Unlocking Academic Success: The Power of Peer Coaching in Shaping Emotions and Boosting Learning

Ray Tak-yin Hui
Professor, NUCB Business School

Academic coaching has garnered increased recognition as an effective means of supporting students’ learning.
A recent study published by Dr. Ray Tak-yin HUI examined how peer coaching impacts students’ learning performance through self-regulatory emotions in higher education.
Findings offer theoretical and practical insights into coaching, emotions, and learning.

Empower Each Other,
Excel Together: How Peer Coaching Sparks Emotional Strength and Academic Success

In today’s fast-changing world, students often struggle to adapt to new learning environments in higher education. Academic coaching, which offers structured support, helps students navigate these challenges effectively (Mukadam & Kassam, 2020). Peer coaching, an emerging focus in education, involves students supporting each other to develop skills and achieve goals. However, research on its effectiveness remains underexplored (Cruz et al., 2022; de Haan & Nilsson, 2023; Koke et al., 2022).
　Drawing on Bandura’s social cognitive theory, our study examines how two peer coaching styles—guidance and facilitation—affect students’ self-regulatory emotions and learning outcomes. We also propose that guidance and facilitation coaching, by encouraging different forms of mastery experiences, interact to elicit either prevention- or promotion-focused emotions during the learning process.

Two Peer Coaching Styles: Guidance vs. Facilitation

According to Hui et al. (2013), guidance coaching fosters vicarious mastery through coach-directed methods such as role modeling and prescribed strategies. In contrast, facilitation coaching promotes enactive mastery through learner-directed exploration, including self-discovery, trial and error, and critical thinking. Facilitation coaching develops problem-solving skills and builds confidence by enabling students to master tasks independently. Both coaching styles are effective, but their impact depends on how well they align with learners’ needs and emotional responses.

The Role of Emotion in Peer Coaching

Emotions act as catalysts in the coaching process, reflecting learners’ beliefs, experiences, and values (Duffell & Lawton-Smith, 2015). Higgins et al. (1997) identify four self-regulatory emotions linked to goal attainment: cheerfulness (achieved goals), dejection (unfulfilled aspirations), quiescence (met obligations), and agitation (unfulfilled responsibilities).
　In our study, we found that facilitation coaching promotes goal-attainment emotions (cheerfulness, quiescence) and reduces failure-prevention emotions (dejection, agitation). On the other hand, guidance coaching can generate mixed emotions. While it provides structure and risk reduction, it may suppress autonomy, limiting coping skills and increasing negative emotions, especially among promotion-focused learners (Turnbull, 2009). For prevention-focused learners, however, guidance coaching can energize performance by emphasizing risk reduction and failure prevention, triggering quiescence and agitation, which enhance performance in uncertain scenarios (Luo et al., 2021).

Interaction Effect of Coaching Styles on Emotion

Previous research has focused on the individual effects of guidance and facilitation coaching on performance but has not thoroughly examined how their interaction influences students' emotions. A mixed coaching approach that combines guidance and facilitation may evoke stronger positive emotional responses due to its flexibility and adaptability.
　When guidance coaching is low and facilitation coaching is high (low G - high F), students experience more positive emotions (cheerfulness, quiescence) and fewer negative emotions (dejection, agitation) compared to low G - low F coaching. This is because facilitation coaching fosters enactive learning and exploration, improving emotional well-being even in the absence of strong guidance.
　In contrast, high guidance coaching combined with low facilitation (high G - low F) may result in fewer meta-skills and strategies, leaving students less prepared for challenges and more prone to negative emotions. However, a high G - high F approach leverages the complementary strengths of both styles. Guidance coaching provides skills and strategies, while facilitation coaching encourages exploration and failure recovery. This combination fosters regulatory success (cheerfulness, quiescence) while minimizing regulatory failure (dejection, agitation). This synergistic approach positively influences students’ emotional and learning outcomes.

Practical Takeaways

Peer coaching is a powerful tool for enhancing learning and emotional well-being. To maximize its benefits:

1. Train students in coaching skills. Help them learn how to effectively provide both guidance and facilitation.
2. Adapt coaching styles to the context. Use guidance coaching in high-stakes situations that require precision and facilitation coaching to foster creativity and exploration.
3. Blend both approaches. Provide structured support while encouraging resilience, critical thinking, and confidence—essential traits for addressing complex challenges like climate change or organizational transformation.

Beyond Education: Implications for Coaching in the Workplace

Beyond education, the insights from this study are also relevant to employee coaching at work. Research has shown that coaching styles significantly influence emotions, cognition, and performance across industries and regions (Hui et al., 2013, 2021, 2023, 2024a, 2024b; Hui & Sue-Chan, 2018, 2024; see Table 1). Drawing on theoretical frameworks such as goal-setting theory, social cognitive theory, and leader-member exchange theory, we explored the affective-cognitive mechanisms of coaching, providing empirically supported explanations for its effectiveness. Ongoing cross-disciplinary studies are yielding valuable insights into how coaching operates across industrial, disciplinary, and geographical boundaries.
　By strategically leveraging coaching, educators and business leaders can empower individuals to excel in their roles while fostering emotional resilience and long-term growth.

List of coaching studies conducted by Dr. Ray Tak-yin Hui

• Hui, R. T. Y., & Sue-Chan, C. (2024a). The mediating role of self-regulatory emotions in the relationship between peer coaching and student learning in higher education. Studies of Higher Education.49(11), 2279-2296.
• Hui, R. T. Y., Wu, D. C. W., & Luo, J. (2024b). Coaching in hybrid workplace: An examination of face-to-face and online coaching to enhance self-efficacy and knowledge creation. Conference paper presented at 12th International Conference on Information and Education Technology (ICIET 2024), Yamaguchi, Japan. 19-20 March 2024.
• Hui, R. T. Y., Wu, D. C. W., & Luo, J. (2023). E-coaching and work performances under the new normal: The relational-cognitive mechanism of leader-member exchange and self-efficacy. Conference paper presented at Japan Forum of Business and Society 12th Annual Conference, Tokyo, Japan.7-8 Sep 2023.
• Hui, R. T. Y., Law, K. K., Lau, S C. P. (2021). Online or Offline? Coaching media as mediator of the relationship between coaching style and employee work-related outcomes. Australian Journal of Management, 46(2), 326-345.
• Hui, R. T. Y., Sue-Chan, C., & Wood, R. E. (2021). Performing versus adapting: how leader’s coaching style matters in Hong Kong. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 32, 4163-4189.
• Hui, R. T. Y., & Sue-Chan, C. (2018). Variations in coaching style and their impact on subordinates’ work outcomes. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 39(5), 663-679.
• Hui, R. T. Y., Sue-Chan, C., & Wood, R. E. (2013). The contrasting effects of coaching style on task performance: The mediating roles of subjective task complexity and self-set goal. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 24(4), 429-458.