Background and Overview.
The growing body of scholarly evidence concerning peer tutoring has been consistent in emphasizing the powerful effects that children can exert on the academic and interpersonal development of their classmates and/or other students (Ehly & Topping, 1998). For example, Bloom (1984) reported early on that one-on-one tutoring by a fully skilled peer was more effective than both conventional (i.e., teachers' lecturing) and mastery learning (i.e., student- regulated) methods of teaching. Across several replications of academic content and student age levels, Bloom (1984) reported that peer tutoring programs produced effect sizes on the order of 2 standard deviations above the mean of the control group (i.e., students receiving conventional lecture-based instruction), compared with 1.3 standard deviations for mastery learning (effect sizes larger than.25 of 1 standard deviation were described as educationally significant) (Ehly & Topping, 1998). Likewise, Slavin (1990) even enthuses that, "One-to-one tutoring is the most effective form of instruction known" (emphasis added) (p. 44). Besides these benefits to the tutee, peer tutoring programs have been shown to provide improved academic outcomes when they are used on a same-age, cross-age, and class-wide basis; moreover, many empirical investigations have documented that mutual benefits accrue from the systematic use of peer tutoring programs wherein children who serve as tutors frequently achieve academic gains comparable to those who receive tutorial assistance (Ehly & Topping, 1998).
Generally speaking, peer tutoring programs create alternative teaching arrangements in which students act as instructional agents for one another (Harper, Maheady, & Mallete, 1994). Peer tutoring also provides opportunities for students to discuss content and processes of reading, and the studies to date suggest that specific methods can enhance students ability to monitor their processes and that the social context plays a major role in supporting students understanding of these strategies (Afflerbach, Baumann, Duffy-Hester, Hoffman, McCarthey & Ro, 2000). The potential advantages of peer tutoring programs include providing a framework that allows the teacher to customize instruction to the needs of individual students and to provide a higher number of instructional trials in one-on-one or small group teaching formats (Fister et al., 2001).
This model assigns some of the main sub-processes into one of five categories. The first of these again includes organizational or structural features of the learning interaction, such as the need and press inherent in peer-assisted learning toward increased time on task (t.o.t.) and time engaged with task (t.e.t.), the need for both helper and helped to elaborate goals and plans, the individualization of learning and immediacy of feedback possible within the one-on-one situation, and the sheer excitement and variety of a different kind of learning interaction. To help determine what specific type of peer-tutoring is involved, Falchikov provides the algorithm in Figure __ below.
Figure ____. Varieties of peer tutoring.
Source: Falchikov, 2001, p. 8.
From a cognitive perspective, peer-assisted learning alternatives involve both conflict and challenge; they also involve support and scaffolding from the more competent other participant, within the so-called "Zone of Proximal Development" of both the tutor and the tutee (Harrison, 2001, p. 157). According to this author, "The cognitive demands upon the helper in terms of detecting, diagnosing, and correcting errors and misconceptions is substantial - and herein lies much of the cognitive exercise and benefit for the helper" (Harrison, 2001, p. 157).
Peer-assisted learning also places heavy demands upon the communication skills of both helper and helped, but in so doing these initiatives also serve to develop those skills. For all participants, they might never have truly grasped a concept until they had to explain it to another, embodying and crystallizing thought into language. The affective component of peer-assisted learning can also prove very powerful. A trusting relationship with a peer who does not occupy a position of authority might well facilitate self-disclosure of ignorance and misconception, thereby enabling subsequent diagnosis and correction (Harrison, 2001). Likewise, modeling of enthusiasm and competence and the simple possibility of a successful outcome by the tutor can influence the self-confidence of the tutee, while a sense of loyalty and accountability to each other might provide the motivation needed to keep the two participants focused and on-task (Harrison, 2001). Previous research that has sought to identify why and how peer-tutoring is effective have pointed to the role of specific interactions in promoting learning during tutoring and other peer-directed small group learning (Adelgais, King & Staffieri, 1998).
Some of the peer interactions that have been identified as being effective are those that support students' engagement in higher order cognitive processes; such interactions include:
Providing elaborated explanations;
Asking appropriate questions (question asking during tutoring has also been found to facilitate learning when the questions are ones that require higher order cognitive processes);
Providing sufficient time for the partner to think before being expected to respond to a question; and,
Using supportive communication skills such as listening attentively to a partner's response and giving feedback and encouragement (Adelgais et al., 1998).
Figure ____ below highlights mechanisms through which both tutor and tutee might gain improved academic outcomes:
Figure ____. Theoretical model of peer-assisted learning.
Source: Harrison, 2001, p. 158.
The following rationales in Table ____ below are identified by Falchikov (2001) for using...
Peer Pressure define peer pressure describe how it can be positive or negative describe how negative consequences most important because of the problems describe what will be covered: causes, impact, solutions Causes of Peer Pressure normal part of growing up psychology of adolescence Impact of Peer Pressure describe it as a positive force deviance ( alcohol, drugs, crime, antisocial behavior) pressure is there but only impacts a few and then contributes, rather than causes Emotional Impact of
Peer pressure. Our teachers think about it, our parents worry about it, and we have to deal with it every day. In fact, the words "peer pressure" are thrown about as if it is always a bad thing. I believe, however, that there is a good side as well as a bad side to it. We all know what peer pressure is. It is the influence your friends have over you
Although the teen's parents may be the pillars of good and upright community and society, generally the teen is looking outward for role models. Many good role models can be found within the community in the form of sports coaches, teachers, community leaders and so forth. When a parent sees that a teen admires an individual that is of good character and lives a lifestyle that is upright and
The findings of this study support the view that the effects of peer pressure are related to earlier processes in childhood. This has led to the recognized research imperative to "...include longitudinal data from both peer and family contexts in studies of trajectories leading to adolescent problem behaviors" (p.45). In other words, the study points to the importance of a more holistic approach to understanding the motivational impetus and
Other factors included family problems and family substance abuse. Two common aspects occurred in all three blocks: first, interaction between the individual and the collective perspective; and second, the relationship between the subject's interior (e.g., individual, family) and exterior (e.g., environment and peer pressure) facets (Alvarez, et all 2006)." One of the interviews revealed a combination of peer pressure and family problems as the catalyst for her drug debut. Female, 16 years
Accordingly, family-based prevention programs for youth have been developed, which significantly delay initiation of alcohol use by improving parenting skills and family bonding. During adolescence, peers play a large part in a young person's life and typically replace family as the center of a teen's social and leisure activities. But teenagers have various peer relationships, and they interact with many peer groups. Often "peer cultures" have very different values and
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