Peer-led Team Learning Research Articles

Implementing Peer-Led Team Learning and Cyber Peer-Led Team Learning in an Organic Chemistry Course

Implementing Peer-Led Team Learning and Cyber Peer-Led Team Learning in an Organic Chemistry Course

Investigation of the Effects of a Peer-Led Team Learning Instructional Model (PLTL) in Teaching the Simple Electrical Circuits Subject on the Seven Principles for Good Practice

The aim of this study was investigated the effects of applying a Peer-Led Team Learning Instructional Model (PLTL) to the prospective primary school teachers in teaching the simple electrical circuits subject on the seven principles for good practice. This study used the three-group Solomon Experimental Design. The study participants were sophomore level prospective teachers from the Department of Primary School Teaching at a state university. The control group (CG) was applied close-ended experimental method, while the experimental groups (EG1 and EG2) was applied the PLTL. The data collection tool of the study was used “Seven Principles Opinion Scale for Good Practice” (SPOS) developed by Bishoff (2010). The SPOS was used for the pre-test of EG1 and CG, and for the post-test of EG1, EG2 and CG. Accordingly to the post-test, The experimental groups applying the PLTL were better than the control group in the “Encouraging Student-Faculty Contact”, “Encouraging Cooperation among Students”, “Respecting Diverse Talents/Ways of Learning”, “Encouraging Active Learning”, and “Giving Prompt Feedback” principles. The PLTL is effective in attaining the objectives of the seven principles for good practice. It is recommended that further studies on PLTL should be conducted in order to contribute to the relevant literature by investigating the teaching experience that leaders gain in applying the principles necessary for a good education.

Peer Led Team Learning in a Foundational IPE Curriculum

BACKGROUND The Peer Led Team Learning (PLTL) instructional model utilizes Peer Leaders, advanced students who mentor and guide student teams to collaborate on applied course concepts. PURPOSE To apply a modified PLTL model in the university’s foundational, longitudinal, competency-based interprofessional education (IPE) curriculum. METHODS Twelve Peer Leaders were selected, trained, and deployed as facilitators for interprofessional teams of students during the IPE curriculum’s first three large-scale learning events. Peer Leaders completed an evaluation of training, a facilitation skills survey, and participated in a semi-structured focus group interview process. RESULTS After participating in the PLTL program, Peer Leaders reported increased confidence in their interprofessional knowledge and facilitation skills. The primary challenge for Peer Leaders in facilitating teams was lack of student engagement (n=7, 58%). CONCLUSION PLTL is a feasible model for IPE settings. It has the potential to both increase facilitator capacity in interprofessional learning activities and have a positive impact on Peer Leaders.

ENHANCING STUDENTS' ATTITUDE AND ACHIEVEMENT IN BIOLOGY THROUGH INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES

In this research, the impact of peer tutoring and group tutoring led to team learning approaches on the attitude of the students towards and achievement in biology. The thesis had been motivated by four research questions and six null hypotheses. The research had used a quasi-experimental method. In particular, the design of the un-equivalent control group. The sample size was 182 SS 1 students from the four sampled government senior high schools in Port-Harcourt metropolis, River State, Nigeria in four intact classrooms. Two of the classes were exposed to peer tutoring while the remaining two were exposed to peer-led team learning strategies. Biology Attitudinal Scale (BAS), and Biology Achievement Test (BAT) were data collection instruments. BAS construct validity was developed using factor analysis, while BAT material validity was calculated using the specification table. Reliability for BAS and BAT was obtained using formula 20 (K-R 20) from Cronbach Alpha and Kudar-Richardson. Mean and the standard deviation was used to answer the study questions while Covariance analysis (ANCOVA) was used to evaluate the hypotheses at 0.05 significance point. The findings showed that peer-led team learning approach is better than peer tutoring in enhancing the attitude and achievement of the students in biology. The implications of the findings were highlighted and recommendations made.

A scoping review of the peer-led team learning to learner-participants and peer leaders in STEM courses

A scoping review of the peer-led team learning to learner-participants and peer leaders in STEM courses

Beyond content knowledge: transferable skills connected to experience as a peer-leader in a PLTL program and long-term impacts

BackgroundBeing a successful peer-led team learning (PLTL) workshop leader involves developing content knowledge and workshop facilitation skills. These skills connected to being a peer leader, however, do not terminate at the end of one’s undergraduate program. In fact, many former peer leaders denote having been a peer leader on their LinkedIn profile. This study examines the transferable skills that former peer leaders identified as being valuable in their current positions. We conducted semi-structured interviews with former peer leaders from varying disciplines, universities, ages, and years since being a peer leader.ResultsInterview questions captured leadership experiences including successes and challenges of being peer leaders, roles and responsibilities, and specific transferable skills further developed by being peer leaders and how they are being utilized in the leaders’ current position.ConclusionThematic analyses of these interviews indicate that former peer leaders recognize leadership skills, coping with many challenges (including not having the right answer), collaboration/teamwork skills, self-confidence, and problem-solving skills as being relevant and frequently used in their current work.

Relationship of the Variables affecting the Students Utilizing the Peer Led Team Learning 7e Chemical Bonding Worksheets

The Peer Led Team Learning (PLTL) and 7E approaches are proven strategies in developing concepts, spatial ability, self-concept, group interaction and problem-solving skill but very few studies assessed its combined effects. The combined pedagogical approach - cognitive, psychomotor, and affective nexus needs to be assessed to support the improvement in the teaching practice of chemical bonding. Students independent variables include sex, Senior High School (SHS) track, and college entrance test science score (SS). Adapted instruments measured the dependent variables: conceptual understanding (CU), spatial ability (SA), self-concept (SC), group interaction (GI) and problem-solving approach (PSA). The score from the chemical bonding worksheet (CBW) was gathered as well. From the set of independent and dependent variables, the present study determined the relationship of sex, SHS track, SS, CU, SA, SC, GI, PSA and CBW scores. Action research paradigm was employed to 71 preservice science teachers that were divided into 10 peer groups that experienced the 30 hours activities of the CBW. The variables were tested by Pearson Correlation to show significant relationships. Results showed significant relationship between SHS track and CU, SA, SC, SS, CBW, GI and PSA. CU to SA, CBW to SA and GI, and SS to SC. Differing from most study sex was not significantly related to SA and SC. Implications of the findings to improving the CBW and teaching of chemical bonding were explained.

Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL), Student Achievement and Engagement in Learning Chemistry

The main purpose of this study was to determine the effects of Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) strategy on the achievement and engagement level students in Chemistry. It was conducted at Casimiro A. Ynares Sr. Memorial National High School, Taytay, Rizal during the third quarter period of the school year 2018-2019. The participants of this study were chosen using purposive sampling. The sample students belong to one intact section of Grade 9 composed of 36 students. This study utilized a one-group pre-experimental research design. The results revealed that there is a significant difference in the chemistry achievement and engagement level of the students before and after their exposure to Peer-Led Team Learning. Significant difference was found in all the CIP engagement factors which are; cooperation, interest and participation after the students were exposed to PLTL. In overall there is a significant difference in the engagement mean of students before and after the implementation of PLTL. It was concluded that the use of Peer-Led Team Learning had positive effects to the learning achievement in chemistry and engagement of students. The workshop participants revealed they are felt comfortable learning under the peer leaders because they approachable and they were able to execute the lessons properly and clearly. The students also enjoyed sharing ideas and working with each other that triggered cooperation among them.

Peer Leader Reflections on Promoting Discussion in Peer Group-Learning Sessions: Reflective and Practiced Advice through Collaborative Annual Peer-Advice Books.

As research has shown, collaborative peer learning is effective for improving student learning. Peer-led team learning (PLTL) is one well-known collaborative-group approach in which groups are facilitated by trained undergraduate peer leaders. This paper contributes to the literature on peer-leader training by examining how peer leaders for a large introductory science course translate their training into practice during their sessions. By conducting qualitative analysis on annual advice books written by emergent peer leaders, we examined the practiced advice and strategies of these peer leaders as they facilitate PLTL groups in a university-level general chemistry course. These advice books are passed on to future peer instructors, creating a community of practice between new and more experienced peer leaders. From the analysis, we discovered that peer leaders focus on developing robust student–student discussion during complex problem solving by 1) creating a community-oriented social and intellectual environment, 2) adapting their tactics and the collaborative-learning strategies to balance different personalities and promote equal participation among all students, and 3) modifying collaborative group approaches when facilitating their sessions. Also, in their correspondence across cohorts, peer leaders provided near-peer support to one another. These annual books disseminate practiced advice between peer-leader generations and are used during new peer-leader training.

Peer-led team learning for introductory biology: relationships between peer-leader relatability, perceived role model status, and the potential influences of these variables on student learning gains

Student-instructor interactions have an influence on student achievement and perceptions of learning. In college and university settings, large introductory STEM courses are increasingly including Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL), an evidence-based technique associated with improved student achievement, recruitment, and retention in STEM fields, especially for underserved populations. Within this technique, peer leaders hold a unique position in a student’s education. Peer leaders have relevant experience in that they have had recent success in the courses in which they facilitate student learning, yet, compared to student-faculty or student-teaching assistant relationships, there is minimal imbalance of authority or power. Students might find their peer leaders to be more relatable than faculty or graduate teaching assistants, and may even consider them to be role models. We explored students’ perceptions of peer leader relatability and role model status in relation to students’ achievement and their perceived learning gains in the context of an introductory biology course with an associated PLTL program. The final course grades and self-assessed learning gains of PLTL students who felt they related to their peer leader were compared to those who did not. We also compared final course grades and self-assessed learning gains between PLTL students who viewed their peer leader as a role model versus those who did not. Self-reported learning gains were significantly higher for students who relate to their peer leader, as well as for students who viewed their peer leaders as a role model. There is some support that this trend is stronger for STEM majors versus those who are not enrolled in a STEM program, though the interaction is not significant. Significant differences in overall course grade were only observed between students who reported that they related to their peer leader versus those who did not relate to their peer leader.

The impact of inquiry-based, group-work approaches to instruction on both students and their peer leaders

Discipline-based educational research (DBER) has shown that three instructional techniques – Supplemental Instruction (SI), Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL), and Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) – can be effective ways of improving student performance in chemistry courses at the K-12 or college/university levels. The goal of this paper is to use an analysis of the literature to compare and contrast these instructional techniques and, when possible, to determine “best practices” for their implementation. Particular attention will be paid to four themes related to the impact of PLTL on students, impact on peer-team-leaders, how to motivate peer leaders, and impact of peer leaders on the instructors who implement PLTL in their classroom.

Introducing randomization testsviaan evaluation of peer-led team learning in undergraduate chemistry courses

The methodological limitations education researchers face in the evaluation of reformed instruction have led to debates as to the evidence advancing evidence-based practices. To conduct more effective research, methodological pluralism in the evaluation of educational reforms can be used to complement the strengths and limitations of a corpus of literature informing the impact of an evidence-based practice. This study seeks to introduce randomization tests, a nonparametric statistical analysis incorporating a random-assignment component that can be applied to a single-subject (N= 1) research design, as a methodology to be counted amongst evaluations of instructional reforms. To demonstrate the utility of this approach, an evaluation of peer-led team learning (PLTL) for classes of second-semester general chemistry spanning 7 semesters was conducted using randomization tests. The design contributes novel understandings of PLTL including differences in effectiveness across instructors, trends in effectiveness over time, and a perspective as to the appropriateness of assumptions concerning statistical independence when applied to educational settings. At the research setting, four instructors (each constituting an individual case) alternated implementing lecture-based instruction and PLTL by term. Across these four instructors, the treatment effects of peer-led team learning when compared to lecture-based instruction ranged in impact (fromd= 0.233 to 2.09). For two instructors, PLTL provided a means by which to significantly reduce the differential performances observed of students with variable preparations in mathematics, thereby advancing the equitability of their courses. Implications of this work include the incorporation of single-subject research designs in establishing evidence-based instructional practices, the effectiveness of PLTL as interpreted in a methodologically pluralistic context of the research literature, and enacting measurements of equity when gauging the success of instructional reforms in science. Further, this introduction to randomization tests offers another methodology for the evaluation of instructional reforms more widely applicable in educational settings with smaller sample sizes (e.g., reforms conducted within a single classroom or upper-level courses with small class sizes).

The Impact of Supplemental Instruction on the Performance and Attitudes of General Chemistry Students

The Impact of Supplemental Instruction on the Performance and Attitudes of General Chemistry Students

Impact of Peer-Led Team Learning and the Science Writing and Workshop Template on the Critical Thinking Skills of First-Year Chemistry Students

The Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) and the Science Writing and Workshop Template (SWWT) are two active learning instructional approaches which combine writing, inquiry, collaboration, and reflection, elements which have been associated with critical thinking development. In this study, we used a quasi-experimental pretest–post-test design to investigate the impact of the implementation of these two approaches on the critical thinking skills of first-year chemistry students, measured using the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST). The results indicate that implementation of the PLTL and the SWWT instructional strategies led to significantly higher gains in critical thinking.

Characterization of First-Semester Organic Chemistry Peer-Led Team Learning and Cyber Peer-Led Team Learning Students’ Use and Explanation of Electron-Pushing Formalism

The purpose of this parallel convergent mixed methods study was to characterize organic chemistry students’ expression of electron-pushing formalism skills who had participated in peer-led team learning (PLTL) and cyber peer-led team learning (cPLTL), a synchronous online version of peer-led team learning (PLTL) workshops. A new electron-pushing formalism analytic framework was developed from a review of the literature in addition to analysis of students’ interview artifacts, using a constant-comparison process. Utilization of this new electron-pushing formalism analytic framework for coding student interview artifacts revealed that cPLTL students were significantly less likely to successfully draw the product suggested by the curved arrows than their PLTL classmates. Implications for instructors are suggested, including encouraging students to verbally explain their rationale while drawing mechanisms as well as optimizing graphical collaborative learning activities for online learners.

Peer-Led Team Learning in General Chemistry I: Interactions with Identity, Academic Preparation, and a Course-Based Intervention

Robust evidence shows that Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) improves the academic success of first-year college students in introductory Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses. Less clear is the extent to which this positive PLTL effect varies across different subgroups of the population. The current study aims to deepen our understanding of the overall PLTL effect by extensively evaluating an optional PLTL program associated with General Chemistry I at a private, research university. Using five years of exam data, this study disaggregates the PLTL effect by demographics (sex and race), academic preparation (math skills, chemistry content knowledge, and experience with college-preparatory coursework), and participation in another curricular innovation (a growth-mindset intervention). Results revealed that the positive effect of PLTL was comparable across demographic identity groups. Thus, the PLTL program benefitted all participants but did not reduce the pre-existing performance disparity between underrepresented minority and white students (no sex-based disparity was observed). In terms of academic preparation, the PLTL effect interacted with students’ level of experience with college-preparatory coursework but not with their math or chemistry knowledge. This pattern suggests that PLTL may help develop students’ self-management or reasoning skills, without necessarily narrowing knowledge gaps. Finally, PLTL interacted with participation in a growth-mindset intervention: the difference between PLTL participants and nonparticipants was smaller among students who received the mindset intervention. Implications for chemical education researchers and practitioners are discussed, with an eye toward fostering equity in introductory STEM courses.

Overcoming the Hurdle from Undergraduate Lab to Research Lab: A Guided-Inquiry Structural Characterization of a Complex Mixture in the Upper-Division Undergraduate Organic Lab

This guided-inquiry, upper-division undergraduate organic lab experiment, a hybrid of problem-based learning (PBL); process-oriented, guided-inquiry learning (POGIL); and peer-led team learning (PLTL) has been developed to ease the transition from the undergraduate lab to a research lab environment. The characterization of a mixture of camphor and p-coumaric acid involves a complex separation as well as thoughtful NMR experiments and solvent selection. Technique and problem-solving instruction (involving thin-layer and column chromatography as well as 1D [coupling constant analysis] and 2D [COSY, HSQC, and HMBC] NMR spectroscopy) has been simplified for the instructor by the development of videos, detailed notes, and assignment worksheets.

Investigation of the Effect of Peer-Led Team Learning Model on University Students’ Exam Achievement in General Chemistry

The purpose of this study is to compare freshmen engineering students’ exam achievement in general chemistry course using peer-led team learning model and traditional instruction and to investigate the effect of the methods on different achieving level students. A total of 128 students who were instructed by the same professor participated in the study. Both in PLTL and traditional class consisted of different engineering disciplines. Throughout the semester, PLTL model was implemented in the experimental group while traditional instruction was used in the control group. 14 peer leaders who have successfully completed general chemistry course in previous semester have been trained on basic communication and pedagogy issues and they have supported their teams in problem-solving throughout the semester. Both experimental and control group students took the same mid-terms and final exam which are constructed by the related department. The data were analyzed by two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results indicated that low and medium achieving students’ general chemistry exam grades are statistically higher in PLTL group than those of traditional group students; however, there is no statistically significant mean difference in high achieving students’ grades across the groups.

Teaching Biochemistry based Research Driven Course through Active Learning to Accelerate Student's Adaptation to College Study and Promote Freshman Research

Freshman Year Research Intensive Sequence (FYRIS) program was implemented at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in 2015. The program promotes student enrollment in research driven course (RDCs) for two semesters to enhance student development and increase retention in STEM through early interventions by engaging them in research activities during the freshman and sophomore years. As the undergraduate population at UTEP is 85% Hispanic, programs such as FYRIS can play an important role in increasing the representation of minorities in STEM. UTEP has a near 100% acceptance for the undergraduate courses implies a class population represents students of diverse academic proficiencies. In our special freshman chemistry laboratory sections (CHEM 1105 and CHEM1106/4176), students conduct research on expression and purification of proteins. In the first semester, students gain understanding of basic chemistry and biochemistry concepts prior optimizing protein expression. In the second semester, they continue expressing proteins and also learn protein purification using Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography. To enhance student success in advanced research driven courses, it's important that all students have an accelerated understanding in the basic chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology. Active learning methodologies such as personal response systems, case studies, problem based learning, flipped classroom, model building, game based quizzes, think pair share, peer led team learning were used to promote accelerated learning. Research‐Teaching Integration through peer led undergraduate students were implemented to boost student understanding and confidence. Overall, our evaluation showed that students' enjoyed the class sessions more and had a better clarity of complex research based concepts in our newly designed research driven coursesSupport or Funding InformationRDCs; S.R.; J.F. & R.E. National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under linked Award Numbers RL5GM118969, TL4GM118971, and UL1GM118970.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

UTDallas-PLTL:Advancing multi-stream speech processing for interaction assessment in peer-led team learning

Robust speech processing for single-stream audio data has achieved significant progress in the last decade. However, multi-stream speech processing poses new challenges not present in single-stream data. The peer-led team learning (PLTL) is a teaching paradigm popular among US universities for undergraduate education in STEM courses. In collaboration with UTDallas Student Success Center, we collected CRSS-PLTL and CRSS-PLTL-II corpora for assessment of speech communications in PLTL sessions. Both corpora consist of longitudinal recordings of five teams studying undergraduate Chemistry and Calculus courses consisting of 300 hours of speech data. The multi-stream audio data has unique challenges: (i) time-synchronization; (ii) multi-stream speech processing for speech activity detection, speaker diarization and linking, speech recognition, and (iii) behavioral informatics. We used a 1 kHz tone at the start and end of each session for time-synchronization of multi-stream audio. We leveraged auto-encoder neural network for combining MFCC features from multiple streams into compact bottleneck features. After diarization, each speaker segment is analyzed for behavioral metrics such as (i) dominance; (ii) curiosity in terms of question inflections; (iii) speech rate; (iv) cohesion; and (v) turn-duration and turn-taking patterns. Results are presented on individual and team based conversational interactions. This research suggests new emerging opportunities for wearable speech systems in education research.