Running head: PEER TUTORING

Peer Tutoring Experiences of First Year Occupational Therapy Students: A qualitative study
Natasha Arastehmanesh, Madeline Dunlap, Jared Hansen, & Marissa Stendel
Touro University Nevada

PEER TUTORING

Peer tutoring is a cooperative medium of learning that has proven to be effective for
increasing students academic achievement (Griffin & Griffin, 1997). Salerno-Kennedy, Henn,
and OFlynn (2010), describe the positive effects of tutoring for students when they mentioned
that peer tutoring had positive effects on examination scores, the satisfaction, and personal and
professional development of students, as well as social and economic benefits (p. 84). Peer
tutoring involves a collaborative interaction between upperclassman, or any individual who has
previously taken the course, and a student currently enrolled in the same course in understanding
concepts related to the course. In this study we will explore peer tutoring traits that have proven
to be helpful in occupational therapy (OT) graduate students.
Research Question
In order to explore the central focus of our interest, we developed a research question and
sub questions to support our interview questions. Our central questions asks, what are the
characteristics of peer tutors that occupational therapy students find helpful? From this, we
formulated sub questions to support our main research topic. Sub questions include: what
personal characteristics do OT students find helpful in their tutors? What types of methods were
used to promote learning? How much time was spent with the tutor? How was the overall
experience of tutoring? These overarching concepts helped to further develop our appendix.
Research Literature Review
Research has proven that peer tutoring has been an effective system to utilize in schools
to assist students with their academic performance as well as keeping them accountable to stay
on track with their studies. According to Lake (1999) and Loke and Chow (2007), the students
that were tutored in various courses had positive feedback for the peer tutoring system and would
recommend the services to future students. Also, much like our study, the students from previous

PEER TUTORING

years that had taken the course were the tutors for the incoming students and met with their tutee
at least once a week for an hour session. In addition, research revealed that peer tutoring
correlated with higher academic performance and an overall growth of confidence and
motivation (Lake, 1999; Loke & Chow, 2007).
According to the research findings from both Griffin & Griffin (1997) and SalernoKennedy, Henn, and OFlynn (2010), peer tutoring not only helped the students being tutored but
also helped the tutors themselves. The reason for this is because although the tutors are teaching
the information to the students, they are also rehearsing the information, which in turn will
expand their overall knowledge for board and state exams in the near future. Both studies
described the characteristics of the peer tutors as being determined, approachable, and willing to
help in the area the tutees were struggling with (Griffin & Griffin, 1997; Salerno-Kennedy,
Henn, & OFlynn, 2010). Similarly, our study showed common characteristics of the peer tutors
such as determined, knowledgeable, and willing to help. Overall, all four studies showed that
peer tutoring was a positive experience for the students and they would recommend the services
to future students.
Methodology
Individuals who are pursuing a career in OT are required to take a graduate course in
gross anatomy. As the researchers we received tutoring in the subject of anatomy. Peer tutoring
was available to all students via The Office of Academic Services and Institutional Support
(Oasis). Our interest in receiving peer tutoring sparked from the previous cohorts experience and
pass rates in their anatomy course. We strived to evaluate the peer tutoring process and its
general outcomes through the use of in depth interviews and a phenomenological approach. We

PEER TUTORING

conducted individual interviews with open ended questions and recorded each individuals
response for analysis.
Results
Participants and Data Collection
Gathering information from the participants during the data collection component of our
research began after we strategically chose the eight students to be interviewed. Recruitment
occurred during our OCCT 523 course hour where we passed around a volunteer sign-up sheet
for occupational therapy students of the 2016 cohort interested in participating. Students were
required to write their name, the name of their tutor from the OT 2015 cohort and whether or not
they were interested in being interviewed. We gained a total of 27 sign ups with two people
responding with no for being interviewed leaving us with a grand total of 25 potential
interviewees.
Narrowing from 25 to eight occupational therapy students was done according to what
tutor each person had been assigned and having a generalized distribution of females and males.
To find our treatment group, we first designed a chart with each tutors name listed and wrote all
tutees names under each tutor. Next, we randomly selected one OT 2016 student for each tutor
while taking the sex of the student into consideration. Lastly, we sent emails to the final eight
participants that were selected. Our final count of participants included ages 21-40 years old,
with six females, and two males. Students of the OT 2016 class consisted of six Caucasians, and
two Hispanics while OT 2015 students ethnicities were not discussed or included in the
research. There was no further control group.

PEER TUTORING

Thematic Analysis
During the interview, questions were asked by one interviewer and answers were
transcribed by a second interviewer. Interviews were recorded and then transcriptions were
checked for accuracy. Researchers then looked at the data for commonalities in answers by
question. For example, data obtained regarding answers for question one were coded together
while data regarding answers for question two were coded together and so forth.
Through interview and data analysis, five themes were identified to be relevant to the
characteristics of tutors that OT students find helpful. The five themes include time
commitment, providing handouts, being knowledgeable, motivating, and facilitating learning.
The following outline is a short discussion of the themes related to the research question.
The first theme was time commitment. According to question one, about half of the
students met with their tutor at least once a week for one hour. Two students met with their tutor
at least twice a week for two hours each time. One example of time commitment was given by
Interviewee number four who commented on how often she met with her tutor when she said, It
was consistently one time a week on Sundays but sometimes it would be twice a week, mostly
near exam times, and we would meet for two hours.
For question two a common theme was that tutors provide handouts. Half of the students
said that their tutor provided old notes to help with the tutoring process whereas three students
mentioned that they received drawings from their tutor. Interviewee number five said of her
tutor that She gave me text books, like old lab books, or a laminated page with the muscles that
I could write to practice the muscles and quiz myself, so she gave me that. Handouts were a
common way for tutors to address the needs of the students seeking services.

PEER TUTORING

The third question asked about the personal characteristics of their tutor. Common
characteristics included being knowledgeable, and motivating. Three students said that their
tutors were motivating and three mentioned how their tutors were knowledgeable in the subject.
Other characteristics included being flexible, willing to help, inspiring, and comfortable to work
with.
One final theme regarding the characteristics of tutors is that they facilitated learning.
This was done through a number of methods that the tutors utilized. According to six out of the
eight students, tutoring sessions included reviewing the PowerPoints for the class, and three
stated that their peer tutor provided quizzes for each session. Overall, participants said tutoring
was a good experience and that they would recommend the services to future students. One
student even stated, I think I passed anatomy because of my tutor.
Discussion and Implications
The implications of this study further validate how peer tutoring is significant for the
School of Occupational Therapy and for Touros academic support services, or Oasis.
Determining a trend amongst our studies themes helps us guide our future study skills
independently and with peers. Background research combined with personal research within the
occupational therapy department has helped to reveal that peer tutoring has significant benefits
for those enrolled in tutoring services, and that the peer tutoring program is worthy of funding
within the school system.
Our study may have limitations due to the nature of study we chose to examine. General
limitations include the female to male ratio in that there are more females than males within the
study which may lead to some personal characteristic differences. Before beginning, we
determined who would participate in the study based on limiting a 1:1 ratio between the student

PEER TUTORING

and their tutor (only one student per tutor). Other limitations could include non-compliance
amongst the student participants, personality conflicts between the student and their peer tutor
leading to deficits in the amount of time the tutoring occurred. One other major limitation is that
qualitative research studies can be subjective in itself. Because we are peers to the students being
questioned, there may be some bias in how answers are interpreted for themes. Lastly, if students
were or became friends with their peer tutors this could lead to subjectivity about the
effectiveness of peer tutoring.
There are many recommendations based on our research and literature review that can be
implemented to enhance students tutoring experience. One recommendation is to have each
student make up ten questions based on the lecture that day before entering lecture. The
questions will be given to another student before the start of class. It would be the student's
responsibility that wrote the questions to grade and further explain the answer to each question
that was answered incorrectly. This will enforce students to come into lecture already going over
the material once, which will get them thinking about the content and further coming into lecture
with questions. Having each student that made up the question explain why they chose the
answers will also further reinforce concepts and material in that days lecture. Other
recommendations to further research in the spectrum of peer tutoring would be to include more
participants to generalize the results. It would also be important to note if the students grade was
affected by the tutoring experience.

PEER TUTORING

8
References

Griffin, B. W., & Griffin, M. M. (1997). The effects of reciprocal peer tutoring on graduate
students' achievement, test anxiety, and academic self-efficacy. The Journal of
experimental education, 65(3), 197-209.
Lake, D. A. (1999). Enhancement of student performance in a gross anatomy course with the use
of peer tutoring. Journal, Physical Therapy Education, 13(1), 34.
Loke, A. J. T. Y., & Chow, F. L. W. (2007). Learning partnership: the experience of peer
tutoring among nursing students: A qualitative study. International Journal of Nursing
Studies, 44(2), 237-244. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2005.11.028
Salerno-Kennedy, R., Henn, P., & O'Flynn, S. (2010). Implementing peer tutoring in a graduate
medical education programme. Clinical Teacher, 7(2), 83-89. doi: 10.1111/j.1743498X.2010.00354.x

PEER TUTORING

9
Appendix

1. Who was your tutor? How often did you receive tutoring services and for how long each
time?
2. What materials did the tutor provide you with, if any (i.e. quizzes, handouts, old lectures,
etc.)?
3. What personal characteristics did you find helpful in your tutor?
4. What types of methods were used to promote learning specifically from your tutor (i.e.
how the session flowed or a typical session- quiz, PowerPoint, questions, hands on, etc.)?
5. How was the overall experience of tutoring? Would you recommend these types of
services to future students?