Motivational Factors Influencing In-Class Peer Tutors in Engineering: A Functional Approach

摘要

Tutors have been shown to have positive effects on a multitude of important student outcomes in educational settings, and are a cost effective, valuable, but often under-utilized resource. Although extensive literature exists on motivation, findings have not been rigorously applied to understanding tutors' motivations for participating in unpaid tutoring programs. The purpose of this study is to investigate motivational factors behind students' participation in an in-class peer tutoring (ICPT) program utilizing a combined inductive approach and the established functional approach theoretical framework. Tutors were interviewed using a semi-structured format with an open-ended interview protocol using both general questions about their experience with ICPT, and specific questions related to the functional approach. Interviews were analyzed by two researchers using a multi-phase collaborative analysis procedure. Our analysis indicates that the most prevalent reasons students are motivated to participate in ICPT programs are to reinforce engineering concepts, to help others, and to contribute to courses and the department. Students were also influenced by career and social factors. Findings suggest that token compensation did not have a major affect on motivation. Future efforts investigating volunteer tutoring programs should use a modified functional approach that includes factors found in this study. These findings can help improve the recruitment and retention of volunteer tutors for this and other programs. This study also illustrates that it is possible to maintain an effective peer tutoring program at no cost through the use of volunteers.