Date of Degree

5-2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Program

Education

Advisor

Judith Beauford

Advisor

Osman Özturgut

Advisor

Flor Garcia-Wukovits

Abstract

The large number of students at postsecondary education institutions who are not college ready has increased the need for learning assistance programs. Tutoring programs are common at many such schools; however, the effect of tutoring students in modern schools is inconclusive. There is some evidence that tutoring helps students learn material they would be unable to learn otherwise, and other evidence suggests tutoring has no influence on academic performance. Considering the lack of consistent evidence to support tutoring programs, why is there still a high demand for them? The answer may include the students’ learning style and/or perception of the tutoring environment. Learning style is the way the student takes in new information or the way a student behaves in a learning experience. The learning environment includes the aesthetics and interactions within the tutoring setting. Not much is known about students who regularly seek out tutoring. The purpose of this quantitative study is to investigate correlations between the number of hours spent in tutoring, the learning styles of undergraduate mathematics students, and the perceptions these students have of their tutoring environments. This is a quantitative study investigating correlations among learning style, perception of the tutoring environment, and hours spent in tutoring. The students’ learning styles was measured using the Index of Learning Styles based on the Felder Silverman Learning Style Model. The number of hours spent in tutoring, and the perception of the tutoring environment was measured with a self-report survey. The data was coded using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. A principle components analysis was done on the environment measures and correlation tests were run to investigate the interaction of learning style, environment, and hours spent in tutoring.

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