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Looking for Answers: A Scoping Review of Academic Help-Seeking in Digital Higher Education Research

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  • Chris Gillies
  • Jim Turner
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Article number1095
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>25/08/2025
<mark>Journal</mark>Education Sciences
Issue number9
Volume15
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

As Higher Education (HE) institutions expand their digital resources, students may be struggling to engage effectively with these tools. Academic help-seeking (AHS) is a useful framework for exploring help-seeking behaviour and could be applied to HE contexts, yet its application has been reported as inconsistent. Given the possible utility of this concept to support the growth in technology, a review of how academic help-seeking theory is applied in digital contexts can help to consolidate current understanding and guide future research. This scoping review examines the intersection of AHS and digital technology use in HE through analysis of peer-reviewed literature (2019–2024). Several gaps emerge: bias towards human-centred support, limited investigation of help-avoidance behaviours, insufficient attention to early help-seeking stages, and few studies examining spontaneous help-seeking in authentic digital learning environments. These findings indicate the need for expanded theoretical frameworks that better reflect modern learning behaviours and environments, alongside more diverse research approaches to understand how students integrate both human and non-human help sources in contemporary HE contexts.