Teacher Practical Guidance:
Help Seeking
Category: Assessment & Planning
Rank Order
24
Effect Size
0.72
Achievement Gain %
26
How-To Strategies
How To: Karapenick (2017)
- Teach students how to ask for help in solving problems rather than asking for answers
- Talk to students (especially MS students) about help seeking and how they feel asking for help in class
- Role-play in groups and pairs how to ask for help
- Teachers should respond to questions with complete answers or explanations or defer to later when they have time
- Establish a “culture of grappling” … discuss the value of “productive failure”
- Set norms for asking for help at beginning of year
- Ask students to explain their thinking; ask why questions
- Help students re-frame their questions: from I can’t do it…to, “I’m using these options (or strategies) and they are not working
- Encourage students to think about their thinking (meta-cognition)
- “That’s not a wrong answer, it’s a great non-example”… then ask the class to turn it into an example
- “There are no wrong answers,” she told students. Instead, “there are examples of the right answer and non-examples of the right answer.”
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Provide sentence starters such as: “I’m struggling with… . Can we talk about it later?” “I’m working hard, but I’m still not understanding… . Can you help me?” “I’m not sure what I need. Can you please talk to me?” “Can you give me advice about … ?”
Help Seeking Process: Gross (1982)
(1) determine there is a problem;
(2) determine that help is needed;
(3) decide to seek help;
(4) select the goal of the help-seeking;
(5) select the source of help;
(6) solicit help;
(7) obtain the requested help;
(8) process the help received.
How-To Resources
Link – ARTICLE (Center for Responsive Schools) Teaching help seeking skills
Link – ARTICLE (ASCD) The ins and outs of Academic help seeking
Link – ARTICLE (Hawkes Learning) Improving students academic help seeking
Link – ARTICLE (ASCD) Helping kids ask for help
Link – VIDEO (Kids First) Help seeking for young people
References
Behr, G., & Rydzewski R (2021). When you wonder, you’re learning: Mister Rogers enduring lessons for raising creative, curious, caring kids. Hatchette Books.
Davison, Malberg, Sylva. (2023). Academic help seeking interactions in the classroom: A meta-analysis. British Journal of Educational Psychology, (93) 1.
Fang, Stefinik. (2023). A systematic review of studies exploring help-seeking strategies in online learning environments. Online Learning Journal, (27) 1.
Fraser, M. W., Nash, J. K., Galinsky, M. J., & Darwin, K. M. (2000). Making Choices: Social Problem-Solving Skills for Children. Washington, DC: NASW Press.
Gross, A. E.; McMullen, P. A. (1982). “The Help-Seeking Process“. In Derlega, V. J.; Grzelak, J. (eds.). Cooperation and Helping Behavior. Academic Press. pp. 305–326. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-210820-4.50018-6. ISBN 9780122108204.
Hattie, J. (2023). Visible learning: The sequel. NY: Routledge.
Karabenick, S., & Gonida, E. (2017), Schunk, Dale H.; Greene, Jeffrey A. (eds.), Academic Help Seeking as a Self-Regulated Learning Strategy, Handbook of Self-Regulation of Learning and Performance (2 ed.), Routledge, pp. 421–433,
Karabenick, S, & Gonida, E. (2018).Academic help seeking as a self-regulated learning strategy: Current issues, future directions. In D. H. Schunk & J. A. Greene (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation of learning and performance (2nd ed) pp. 421–433). Routledge https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315697048-27
Nelson-Le Gall, S. A. (1985). “Help-Seeking Behavior in Learning“. In Gordon, E. W. (ed.). Vol. 12. Washington DS: American Educational Research Association. doi:10.3102/0091732X012001055. S2CID 55453263.
Petersen, S. Z. (2020). “Perfectionism’s Relationship with Higher Education Students’ Help-Seeking: A Literature Review” (PDF). University of Oslo.
Pintrich, P. (2000). Multiple goals, multiple pathways: The role of goal orientation in learning and achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 544-555.
Ryan, A. & Shin, H. (2011). Help-seeking tendencies during early adolescence: An examination of motivational correlates and consequences for achievement. Learning and Instruction, 21, 247-256.
Yang, F. & Stefaniak, J. (2023). A systematic review of studies exploring help-seeking strategies in online learning environments. Online Learning, 27(1). Link
Help Seeking
DEFINITION
Defined as a learning (or problem-solving) strategy where a learner attempts to obtain external assistance to deal with difficulties experienced while working towards one (or more) educational goal(s).
Help-seeking is considered an essential component of self-regulated learning. It involves recognizing when help is needed, deciding to seek help, and effectively utilizing the assistance received. This process helps students become more autonomous learners who can manage their learning processes and adapt strategies to meet their academic goals.
Seeking help is a social behavior that involves interaction with others, which can enhance the learning experience. Through these interactions, students can gain different perspectives, clarify doubts, and reinforce their understanding of the subject matter.
In the context of online and digital learning, help-seeking becomes even more crucial. Students need to navigate digital platforms and resources effectively, and seeking help can support their familiarity with these tools, increase self-efficacy, and promote learning autonomy. Perplexity (2024)
Types of Help:
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Adaptive: help-seeking from others including hints, an explanation, or an example. Adaptive help-seeking focuses on mastery and understanding (i.e. to seek just enough help to be able to solve a problem or attain a goal). More prevalent in elementary, declines in adolescence.
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Maladaptive: help-seeking that expedites a task completion or providing an answer. Involves avoidance of work (i.e. to request someone else to solve a problem or attain a goal on one’s behalf). More prevalent with adolescents. Associated with declines in achievement. Ryan & Shin (2011)
DATA
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3 meta-analysis reviews
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99 research studies
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14,000 students in studies
Hattie (2023) p. 348
QUOTES
“When kids ask questions and ask for help, they learn. The more questions they ask, the more they learn. Chouinard recorded 230 hours of conversation between four young children (ages 3-6 years) and adults and discovered that children asked lots of questions…up to 100 per hour. When studying Kindergarten classrooms, in a two hour stretch, kindergarten students ask between 2 and 5 questions; by 5th grade they rarely ask questions. In 5th there is little genuine wonder left in the children.” Behr & Rydzewski (2021) p. 20
“Self-regulated students become like teachers, as they have a repertoire of strategies to apply when their current strategy is not working…in addition they know what to do when they do not know what to do (help seeking).” Hattie (2023) p. 348
“Teachers have to welcome students seeking help, and there needs to be knowledgeable others (peers) from whom they can also seek help. Too often, students left in unsupported environments can seek and gain incorrect help and not know the help is incorrect.” Hattie (2023) p. 349
“In general help-seeking behaviors are dependent upon three categories, attitudes (beliefs and willingness) towards help-seeking, intention to seek help, and actual help-seeking behavior.” Nelson-Le Gall (1985)
“Help-seeking is – apart from peer learning – the only self-regulated learning strategy that is potentially social in nature, and in many instances learners need to possess appropriate social skills for seeking help from a variety of sources. The help solicitation process requires social competencies, including the knowledge and skills to approach a helping source for the desired help in ways that are socially desirable.” Karabenick (2017)