A Study of the Impact of Peer-Led Team Learning on the First-Year Math Course Performance of Engineering Students

Abstract

As part of an NSF-sponsored STEP grant, formal peer-led team learning (PLTL) groups were created for first-year engineering and computer science students. The groups were organized around the math course taken by the students so that all students in a particular group were taking the same math course. In both the 2010-11 and 2011-12 academic years, these groups were offered as a formal class, with students receiving a grade based upon participation. This was done to stress the importance of the groups to the students, and increase the level of participation by the students. Work with the groups in previous years showed that increased levels of participation led to greater impacts on student grades. Approximately 73% of the first-year students in engineering and computer science participated in these PLTL groups in 2010-11, with most students attending most of the weekly sessions. This participation rate increased to 82% in 2011-12. The impact of the PLTL groups on students in Calculus-level classes (Calculus I and II) was strong. When compared to all students in the Calculus courses who did not participate in the PLTL groups, the grades of the students who participated in the PLTL groups were generally 0.4-0.7 points (on a 4-point scale) higher. However, the results at the Pre-Calculus level (College Algebra and Trigonometry) were not as impressive. Students in the PLTL groups in College Algebra only had average grades 0.2 points higher than nonparticipants, while the Trigonometry students demonstrated little impact from the PLTL groups. This difference may be a result of the students’ self-perceived need for the PLTL groups, with Calculus-level students seeing a greater need for the groups. In this paper, the format of the PLTL groups is described in detail, and a detailed analysis of the impact of the PLTL groups on the student grades is presented.