In peer tutoring, what role does the tutor play in supporting their peer’s…

Concept: Peer tutoring is a peer-mediated form of instruction in which one learner who already has a firmer grasp of the material works directly with another learner. The pairing may be same-age or cross-age, and in reciprocal models the two learners take turns as tutor and tutee; what makes it peer tutoring is that the helper is a fellow learner rather than the teacher. Its defining mechanism is scaffolded explanation paired with immediate, task-specific feedback: the tutor restates an idea in language the tutee can access, and then responds to the tutee’s own attempt while the learning is still under way. In Vygotskian terms the tutor operates inside the tutee’s zone of proximal development — supplying the support that lets the learner do now, with help, what they cannot yet do alone.

Application: The stem asks for the tutor’s role during the peer’s learning process. Explaining concepts supplies the scaffold — the idea rendered in accessible terms — and providing feedback closes the loop, telling the peer what their specific attempt achieved and where it went wrong while there is still time to act on it. That pairing of explanation with responsive feedback is precisely the mechanism that defines peer tutoring, so the tutor’s role is to explain concepts and provide feedback.

Cross-check: Set that against the other activities described:

• Taking attendance rather than teaching is an administrative record-keeping duty — it documents presence and never engages the peer’s understanding of the content.

• Assigning all homework without explanation delivers tasks but withholds the scaffold, so no explanation of the concept ever reaches the peer.

• Grading final exams without discussion is summative assessment carried out after instruction has ended, so nothing is returned to the learner in time to shape the learning.

Result: In peer tutoring the tutor supports the peer by explaining concepts and providing feedback.