Trends in Tutoring
Tutoring in 2023
Tutoring in science (physics, chemistry, biology), and mathematics in Singapore has been a long-existing industry. In the early 2000s, tutoring was a simple deal, if parents found children displaying any difficulties such as grades falling behind, social insecurity, or difficulties grasping concepts, tuition was the immediate solution.
The tagline for tuition has always been the same “study hard and get a good job”. However, in the modern 2023 society, tuition has advanced in its methods and is built to fit the learning abilities of each student.
This includes technological methods of teaching such as online tutoring, gamification, and group learning, which are not only applied but studied to a great extent. Read on as this article elaborates on the latest trends in teaching in 2023.
Online Tutoring
With the rise of technology and internet connectivity, online tutoring has become increasingly popular. Students can connect with tutors from around the world, and sessions can be conducted remotely through video conferencing tools.
Based on the statistics from singstat.gov.com, an average household spends $339 on educational services and $240 on communication technology.
Figure 1:Source: Singstat.gov.sg
Given the wide availability to technological tools such as phones, macs, and desktops, students have a wider range of avenues to seek knowledge efficiently. Contrary to beliefs that online teaching is not effective, it provides a wide range of benefits, some of which include:
1) Flexibility: Online tutoring offers greater flexibility in terms of scheduling, location, and availability of tutors. Students can connect with tutors from anywhere in the world and at any time that is convenient for them.
2) Personalized learning: Online tutoring allows for personalized learning, as tutors can tailor their approach to match the student’s learning style and pace. This can help students learn more effectively and retain information better.
3) Lower costs: Online tutoring can be more affordable than traditional tutoring because there are no overhead costs associated with running a physical tutoring center. This means that tutors can charge lower fees and still provide high-quality instruction.
At Achieversdream/ Musclemaths, these forms of online tutoring are offered via ?
online questionnaires/ only short lessons/face-to-face online tutoring/ free online assessments. These forms of online tutoring effectively answer questions within a short period of time, benefitting both tutors and students alike.
AI and Gamification
Gamification is being used to make learning more engaging and interactive. Tutors are incorporating games, quizzes, and other interactive activities to help students learn and retain information.
Most recently, tuition in 2023 involves some extent of Kahoot! (an online game-based learning platform). In essence, students can use their phones to choose option A, B, C, or D, and one of the options is the answer to the question. Each correct answer accounts for a number of points and the winner are eventually announced at the end of the quiz.
Similarly, Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to develop intelligent tutoring systems that can personalize learning and provide feedback to students. AI-powered tutoring systems can analyze student performance data to identify areas of weakness and suggest personalized study plans.
Advancing further into the technological end, tuition centres have also implemented various degrees of AI to analyse aspects of student learning. For example, students that attempt an online quiz are given varying degrees of difficulty in questions depending on which answers are correct/wrong. The automatic adjustment puts into play personalised assessments albeit some human inputs are needed to determine if a question is a high or low difficulty.
Though a relatively new field, more tuition centres are exploring the potential of technological teaching models or aids which can further improve grades and outcomes.
Group Tutoring
Group tutoring has become increasingly popular in recent years. Group tutoring can be a more affordable option for students, and it can also provide a more social and collaborative learning environment.
As covered in the article titled “The Characteristics of Successful Tutors”, group tutoring, and teamwork has become another method of teaching students. Such forms of tutoring take into account learning capacities and the ability for improvement.
In addition, students that join group tutoring are able to go to their friends to ask why an equation or a method of preparing for a scientific experiment does not work. This initiates conversation around a topic in a more authentic manner in comparison to instructions and commands. In the field of the sciences, it also presents a dialogical format where students can communicate with one another during lab sessions.
Specifically, O levels and A levels student may be familiar with the titration experiment. Titration requires students to combine solutions to determine the concentration of an unknown solution. Other types of experiments include salt preparation via precipitation or Excess/ICA Method.
Refer to the methods and guide here.