Chinese students’ participation in computer tutoring for additional instruction and its effect on academic achievement

This study aimed to understand students’ participation in the internet or computer tutoring for additional academic instructions and its association with their academic achievement. Secondary data from Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 was used, focusing on a Chinese sample from Bejing, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The sample comprised 6,425 Chinese students (mean age is 15.72 years) who had additional instructions during the current school year, with 3,144 (48.9%) girls and 3,281 (51.1%) boys. Multilevel regression was conducted to examine the factors related students’ participation in the internet or computer tutoring for additional academic instructions, and multilevel structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to examine the association between students’ participation and their academic achievement, with the effects of student’s gender, achievement motivation, home educational resources, and economic social and cultural status statistically controlled. Results of multilevel regression showed that use of information and communication technology (ICT) at school positively associated with students’ participation in internet or computer tutoring with a programme or application for additional academic instruction; however, students’ ICT interest, ICT self-efficacy, and ICT Autonomy are not significant predictors of their participation. Results of multilevel SEM showed that students’ participation in internet or computer tutoring negatively associated with their academic achievement, although with low the effect size. These findings suggested that schools can be a place for the promotion of intelligent learning environment, while more studies are needed to provide effective internet or computer tutoring system for Chinese students who are learning in a teacher-centered teaching context. Copyright © 2017 The Education University of Hong Kong.