Teaching · For Tutors

Ask how they want
the hour to go.

Ten quick questions for a new student: see an example or try first, the pace, minutes before a break, how to handle mistakes, thinking aloud, paper or screen and what they do when lost. The survey turns the answers into a setup for the first sessions: how to open, how many breaks, how to correct and where confidence is low.

Start a surveyWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Tutoring business kit, $69 for 83 items.

Student surveys

The worked example is made up: a sixth grader who stops working when lost, a sophomore who wants to try chemistry problems first and a third grader learning longer words. Use initials or a code. Saved on this device only.

Loading the student form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Teaching · For Tutors$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A record per student: grade, subject and session length, eight answers about how sessions should go, three confidence ratings, interests for examples, what helped before and five setup steps. Produces a session setup: how to open new ideas, breaks per session, how and when to correct, a signal for being lost, where confidence is low and what to write examples about.
Who it is for
Tutors and tutoring centers starting with a new student, from early elementary through high school.
Format
Browser survey with a saved record per student. Prints one survey with its setup, every student in a table or a blank survey to hand the student; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Tutoring business kit ($69) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The For Tutors space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Ask the student the questions.
  2. Note interests for examples.
  3. Read the setup.
  4. Agree a signal for lost.
  5. Ask again after three sessions.

Start a survey

Preferences, not learning styles

A preference becomes a move in the sessionAskedExample first or tryfirstMinutes before a breakWhat I do when lostSet upOpen with a workedexampleA timer for short breaksA card that means lostCheckedIs the student gettingit rightAsk again after threesessionsChange what is notworkingA preference becomes a move in the sessionAskedExample first or try firstMinutes before a breakWhat I do when lostSet upOpen with a worked exampleA timer for short breaksA card that means lostCheckedIs the student getting it rightAsk again after three sessionsChange what is not working
Preferences shape comfort and routine. Whether the student is learning is checked on the work itself.

What the evidence says

Sorting students into visual, auditory or kinesthetic learners and teaching to that style has not been shown to improve learning. This survey asks something different: practical preferences about routine, pace and feedback that make sessions comfortable and help a student speak up. Learning is judged by the work, not by the answers here.

Example first or try first

For new material, studying worked examples tends to help beginners more than solving problems cold. Attempting a problem before instruction can also pay off when the teaching that follows builds on the attempt. Either way, watch the student’s accuracy and switch if one approach is not working.

Sources

  1. Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., and Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: concepts and evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9(3), 105 to 119.
  2. Sweller, J., and Cooper, G. A. (1985). The use of worked examples as a substitute for problem solving in learning algebra. Cognition and Instruction, 2(1), 59 to 89.
  3. Kapur, M. (2016). Examining productive failure, productive success, unproductive failure, and unproductive success in learning. Educational Psychologist, 51(2), 289 to 299.
  4. Kirschner, P. A. (2017). Stop propagating the learning styles myth. Computers and Education, 106, 166 to 171.

The worked example is made up. The survey records preferences; it does not assess or label how a student learns. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.