Peer-led team learning (PLTL) is a model of teaching undergraduate science, math, and engineering courses that introduces peer-led workshops as an integral part of a course.
[Gosser,D.K., Cracolice,M., Kampmeier, J.A., Roth,V., Strozak, V.S., Varma-Nelson,P. (2001) Peer-led Team Learning: A Guidebook. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Prentice Hall.] Students who have done well in a course (for instance, General Chemistry) are recruited to become ''peer-leaders''. The peer-leaders meet with small groups of six to ten students each week, for one to two hours, to discuss, debate, and engage in problem solving related to the course material.
History
PLTL originated at the
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...
in the early 1990s as part of an effort to address the low success rate of students in General Chemistry.
Peer-led Workshops were incorporated into the teaching of General Chemistry by reducing the amount of lecture to three hours from four hours. Preliminary results at City College of New York and other collaborating institutions indicated improved student attitudes and performance in General Chemistry and other courses.
These early results led to further study and development of PLTL by a national team, which produced a Guidebook for PLTL.
An extensive national dissemination effort resulted in more widespread adoption of essential components of PLTL in a variety of science, mathematics, and engineering coursework.
[Gafney, L. and Varma-Nelson,P. Peer-Led Team Learning: Evaluation, Dissemination, and Institutionalization of a College Level Initiative Springer Science: Dordrecht, 2008.] A recent review of research on PLTL and closely related peer-led learning formats found that published studies representing courses at over twenty institutions have demonstrated an average increase of 15% ABC as a fraction of the initially enrolled students, compared to traditional lecture. See for instance key studies in Chemistry,
Biology,
[Preszler, R.W., Replacing Lecture with Peer-led Workshops Improves Student Learning. CBE-Life Sciences Education. 2009, 8: 182-192.] Computer Science,
[Horwitz,S. and Rodger,S.H. Using Peer-Led Team Learning to Increase Participation and Success of Under-represented Groups in Introductory Computer Science. SIGCSE, 2009.] and Engineering.
[Loui,M.C. and Robbins,B.A. Work in Progress - Assessment of Peer-led Team Learning in an Engineering Course for Freshman. 38th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference. 2008: F1F-7-8.] The PLTL leadership was recognized by the
James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching Chemistry in 2008.
Theory
PLTL can be understood in the context of
cognitive science. It is consistent with
social constructivism
Social constructivism is a sociological theory of knowledge according to which human development is socially situated and knowledge is constructed through interaction with others.
Like social constructionism, social constructivism states th ...
and ideas of
Vygotsky
Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (russian: Лев Семёнович Выго́тский, p=vɨˈɡotskʲɪj; be, Леў Сямёнавіч Выго́цкі, p=vɨˈɡotskʲɪj; – June 11, 1934) was a Soviet psychologist, known for his work on psy ...
in that students are asked to construct their own understanding with guidance from a more capable peer. They can be said to be learning within the zone of proximal development.
Evaluation of successful implementations of suggest
that PLTL has six critical components:
# PLTL is integral to the course.
# Peer-leaders are trained in leadership skills.
# Faculty are involved.
# Materials for workshops are challenging and promote collaborative effort.
# Space and noise level acceptable for group discussion and work.
# PLTL is integrated into the institutional structure.
See also
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Peer education
Peer education is an approach to health promotion, in which community members are supported to promote health-enhancing change among their peers. Peer education is the teaching or sharing of health information, values and behavior in educating othe ...
*
Peer feedback
Peer feedback is a practice where feedback is given by one student to another. Peer feedback provides students opportunities to learn from each other. After students finish a writing assignment but before the assignment is handed in to the instr ...
*
Peer learning One of the most visible approaches to peer learning comes out of cognitive psychology, and is applied within a "mainstream" educational framework: "Peer learning is an educational practice in which students interact with other students to attain edu ...
*
Peer mentoring Peer mentoring is a form of mentorship that usually takes place between a person who has lived through a specific experience (peer mentor) and a person who is new to that experience (the peer mentee). An example would be an experienced student being ...
*
Peer tutor Peer mentoring is a form of mentorship that usually takes place between a person who has lived through a specific experience (peer mentor) and a person who is new to that experience (the peer mentee). An example would be an experienced student being ...
*
Peer-mediated instruction Peer-mediated instruction (PMI) is an approach in special education where peers of the target students are trained to provide necessary tutoring in educational, behavioral, and/or social concerns.(Chan et al., 2009). In PMI, peers may mediate by mo ...
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.pltl.org
Peer learning
Undergraduate education in the United States