Exploring the Relationships Between Tutor Background, Tutor Training, and Student Learning: A Problem-based Learning Meta-Analysis

By Heather M. Leary, Andrew E. Walker, Brett E. Shelton, M. Fitt. 2013

91 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Despite years of primary research on problem-based learning and literature reviews, no systematic effort has been made to analyze the relationship between tutor characteristics and student learning outcomes. In an effort to fill that gap the following meta-analysis coded 223 outcomes from 94 studies with small but positive gains for PBL students (g = 0.24). Specific sub-group analyses indicate randomly controlled designs may be more sensitive to differences that favor PBL students, even while there is no relationship between tutor content expertise and student learning. Perhaps surprisingly, student learning decreases as tutor experience increases. Limitations and future work are discussed within a context of scholarly and practical significance.

Subfields: Developmental and Educational Psychology, Education

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/0c98f631f5f285fb091eedff392158cc036b1615

Citations in the corpus

• Questionnaire evaluating teaching competencies in the university environment. Evaluation of teaching competencies in the university (2015, unknown): “That is, the use of self-regulated styles that encourage autonomy would facilitate the integration of the knowledge that the student acquires (Leary, Walker, Shelton, & Harrison, 2013), leading the student to show greater interest in and commitment to the subject matter he or she is studying, and…”