Community Building in Post Pandemic Era: Peer Tutoring in Digital Learning Contexts for Soft and Professional Skills Enhancement. A Post-graduate Experience

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present the results of a research aimed at analysing the use of community building and the effectiveness of peer-tutoring in a university environment, specifically among students attending post-graduate courses delivered online, to support soft and professional skills. The study examined the online tutoring service offered to students attending the post-graduate courses “Museum Education” and “Advanced Studies in Museum Education”, promoted by the Centre for Museum Studies based at the Department of Education - University Roma Tre, during the academic year 2020–21. Both tutors and students were submitted questionnaires in order to monitor the level of usefulness of the service, its strengths, and weaknesses. The results of the peer tutoring experience show that peer tutoring created group bonds and increased the sense of “community”, albeit virtual, as well as providing information and support to the students.