Methodologies

Methodologies for this kind of research typically address the following questions:

1) Site--Where did you conduct your research? Why?

2) Participants--Who did you study in your project? Why?

3) Self--What role did you play in your site?

4) Data--What kinds of data did you collect? How did you collect it?

5) Analysis--How did you analyze your data?

6) Tradition(s)--What major research tradition(s) did you draw upon to conduct your study?

Site: My research is based around tutoring interaction at the website Tutor.com, a service free to Alaska residents provided by the Statewide Library Electronic Doorway website (or SLED). I chose this site because it is publicly funded and available for free, whereas other online tutoring sites have costs attached and I was unsure of their credibility. I knew about Tutor.com from UAA’s reading and writing center; as a past tutor, I know that the RWC recommends this resource to distance students, students who seek tutoring outside of the RWC’s normal hours, and students who are unable to be helped at the RWC on busier days like those around finals week.

Participants: The participants for my research are myself and the tutors that I interact with on the website in reviewing my own papers.

Self: I will be acting as a participant in the role of a student, or as Tutor.com labels users, as a “customer.”

Data: The majority of my data will be instant messaging exchanges between myself and my tutor(s). I will also refer to the papers themselves, as tutors can make comments and suggestions on the documents submitted for review.

Analysis: I will be analyzing my data using Haas’s 15 item taxonomy of instant messaging features. I will also take notes on any confusion I may have felt and how the general tutoring environment was established at the beginning of each session.

Traditions: I will drawing heavily from Sarah Rilling’s article “The development of an ESL OWL, or learning how to tutor writing online” to establish the ways in which an online writing lab (OWL) can emulate that of a physical writing lab, and also the ways in which the OWL is limited. These aspects of the lab are important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each lab and to understand how to best utilize the online space for composition tutoring. I will also draw on other theories surrounding digital learning and literacies in order to establish the validity of online tutoring and how it can be extremely beneficial to all types of students.