Peer instruction

Peer instruction is an evidence-based, interactive teaching method popularized by Harvard Professor Eric Mazur in the early 1990s.^[1][2] Originally used in many schools, including introductory undergraduate physics classes at Harvard University, peer instruction is used in various disciplines and institutions around the globe. It is a student-centered approach that involves flipping the traditional classroom by moving information transfer out and moving information assimilation, or application of learning, into the classroom. There is some research that supports the effectiveness of peer instruction over more traditional teaching methods, such as traditional lecture.^[3][4][5][6]

Peer instruction as a learning system involves students preparing to learn outside of class by doing pre-class readings and answering questions about those readings using another method, called Just in Time Teaching.^[7] Then, in class, the instructor engages students by posing prepared conceptual questions or ConcepTests that are based on student difficulties. The questioning procedure outlined by Eric Mazur is as follows:

1. Instructor poses question based on students' responses to their pre-class reading
2. Students reflect on the question
3. Students commit to an individual answer
4. Instructor reviews student responses
5. Students discuss their thinking and answers with their peers
6. Students then commit again to an individual answer
7. The instructor again reviews responses and decides whether more explanation is needed before moving on to the next concept.^[2][8]

Peer instruction is now^[when?] used in a range of educational institutions^[9][10] around the globe^[11][12] and in many other disciplines, including philosophy,^[13] psychology,^[14] geology,^[15] mathematics,^[16] computer science^[17][18] and engineering.^[12]

References

1. "Confessions of a Converted Lecturer: Eric Mazur - YouTube". www.youtube.com.
2. "Eric Mazur (1997). Peer Instruction: A User's Manual Series in Educational Innovation. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ". Archived from the original on October 9, 2011.
3. Crouch, Catherine H.; Mazur, Eric (2001). "Peer Instruction: Ten years of experience and results". American Journal of Physics. 69 (9): 970–977. Bibcode:2001AmJPh..69..970C. doi:10.1119/1.1374249. ISSN 0002-9505. S2CID 1893994.
4. Peer Instruction Network, co-founded by Eric Mazur and Julie Schell, a global social network for educators interested in peer instruction
5. Turn to Your Neighbor, the official blog of peer instruction, containing numerous articles on implementation, resources, and use
6. The PER User's Guide, an implementation guide and numerous resources on peer instruction
7. G. Novak et al., (1999). Just-in-Time teaching: Blending Active Learning with Web Technology. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ ^{[ISBN missing]}
8. Turpen, Chandra; Finkelstein, Noah D. (2010). "The construction of different classroom norms during Peer Instruction: Students perceive differences". Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research. 6 (2): 020123. Bibcode:2010PRPER...6b0123T. doi:10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.6.020123. ISSN 1554-9178.
9. Fagen, Adam P.; Crouch, Catherine H.; Mazur, Eric (2002). "Peer Instruction: Results from a Range of Classrooms". The Physics Teacher. 40 (4): 206–209. Bibcode:2002PhTea..40..206F. doi:10.1119/1.1474140. ISSN 0031-921X.
10. Lasry, Nathaniel; Mazur, Eric; Watkins, Jessica (2008). "Peer instruction: From Harvard to the two-year college" (PDF). American Journal of Physics. 76 (11): 1066–1069. Bibcode:2008AmJPh..76.1066L. doi:10.1119/1.2978182. ISSN 0002-9505. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-12-16.
11. Suppapittayaporn, Decha; Emarat, Narumon; Arayathanitkul, Kwan (2010). "The effectiveness of peer instruction and structured inquiry on conceptual understanding of force and motion: a case study from Thailand". Research in Science & Technological Education. 28 (1): 63–79. Bibcode:2010RSTEd..28...63S. doi:10.1080/02635140903513573. ISSN 0263-5143. S2CID 144825974.
12. Nicol, David J.; Boyle, James T. (2003). "Peer Instruction versus Class-wide Discussion in Large Classes: A comparison of two interaction methods in the wired classroom" (PDF). Studies in Higher Education. 28 (4): 457–473. doi:10.1080/0307507032000122297. ISSN 0307-5079. S2CID 146635704.
13. Butchart, Sam; Handfield, Toby; Restall, Greg (2009). "Using Peer Instruction to Teach Philosophy, Logic, and Critical Thinking". Teaching Philosophy. 32 (1): 1–40. doi:10.5840/teachphil20093212. ISSN 0145-5788.
14. S.L. Chew. (2004). Using concepTests for formative assessment, Psychology Teacher Network, v14, n1, 10-12
15. McConnell, David A.; Steer, David N.; Owens, Kathie D. (2018). "Assessment and Active Learning Strategies for Introductory Geology Courses". Journal of Geoscience Education. 51 (2): 205–216. doi:10.5408/1089-9995-51.2.205. ISSN 1089-9995. S2CID 12084444.
16. Pilzer, Scott (2001). "Peer instruction in Physics and Mathematics". Primus. 11 (2): 185–192. doi:10.1080/10511970108965987. ISSN 1051-1970. S2CID 123000151.
17. Simon, Beth; Kohanfars, Michael; Lee, Jeff; Tamayo, Karen; Cutts, Quintin (2010). "Experience report". Proceedings of the 41st ACM technical symposium on Computer science education. pp. 341–345. doi:10.1145/1734263.1734381. ISBN 9781450300063. S2CID 26331131.
18. Porter, Leo; Bouvier, Dennis; Cutts, Quintin; Grissom, Scott; Lee, Cynthia; McCartney, Robert; Zingaro, Daniel; Simon, Beth (2016). "A Multi-institutional Study of Peer Instruction in Introductory Computing". Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education. pp. 358–363. doi:10.1145/2839509.2844642. ISBN 9781450336857. S2CID 6729335.