Bridging the Educational Divide: Investigating the Impact of Digital 1:1 Tutoring with Lern-Fair on Educationally Disadvantaged Students and the Volunteer Tutors.

Investigators @RILL: Katharina M. Bach, Sarah Hofer

Collaborators: Lern-Fair e.V.

Duration: July 2023 until February 2024

Main Goals: We investigate the influence of digital 1:1 tutoring, guided by volunteer tutors, on the academic performance and emotional and motivational factors of educationally disadvantaged students. Moreover, we aim to find out how the interaction with the students and the training offered by Lern-Fair affects the tutors. The scientific evaluation of the 1:1 tutoring will also provide insights into factors that influence its success: We are interested, for example, in the extent to which the relationship between learning facilitators and students, the content covered, and the type of learning support provided have an impact on the results.

Key Methods: The study will be conducted as a mixed-methods long-term study with pre-, mid-, and post-tests. Besides the main assessment times, there will be regular small surveys and reflections (e.g., in the form of learning diaries). Our sample will be learning pairs consisting of a student receiving the 1:1 tutoring and a university student as the tutor.

The tutors participate in a four-month Lern-Fair program that includes digital and in-person workshops on educational psychology. Moreover, they offer free digital 1:1 tutoring for educationally disadvantaged students. Students of all ages can sign up for the 1:1 tutoring and are then matched to their tutor.

During the program, we will collect motivational and emotional variables as well as academic performance via questionnaires. In addition, educational disadvantage will be captured holistically, e.g., socioeconomic status, migration history, and parental support. Furthermore, insights into the 1:1 tutoring will be obtained through qualitative data (written reflections and interviews).

Practical Relevance: We aim to understand to what extent such offers as free digital 1:1 tutoring for educationally disadvantaged students can contribute to more educational equity in Germany. Moreover, we hope to find out whether and how not only the support recipients but also the volunteers can personally benefit from it.