Revised Draft of Research Question

The purpose of my research is to watch nonverbal language. I want to see which nonverbal cues are associated with a successful tutoring session and which are present when the session did not go well.

My question: What kinds of body language accompany listening in the tutoring session?

This is my plan: I will document patterns that I see when observing tutoring sessions. I will look at the body language of both the tutor and the learner in tutoring sessions and gather data on proximity, eye contact, facial expressions, and hand gesture to determine if the session is successful or not.

I will be looking for the kinds of behavior that are displayed when an open-ended question is asked.

I will look for the kinds of body language displayed when a closed-ended questions is asked of the learner.

Some questions I will pose during observations are:

o What is the tutor’s nonverbal language when he/she asks a question?

o What nonverbal language does the learner use as he/she listens to the tutor?

o Is the learner smiling?

o Is the tutor smiling?

o What are facial expressions are exchanged between tutor and learner in the session?

o Are tutor and learner making eye contact?

o If eye contact is being made, is it a lot or a little?

o Does the learner divert his/her eyes away for the tutor’s?

o Does the tutor look directly into the learner’s eyes?

o Is there a lot of blinking occurring with one or the other?

o Is the learner nodding his/her head?

o Does the student lean in?

o Does he/she pull back?

o Are there any really obvious facial expressions like frowning, confusion, worry, anxiety, bewilderment, satisfaction, appreciation, etc.?

o Any eye brow raises?

Hand gestures
o Any finger rapping?
o Any toe tapping?
o Any other signs that would indicate nervousness?

The sources listed by me last week are sufficient to measure what I see and support it with what those experts have found.

There is an additional source. The History Channel showed the special that was not broadcast a couple of weeks ago. Camille had mentioned it in class about 3 weeks ago. I found it very informative and present. They showed the body language of current politicians and showed speeches from the President-elect, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Sarah Palin and John Mc Cain and discussed their body language. The program was aired on the History Channel, (cable/satellite): "Secrets of Body Language."

I have not been successful in my quest to observe tutors at the CAS during the hours that I listed with the Tutoring Center. I will email Angela and find out when she is tutoring students and ask her if I can observe her in action when I can match my schedule with hers. I also need to find out when Ryan is tutoring students. I will observe the students and answer the questions that I posed in the list above.

Draft of Research Essay

Research Question: How do understanding nonverbal interactions between tutor and learner in the writing center help the tutor have successful tutoring sessions?

I hope to show that understanding the nonverbal cues of learners who come to writing centers for assistance can provide more successful tutoring sessions. I will be comparing deliberate and spontaneous facial movements of the students and I will look for some specifics including these:

What is the greeting like when tutor and learner meet?
Is there a handshake?
Tutor smile?
Learner Smile?


I will look at the body language of the tutor as she listens to the learner.
I will look at the body language of the learner as she listens to the tutor.
I will look at the body language of the tutor as she asks questions of the learner.
I will look at the body language of the learner as she listens to the tutor.

What is the eye contact like?
Is there lots of eye contact?
Does either tutor or learner avert his or her eyes?

I will watch the proximity of the tutor and the learner.
Does the student lean in or pull back?
Does the tutor lean in or pull back?
Are they sitting across from each other, or side by side?
Are they too close?
Too far?
Close enough?

What are the facial expressions?
Smiles?
Frowns?
Consternation?
Confusion?
Thoughtful?
Exasperated?
Worried?
Concern?
Impatience?
Anxious?
Frustration?
Appreciation?
Bewilderment?

What does learner do with his hands and feet?
Does the learner tap his foot?
Does she nervously tap fingers?
Does she make some other nervous movement with her hands?

Hand gestures:
What kinds of hand movements?
What do these particular movements mean? (see research literature)

Any spontaneous facial movements?
Eyebrow raises?
What kinds of facial display?

During my observations of tutors in the CAS, I will be looking for all of the above. I will take notes and record when I find those things that I am looking for. I will record the frequency and when a particular issue presents itself. After gathering the data, I will categorize and code all of it for organization. Then I will draw a conclusion and report on what my findings bring to my personal research. I will show what works and what does not work.

5 possible references

ERIC ED158354 Isenhart, Myra W. "An Investigation of Differential Ability in Decoding Nonverbal Cues"
Looking at interpersonal competence; nonverbal communication; college students; communication skills; individual power.

Goldin-Meadow, S. "Hearing Gestures: How our Hands Help us Think"
(2003) Cambridge, MA: Belknap
Understanding what hand gestures mean.

Mehrabian A. "Silent Messages" (1971) Belmont, CA Wadsworth
Looks at how people give nonverbal cues.

Star, Amy and Page, Norman "Dealing with Nonverbal Cues: A Key to Mediator Effectiveness"
Understanding how people use body language and other nonverbal language.

Gemma Warren, Elizabeth Schertler, Peter Brill "Detecting Deception from Emotional and Unemotional Cues"
Looks at ways to detect deception.

Directive/Non-Directive

I am going to check out Shamoon and Burns and Jeff Brooks again. I found googled and found a reference on ERIC, Education Resources Information Center. The ERIC # is EJ 642727 -" Perspectives on the Directive/Non-Directive Continuum in the Writing Center." Okay. So, I'm going back and forth to the Eric page and my blog and the google docs thinking I have something good to add to the list. I then see Dr. Chandler or someone else in our group has already added this one. AH!*% !@&*I give up.

Notes of confusion

Checking the sites at the bottom of Dr. Chandler's blog, I wasn't able to find what I was looking for. When I did a search, no data or suggestions for reading popped up for the topic that I (thought I) wanted to write about for my research. If there is data available and I was out of my element and can be re-directed, I want to write about hand gestures. If not, I will change my research paper to body language. I did not want to write about body language because I wanted to write something a little different. I don't, however want to be the first to write about hand gestures. It's just too ambitious a project!