Main Categorizations of Help-Seeking Behavior
| Researcher(s) | Category | Definition | Example/ Focus |
| Nelson-Le Gall, 1981 | Executive/ Expedient help-seeking | Instances in which the person’s intention is only to have somebody else on his or her behalf solve a problem or attain a goal. | Dependency-oriented. |
| Instrumental/ Adaptive Help-seeking | Instances in which the person seeks a limited amount & type of help to help himself or herself independently solve the problem or attain a goal. | Mastery-oriented. | |
| Karabenick & Knapp, 1991 | Formal Help-seeking | Learners obtain help from formal sources. | Seek help from instructors, university-provided support personnel, and ask questions in class. |
| Informal Help-seeking | Learners obtain help from informal sources. | Seek help from other students and more knowledgeable friends. | |
| Instrumental Activities | Learners take action to help themselves perform better. | Try harder, study more or take better notes. | |
| Lowering Performance Aspirations | Learners choose to lower their original aspirations and do easier things next time. | Take a lighter load next time or select easier courses next term. | |
| Altering Goals | Learners change their goals based on their experiences. | Transfer to another school, change major or minor. | |
| Cheng et al., 2013 | Information Searching | Search online for answers to solve academic problems. | Search information on Google or other relevant websites. |
| Formal Query | Contact teachers or tutors online to request help. | Email course instructors or tutors to get help. | |
| Receive help through e-tutor systems. | |||
| Informal Query | Contact peers or unknown experts online to request help. | Go to social network sites to request help from unknown experts or other peers. | |
| Makara & Karabenick, 2013 | Formal (F) & Informal (In) | Seek help through formal and informal sources | F: course website, instructor, syllabus, textbook, tutor center, etc. |
| In: chat room, discussion board, peer, etc. | |||
| Personal (P) & Impersonal (Im) | The relationship between the help seeker and the help source is close or distant. | P: peer, instructor in person, friend, family, etc. | |
| Im: course website, web search engine, syllabus, textbook, etc. | |||
| Mediated (M) & Face-to-face (F) | The help-seeking episode occurs with the help of technology or help-seekers and help-givers meet physically. | M: chat room, discussion board, course website, syllabus, textbooks, etc. | |
| F: instructor in person, peer in person, tutor center, etc. | |||
| Dynamic (D) & Static (S) | The help source adapts or changes over time based on learners’ needs or not | D: chat room, discussion board, instructor, peer, friend, tutor center, etc. | |
| S: course website, syllabus, textbook, etc. |
| Nelson-Le Gall, 1981 | Executive/ | Instances in which the person’s intention is only to have somebody else on his or her behalf solve a problem or attain a goal. | Dependency-oriented. |
| Instrumental/ Adaptive Help-seeking | Instances in which the person seeks a limited amount & type of help to help himself or herself independently solve the problem or attain a goal. | Mastery-oriented. | |
| Karabenick & | Formal | Learners obtain help from formal sources. | Seek help from instructors, university-provided support personnel, and ask questions in class. |
| Informal | Learners obtain help from informal sources. | Seek help from other students and more knowledgeable friends. | |
| Instrumental | Learners take action to help themselves perform better. | Try harder, study more or take better notes. | |
| Lowering Performance Aspirations | Learners choose to lower their original aspirations and do easier things next time. | Take a lighter load next time or select easier courses next term. | |
| Altering Goals | Learners change their goals based on their experiences. | Transfer to another school, change major or minor. | |
| Information Searching | Search online for answers to solve academic problems. | Search information on Google or other relevant websites. | |
| Formal Query | Contact teachers or tutors online to request help. | Email course instructors or tutors to get help. | |
| Receive help through e-tutor systems. | |||
| Informal Query | Contact peers or unknown experts online to request help. | Go to social network sites to request help from unknown experts or other peers. | |
| Makara & | Formal (F) & | Seek help through formal and informal sources | F: course website, instructor, syllabus, textbook, tutor center, etc. |
| In: chat room, discussion board, peer, etc. | |||
| Personal (P) & | The relationship between the help seeker and the help source is close or distant. | P: peer, instructor in person, friend, family, etc. | |
| Im: course website, web search engine, syllabus, textbook, etc. | |||
| Mediated (M) & Face-to-face (F) | The help-seeking episode occurs with the help of technology or help-seekers and help-givers meet physically. | M: chat room, discussion board, course website, syllabus, textbooks, etc. | |
| F: instructor in person, peer in person, tutor center, etc. | |||
| Dynamic (D) & | The help source adapts or changes over time based on learners’ needs or not | D: chat room, discussion board, instructor, peer, friend, tutor center, etc. | |
| S: course website, syllabus, textbook, etc. |
Sharing content requires targeting cookies to be enabled. Please update your cookie preferences to use this feature.