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Can peer assisted learning be effective in undergraduate mathematics?
journal contribution
posted on 2013-12-11, 12:35 authored by Francis K. Duah, Tony Croft, Matthew InglisWe report the implementation and evaluation of a ‘peer assisted learning’ (PAL)
scheme designed to reduce the so-called “cooling off” phenomenon in
undergraduate mathematics. “Cooling off” occurs when mathematics
undergraduates lose motivation and interest in their studies, despite having
previously actively chosen to study it at higher levels. We found that, despite
concerns about the novel didactic contract inherent in PAL schemes, a majority
of students chose to engage with the scheme, and that the student leaders of the
PAL sessions were generally capable of implementing a student-centred
pedagogy. Furthermore we found that students who attended the PAL sessions
had higher achievement in their final examinations, even after controlling for
their lecture attendance and prior attainment. We conclude by arguing that PAL
may provide a useful mechanism for reducing the prevalence of the “cooling off”
phenomenon in some – but not all – groups of mathematics students.
Funding
We are grateful to the HE STEM Programme for funding for this initiative as part of a wider curriculum development project.
History
School
- Science
Department
- Mathematics Education Centre
Citation
DUAH, F., CROFT. T. and INGLIS, M., 2013. Can peer assisted learning be effective in undergraduate mathematics? International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 45 (4), pp.552-565.Publisher
© Taylor & FrancisVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Publication date
2013Notes
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in the International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology on 13 Nov 2013, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/0020739X.2013.855329.ISSN
0020-739XeISSN
1464-5211Language
- en
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