Academic help-seeking interactions in the classroom: A microlongitudinal study.

Task-specific understanding and need for help were associated with help-seeking and help-giving behaviour during lessons. Understanding was associated also with the type of help sought and given among classmates and appeared to influence whether pupils were help-seekers or help-givers during peer interactions. There was an apparent reciprocity in peer help-seeking interactions, occurring namely among girls and higher performers. Overall, girls were more likely than boys to seek and give help across tasks. Pupils for whom English was an additional language were less likely than classmates to seek help when they needed it. The study (1) sheds new light on the dynamics of everyday help-seeking interactions in the classroom, (2) provides a conceptual framework for researchers interested in reciprocal processes of social interaction in self-regulated learning, and (3) highlights groups who might benefit from intervention.