Online Tutoring in Introductory Physics Courses: a Lockdown Experience

TL;DR

This paper examines the implementation and effectiveness of an online tutoring model for introductory physics courses during the Covid-19 pandemic, highlighting its impact on student performance.

Contribution

It introduces a specific online tutoring approach adapted for physics courses and evaluates its success during pandemic-induced remote learning.

Findings

Improved student performance during online tutoring sessions

Effective adaptation of laboratory and peer instruction components

Positive student feedback on online tutoring experience

Abstract

Social distancing due to the Covid-19 pandemic deeply impacted on education worldwide, since schools and universities had to rapidly organise lessons and courses on line. Traditional interactions between teachers and students and, also among students, had to change and was substituted by on line connections. In this context, laboratory work and tutoring, which have an important role in the peer instruction model, needed to be redesigned. Here, we discuss an on line tutoring model adopted for the introductory physics courses at Turin Polytechinc University and evaluate its effectiveness by analysing the students performance both during the semester and the summer and autumn exam sessions.