As more buzz started to build about using artificial intelligence as “tutors” for students, we wondered, “What is it that makes human tutoring truly ‘human’?”

Three graduate researchers from the Harvard Graduate School of Education used Simple Interactions tools to look closely at human connections during one-on-one online math tutoring sessions. In partnership with Andromeda Math Partners (AMP), Alyssa Niemiec (a former math teacher and current principal), Rikki Ann Haney (a former and current teacher), and Xiaoyue Dai (current researcher) reviewed videos of math tutor sessions to answer what makes human interactions “human” in online individual tutoring. Then, they facilitated a workshop with the online tutors to discuss how identifying and discussing these human interactions can support the tutors’ ongoing work.

Informed by the dimensions of the Simple Interactions Tool, the research team closely examined the recording of tutoring sessions. They extracted moments where “humanness” and “learning math” seem to intersect and shared those with the Andromeda Math Partners team. Then, in a workshop format. the tutors themselves watched and described the video segments in terms of their relationships with students. They shared how these elements extend to tutoring sessions in general. Visit the Simple Interactions website for the full story, and see what you notice in an online tutoring video.

Simple Interactions is a collective work of people from all different paths. We are expanding our team page to showcase more of our collaborators. To learn about the work they do both in relationship to Simple Interactions and in their daily lives or to contact a team member, click on their photo on the team page!