UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS USE OF INFORMATION ELICITED DURING E-MAIL TUTORIALS

This study considers those questions posed by students during e-mail ' 'tutorials'' to elicit information from ''guest lecturers'' and the us e of that information by students in their essays. The ''tutorials'' w ere conducted for students in the U.K. by a ''guest lecturer'' in Fran ce. The ''guest lecturer'' was accredited as a tutor on the module for which the students were enrolled, and participated in the module by t he provision of lecture notes prior to the e-mail tutorials. Data for the study, drawn from a comparative education assignment set for under graduate students enrolled on the module, comprised surveys of student s' perceived IT capabilities and attitudes towards IT, analyses of stu dents' questions and analyses of students' essays. The findings of the study indicate (I) that tutees tend to pose questions to elicit infor mation or clarification rather than to elicit the viewpoint or opinion s of the ''guest lecturer'' and (2) that two-thirds of tutees essays c ited information elicited from the ''guest lecturer''. (C) 1998 Elsevi er Science Ltd. All rights reserved.