Who helps with learning for school? Social learning environment at secondary and grammar schools

The paper at hand analyzes the social learning environment of students from sixth to tenth grade. Based on a systematic disambiguation with regard to central aspects of this research field and a definition of criteria for a valid measurement, two facets of working at home for school were investigated: qualitative aspects (Who helps students with their homework? At what are they assisted?) and quantitative aspects (To what temporal extent are they assisted?). For collecting data, a diary was developed, geared to the previously defined criteria of measurement. This diary was completed by 419 students (234 girls and 185 boys) from Austrian secondary and grammar schools. Among other things, results show that most of the students predominantly work alone. Sixteen percent of their time spent on working at home for school are assisted by somebody else: a family member, a friend or in private lessons. We also identified four learner types which differed in their achievement: an independent learner, a peer group learner, a family assisted learner and a private lessons learner.