Lisa B. Elliot, Ph.D. and Rebecca Carpenter, M.S. NTID Scholarship Symposium Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester NY December 11, 2018 SYNCHRONOUS ONLINE TUTORING FOR DEAF AND HARD-OF-HEARING STUDENTS: AN ANALYSIS OF OBSERVED FUNCTIONS Acknowledgements Support for the Deaf STEM Community Alliance from NSF, HRD-1127955 DHHVAC Students and Tutors Student Research Assistants: James Brunner, Amy Johnson, Jonathan MacDonald, Carson Pursifull, Kaycee Sommers, Annette Tavernese, and Darius Toney Objectives Rationale for DHHVAC Synchronous Tutoring Other Synchronous Tutoring for DHH students Finkelstein’s model of synchronous tutoring Discuss findings from analysis of tutoring videos Q and A DHHVAC Model Barriers and Strategies Student Preparation: remote tutoring, remote mentoring, using G+ Hangouts, Zoom Socialization: Remote mentoring, peer-to-peer interaction, using G+ private community, Facebook secret group Accessible Media: Accessible STEM information, using website, G+ private community, and G+ public page Online Tutoring Defined Synchronous or real-time Still face-to-face (like traditional office hours or tutoring, but mediated by the computer Asynchronous (delayed time) Email or other exchanges that do not occur at the same time Supplemental videos Other Online Tutoring Projects for D/HH Students Brown (2010): High school students, science classes Bryant (2011): NTID, Writing course NRSC (2017-18): High school students at AIDB, math classes Faculty and Student Responses to Online Learning Faculty: concerns about rapport and communication, concerns about technology issues and support Students: increased convenience, ability to save notes for later use DHHVAC Tutoring Experience At least 170 sychronous tutoring sessions between February 2012 and present: 16 different tutors, 42 different students (73% RIT, 27% Camden/Cornell), 10 different STEM course domains (Anatomy and Physiology, Biology, Calculus, Chemistry, Elementary Math, Geometry, Physics, Pre-Calculus, Psychology, Math Research). Methods Sample: 585 segments from 17 videos Courses: Biochemistry (344 segments), Math (12), Physics (92) 3 tutors 4 students Analysis Conversation Analysis (Sidnell, 2012), timestamp segments (between 1 - 50 seconds) Ratings by team of 2 - 6 coders with tutoring experience, student experience as a tutee, all ASL fluent Interrater reliability using Feiss' Kappa (Landis and Koch, 1977): K = .61 - .73, p = 0.000 (substantial agreement) Learner-initiated and tutor-initiated 24 codes (based on Bryant, 2011): Communication strategies (e.g. ASL, SimComm, facial expressions), Interactions (e.g. asking questions, responding to questions, expressing understanding), Materials (e.g. online resources, hardcopy materials, physical or virtual tools, text chat), Technology (conversations about platform feature, problems with technology). Coding Outcomes Technology 2%, Materials 26%, Interaction Type 34%, Communication Strategy 38% The "Finkelstein Five" Synchronous Online Learning Functions: Instruction, Collaboration, Extended Outreach, Social and Informal Exchange, Support Instruction: Active construction of knowledge by learners through process of real-time give-and-take (video example) Collaboration: A key element to the success of an online learning environment. Interactions tend to be more egalitarian in nature (video example) Support: A crucial element for retaining and motivating learners... personalized, live exchange with the right person (video example) Socialization and informal exchange: help to build community and create a friendly and safe environment in which people can feel like people (video example) Extended outreach: institution's connection to the world beyond it's gate. 27% of students who received tutoring were from partner schools. Revised Model: Instruction: Interactions, materials Support: interactions Social and informal exchange: interactions Extended outreach Collaboration: interaction, materials, technology Discussion Evolving project: continue refiding code scheme, adding more videos Emphasis is on instruction and support With appropriate training, minimal technology problems Concluding Thoughts "[A common misconception about] Sychronous interaction is that [it is] too difficult to learn, expecially for people who make their careers out of educating others. The best way to learn how to teach with synchronous tool is to learn with one." (Finkelstein, 2006, pp. 138 - 139).