploration of the participants' affective attitudes toward learning Spanish, mode of instruction, high school tutors, and Spanish culture. To document the achievement, attitudes, and motivation of the elementary and high school students, a combination of quantitative and qualitative data was collected through five methods: student questionnaires, self-assessment, prochievement interview, journal entries, and final exam.The distance education foreign language program randomly divided fifth-grade classrooms into two equal groups. One-half was exposed to the high school tutors and the other half was not. Thirty-six fifth-grade elementary students participated in this study; nineteen were tutored students and seventeen were nontutored students. Three high school seniors served as tutors. The findings indicated that the presence of cross-age tutors in a distance education setting does not seem to make a difference in either attitude or achievement. Although the tutors provided useful assistance and benefits in terms of motivation and increased interest in learning a foreign language, the most important finding in this study is that learning occurred in both the tutored and nontutored Spanish distance education classroom.


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Details

Item Type: University of Pittsburgh ETD
Status: Unpublished
Creators/Authors:
CreatorsEmailPitt UsernameORCID
Singleton, Michele Ann Lowersmicheleasingleton@yahoo.com
ETD Committee:
TitleMemberEmail AddressPitt UsernameORCID
Committee ChairDonato, Richarddonato@pitt.eduDONATO
Committee MemberGreen, Anneamgreen@andrew.cmu.edu
Committee MemberDewey, Dandewey@pitt.eduDEWEY
Committee MemberBerry, Louislhb@pitt.eduLHB
Date: 27 June 2007
Date Type: Completion
Defense Date: 24 January 2007
Approval Date: 27 June 2007
Submission Date: 18 April 2007
Access Restriction: No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately.
Institution: University of Pittsburgh
Schools and Programs: School of Education > Instruction and Learning
Degree: PhD - Doctor of Philosophy
Thesis Type: Doctoral Dissertation
Refereed: Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords: cross-age; distance education; distance teaching; Donato; elementary education; foreign language; secondary education; Singleton; Spanish; technology; tutoring; tutors; University of Pittsburgh; video conferencing
Other ID: http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04182007-171434/, etd-04182007-171434
Date Deposited: 10 Nov 2011 19:38
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2016 13:40
URI: http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/7290

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