Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education Vol.12 No.

10 (2021), 3916-3922
Research Article

Experiences and Benefits of Peer Tutoring with Students in Chemistry Subjects

José Maldonado-Cida, Joselyn Albornoz-Acosta b, Cristian Vidal-Silvac, and Miguel Tupac-Yupanquid

a
Ingeniería en Metalurgia, Área de Minería y Metalurgia, Universidad Tecnológica
de Chile INACAP, Calama – Chile
bEstudiante de Ingeniería Industrial y Magister en Dirección y Liderazgo para la Gestión Educacional,

Universidad Andreés Bello, Santiago – Chile

c Departamento de Administración, Facultad de Economía y Administración,

Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile

dEAP Ingeniería de Sistemas e Informática, Universidad Continental, Huancayo, Perú

Article History: Received: 10 January 2021; Revised: 12 February 2021; Accepted: 27 March 2021; Published online:28April
2021

Abstract: INACAP receives students of different ages and backgrounds, which generates a high diversity in the classroom.
The differences in the skills and prior knowledge required for each subject are amplified, discouraging less-advantaged students
and impacting their performance, passing, and dropping rates. A systematic work could be positive in the teaching-learning
process, especially in complex subjects. This work presents the experience and results with a methodology of peer tutors with
a chemistry subject. In each tutoring, the tutors were students with different styles and levels of learning to motivate the
complement and feedback of the group work. The students developed autonomy and became aware of their learning process,
which positively influenced it. They received academic support to encourage generic competencies such as self-management,
teamwork, and problem-solving. The results showed a high student satisfaction rate (84.4%) and a considerable increase in
performance in the Mineral Chemistry subject: a 50% increase in the averages and a 25% decrease in failure. The project team
is convinced that it is feasible to implement this innovation in other subjects.
Keywords: Teamwork; leadership; methodology for diversity; innovation in higher education; peer tutoring.

1. Introduction
The greater accessibility to Higher Education implies the challenge of having students with a high variability
of profiles, both in developing necessary prior skills and personality and character. That requires reception, help,
and support programs for students that facilitate their adaptation to the new academic environment (Durán and
Vidal, 2004). On the other hand, schools have developed new strategies to enhance student learning considering
the individual characteristics of each one and providing community and collaborative solutions (Valdebenito and
Durán, 2013).
For this reason, and considering the diversity and heterogeneity of the students who share the classroom,
INACAP used equal tutors in Mining Chemistry to share the work of transferring and learning construction among
all class participants. This methodology had already been tested at the Higher Education level under different
modalities and conditions, with different results. González et al. (2015), in their article on cooperative learning
and peer tutoring at the university level in Spain, argue that, at the beginning of the work, students become aware
of their personal and technical limitations in the use of available tools and that they react to them, requesting to
share a relative weight of the work with the teachers involved in the project. In this sense, students highlight the
motivation for innovation and reward since it allows them to choose how, where, when, and with whom to develop
a tutoring and learning activity.
In the Latin American context, it is interesting to highlight the conclusions of the peer tutoring experience of
Rubio (2009) in Mexico and Torrado-Arenas et al. (2016) in Colombia: The first one highlights that processes that
are aimed at self-management of knowledge are activated with results that show that the tutor-peer methodology
acts as a mediator, between the new and the old, helping the transit to become a manager of the learning process,
while the second highlights the action that students, generally from higher or more advanced semesters, accompany
their classmates from previous semesters, in addition to presenting positive experiences in Santander, Colombia.
From a methodological point of view for this work, it was necessary to evaluate and classify students according
to their ease with the subject, participate in classes, and learn styles to form the groups correctly and balanced.
Once we formed the teams, we worked with problem-solving in a complementary way to the contents of the
corresponding unit. In this context, the class material was perfected, and three additional work guides were drawn
up to detail the expected learning as much as possible. Subsequently, a feedback process was carried out with the
students, with interviews and surveys, to collect their opinions.
Within the work teams of the courses, the teacher chose a leader/tutor who was in charge of leading the
workshops within the group. The leader/tutor was chosen by evaluating the students' commitment to the subject,
leadership and initiative, and rigor in their work on the subject. Considering the work of the tutor within the work
teams, he was responsible for co-evaluating his colleagues about the collaborative work's performance in the
classes. The work with tutors was carried out during class hours, and the activities were evaluated using
comparison guidelines.

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Research Article

This work organizes as follows: Section 2 describes the main features of peer tutoring as a teaching approach.
Section 3 details the academic institution INACAP and the mining study area. Section 4 shows the main results of
our study. Section 5 mentions related work. Section 6 concludes this research.
Peer Tutoring
Díaz et al. (2019) highlighted that even though peer learning was apparently perceived as a method for gifted
students, today, it is used as an egalitarian and socially inclusive mode. Peer or cooperative learning focuses its
gaze on peer interactions to facilitate cognitive issues that provoke a logical resolution of the conflict and achieve
cognitive advance (Melero and Fernández, 1995). This type of learning refers to group work in which, above all,
positive interdependence is promoted between team members and the need for the contribution of each member to
achieve the objective (Durán et al., 2015).
Peer tutoring is a peer learning technique, and it represents a suitable learning method applicable in various
areas and contents for the development of social skills and competencies (Moliner et al., 2012). Thanks to the
interaction between peers, students learn in an active and participatory way through the help they receive and offer
to other peers of similar status. As highlighted by Durán et al. (2015), there are two differentiating roles in each
peer tutoring session, the tutor and the tutored. For the student, the learning opportunities of the tutors, since they
receive personalized attention and constant help from the tutor, both benefit. The proximity environment of the
tutorials generates a climate of trust, which facilitates the tutors to ask questions, outline problems, and make
mistakes without fear, attitudes that are very unlikely to develop with the teachers (Duran Y Valdevenito, 2014).
Thus, peer tutoring reduces student stress and anxiety with possible academic improvements and greater
motivation. In general terms, peer tutoring can generate benefits for both tutors and mentees (Bowman-Perrott et
al., 2013; Moliner and Alegre, 2020; Okilwa and Shelby, 2010; Seo and Kim, 2019).
Peer tutoring makes it possible to successfully face the transition to higher education and thus avoid dropping
out by bringing students closer to university life with the support of other students (Araneda et al., 2020).
According to Castaño et al. (2012), tutors should have developed a priority to communicate effectively, active
listening, conflict management, teamwork, and time planning. Besides, teachers have before them a new teaching
role because they must face their activity with a different and diverse university student body, which means that
they must be able to accompany them in their learning processes and facilitate an integral development that
prepares them for life.
The peer tutor model promotes student autonomy, competencies, and comprehensive training from three
development perspectives: academic, personal, and professional. All this supposes the student a more active role
in their learning process (Blanco et al., 2008). The purpose of peer tutoring is to provide teaching that constitutes
a reinforcement or complement for those students who show more significant learning difficulties through so-
called conventional systems (Díaz and Morrison, 2016).
The work of Vidal-Bueno (2015) summarizes the benefits of peer tutoring for both the tutor-student and the
tutored student and the disadvantages of this teaching-learning methodology (see tables 1 and 2, respectively).
Table 1. Summary of the advantages for student tutor and student tutored of peer tutoring.

Tutor student Tutored student

Increased involvement, sense of responsibility and Feel support in decision making and feel that
self-esteem. mistakes are shared.

Learning and mastering study techniques. Acquisition of applicable strategies in other contexts.

Greater control of the content and the task, as well as Higher degree of motivation as a result of
of the own knowledge. commitment to a partner.

Awareness of their own gaps and inaccuracies, as well Psychological adjustment thanks to working with an
as the detection and correction of the gaps of the equal. Questions are answered immediately and in a
tutored student. climate of trust.

Improvementofpsychosocialskills.

3. INACAP Calama and Mining

INACAP is a higher education institution in Chile that is present with 26 branches in the 16 regions of the country.
One of its headquarters is located in the mining capital of Chile, Calama, which is close to numerous mining

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Research Article

deposits, a city in which many people work deferred work hours. As reported by Albornoz et al. (2020), INACAP
Calama headquarters presents 41% of working students with various previous training, age range, and work
experience; that is, a group of students with high heterogeneity in variables of the academic area.
According to entrance studies, INACAP Calama students from the mining and metallurgy area present the
following learning styles: active experimentation and reflective observation. Accordingly, these students prefer
expository classes to take on the role of impartial observers and learn through specific examples that confront them
with practical situations. Then, through the methodology of peer tutors, it would allow these students to develop
other skills and change the work methodology in the classroom. By having a high percentage of working students,
all the students can incorporate provided and shared experience.
Mining chemistry is a class subject that is dictated for first-year students, during the second semester, in mining
and metallurgy. The issue encourages the pedagogical approach of learning by considering methods, techniques,
and technological applications of the specialty and promoting commitment, entrepreneurial capacity, and self-
management as a hallmark of the INACAP student.
4. Application and Results
The results produced by existing standardized measurement systems in Chile show a high percentage of students
who enter higher education without the requirements that will allow them to meet the academic demands in basic
science subjects. In other words, an increased number of students do not have a sufficiently solid prior knowledge
base to address academic challenges, study habits, various learning strategies, etc. (Díaz and Morrison, 2016). In
higher education institutions such as INACAP in Chile, this situation is prevalent, essentially due to the high
number of students who carry out work activities and academic ones. According to a survey at the beginning of
each course, either a 73% of students did not take chemistry in their previous training or passed it with a poor
grade.
Table 2. Summary of the disadvantages of peer tutoring.

• Overvaluing themselves, as well as their abilities.

For tutors • Excessofassertiveness

• Feelingofwasting time.

• Events that cause a decrease in self-esteem.

• Feelingofimposition.
In the pairing process
• Rejectionofcertainstudents.

• Negativereaction and preference for a traditional education

Family perception
model.

The implementation of peer tutoring was carried out during the spring semesters 2017, 2018, and 2019 in
INACAP Calama, of the section and evening, who took the subject of Mining Chemistry. A satisfaction survey
and a Kolb learning styles test were carried out, which was analyzed and used to be later able to divide the course
into heterogeneous groups and choose a tutor per group and transform diversity in the classroom of these sections
into an opportunity for improvement.
From the surveys carried out with the students participating in the project, several conclusions could be drawn.
Regarding the students, 62% work, and 73% of the students did not take the chemistry course at school or passed
with a regular grade without fully achieving the expected learning in high school. Regarding study habits and
motivations, the interviewed students report that at least once a week. Although 55% spend significant time
studying and preparing their homework, 45% of them must increase their study hours to obtain better results.
Concerning the subject of chemistry, 87% of the surveyed students consider it essential, which is crucial for the
motivation and connection that it may have with the professional future. That is why the remaining 13% who do
not appreciate the usefulness of the subject must be motivated by carrying out activities so that they can link it

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Research Article

with their professional reality. For 67% of the students who declare that they are encouraged to learn, the group
that indicates they have difficulties learning should be empowered and inspired through the tutors.
Table 3. Evaluation of the students of the different contributions of the project.
Material Average Standard deviation

Learning guides 6.3 0.7

Flipping classroom 5.5 1.3

Tutors’ contribution 5.3 1.9

Teacher contribution 6.4 0.7

The project in general 6.0 1.0

It should be noted that 58% of the students do not know their graduation profile, so they must work together
with the director of the area to make this information known to the students. Regarding the contributions of the
methodology and the material delivered from the framework of the project, Table 3 details the evaluation of the
students on a scale of [1.0 – 7.0].
From table 3, we can infer that the students positively evaluated different dimensions of the project, with the
teacher's contribution being the best evaluated and the assistance of the tutors and the inverted class that obtained
the lowest grade. That was due to the routine of the traditional educational model and the initial difficulties of
implementing the methodology. However, if these grades are taken as a percentage, the project obtained a student
satisfaction of 84.4%, which far exceeds the 70% satisfaction self-imposed as a goal.
Regarding the academic results obtained in the project, we evaluated the grade averages, the percentage of
failure, and the evolution of grades during the semester. Figure 1 presents the development of the notes from 2013
to 2019, before the pandemic situation.
5

4.5
4.4
4.5 4.3
4.2

3.5
3.15
2.95 3
3 2.85

2.5

2
2013 2014 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Fig. 1. Average grades in Mining Chemistry from 2013 to 2020.

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Fig. 2. Failure in mining chemistry as of 2013.

Figure 1 shows the growth of the averages of the subject since the inception of Mining Chemistry increases
considerably from 2016, the year in which this work methodology began to be applied. Although the average
imposed as an expected result (4.5) was not reached, it was very close. Also, the average for 2015 was exceeded,
even though that year there were two additional hours per week for the subject to do assistantships, which did not
happen in 2017 where there was still an increase in the average.
Regarding the failure levels, Figure 2 illustrates that the results obtained in the failure levels are in line with
the increase in the average and with the progressive and sustained increase between 2016 and 2017 in the subject.
On the other hand, we should note that a 35% exemption was obtained in 2017, which exceeds the number of
approved in years prior to 2016.
Table 4: Evolution of grades during the spring 2019 semester of Mineral Chemistry.

Assessment Average grade

Assessment 1 4,1

Assessment 2 4,3

Assessment 3 4,9

Assessment 4 5,6

Table 4 shows the ascending characteristic of the grades during the spring 2019 semester of the Mining Chemistry
sections. In the first notes, the initial difficulty of establishing the work methodology is appreciated, but they
notably improve as they adapt and assimilate the results. This result agrees with González et al. (2015), in the sense
that the personal limitations of the students in this methodology must first be known. They are also related to that
indicated by Rubio (2009) because the methodology of equal tutors allows activating processes related to self-
management and independence.
Related Work
The methodology of teaching-learning peer tutors generates real benefits in the academy, both for the teacher and
for the students in their different roles in the areas of knowledge, especially in subjects with high levels of demand
that traditionally present high failure rates:
• In the context of primary and secondary education, the work of Nawaz et al. (2017) presents the
positive results in the participants' academic performance with a meta-analysis of independent
studies of the use of peer tutoring in mathematics courses at different educational stages of childhood
and adolescence. The work of Alegre-Ansuategui et al. (2017) describes the positive experience
with statistically significant results of peer tutoring with mathematics students from a secondary
school in Castellón de la Plana (Spain).
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• In a similar context, Alegre et al. (2020) examine the positive effects of peer tutoring on the
academic performance of primary and secondary school students in similar settings for the subject
of mathematics. In higher education contexts, Zapata (2020) explores the perceptions and benefits
of university students in Chile on their peer tutoring experience to align their lack of student
competencies with the minimum required to achieve good results. The work of Araneda et al. (2020)
describes statistically significant effects of the positive impact of the methodology of peer tutors on
the academic performance of first-year university students at a state university in the extreme north
of Chile. Likewise, the work of (Wankiiri ‐ Hale et al., 2020) highlights the benefits for student
tutors to gain experience that impacts them both academically and personally.
The authors of this work show their experience as tutors during their academic life, which results in a current link
in the training of professionals and research in the Chilean academy.
5. Conclusions
According to work presented and the results obtained, we can draw the following main conclusions:
1. Peer tutoring presented a revolutionary teaching-learning methodology for tutors and tutored students;
that is, it allows the development of unique competencies to guide their academic and professional future.
According to Kolb's typification, students achieve peer interaction according to their diverse learning
styles and pace (Blanco, 2017).
2. Students of courses or subjects of high academic demand highly benefit from peer tutoring. Students
create an enabling environment that encourages meaningful learning, emphasizing some generic
competencies such as teamwork, self-management, and problem-solving.
3. Students develop autonomy, management, and leadership in their search for knowledge, achieving a
reflection on their educational work, positively impacting their self-esteem.
4. Teachers are greatly benefited by peer tutoring regarding improvements in student performance, which
requires coordination with student tutors to homogenize the objectives and student learning.
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