The Effectiveness of Peer Tutoring on Student Achievement at the University Level

Peer tutoring programs represent a key component of the learning support structure at universities across the United States. A common type of peer tutoring program engages advanced undergraduate students who have successfully completed a course to lead a small group of currently enrolled students in problem solving sessions. Given that these programs are widely used and well organized, a surprising lack of empirical evidence exists about their effectiveness. The education literature contains several strands of research about the tutoring process itself. These include the international pattern of tutoring practices, tutoring programs designed specifically for students with learning disabilities or students considered part of the at-risk population, initiatives where university students tutor their K–12 counterparts, and technologically grounded initiatives such as expert systems and Web based programs. Within the economics literature several studies (Bruce Sacerdote 2001, David J. Zimmerman 2003, Ralph Stinebrickner and Todd R. Stinebrickner 2008) have investigated the importance of peer effects on student learning. We seek here to begin to fill the void