Peer-Led Team Learning: 2008 James Flack Norris Award Address

This paper offers an overview of the development of the peer-led team learning (PLTL) model for teaching and learning chemistry, from the personal journeys of the authors in their classrooms to the national dissemination of the model to the full range of colleges and universities and to other STEM d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of chemical education 2010-04, Vol.87 (4), p.374-380
Main Authors: Gosser, David K, Kampmeier, Jack A, Varma-Nelson, Pratibha
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Award Address
Chemistry
College Science
College students
Colleges & universities
Cooperative Learning
Curricula
Educational materials
Independent Study
Information Dissemination
Instructional Effectiveness
Instructional Innovation
Instructional materials
Journeys
Leaders
Learning
Material Development
New York
Organic chemistry
Organizational Change
Peer Teaching
Peer tutoring
Peers
Problem solving
R&D
Research & development
Research and Development
Science Achievement
Science Instruction
Students
Tactics
Teaching Methods
Universities
Workshops
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Summary:This paper offers an overview of the development of the peer-led team learning (PLTL) model for teaching and learning chemistry, from the personal journeys of the authors in their classrooms to the national dissemination of the model to the full range of colleges and universities and to other STEM disciplines. In the PLTL model, students who have done well in the course serve as peer-leaders to facilitate Workshops that supplement the lecture part of the course for new students. In the weekly Workshops, 6−8 students engage in active debate, discussion, and problem solving under the guidance of the peer leaders. A diverse faculty team led the development of instructional materials for the Workshops, methods to train peer leaders, and tactics to institutionalize PLTL. Students and leaders value the peer-led Workshops, and results from within the PLTL project (as well as numerous independent studies) demonstrate significant gains in student learning for both groups. PLTL remains an active area of research and development. We discuss our insights into the larger issues of curricular and institutional change at the college level. A central finding of the PLTL project is that students are a significant untapped resource for teaching. They partner with us to form a community of learners that bridges the gap between faculty and students.
ISSN:0021-9584
1938-1328
DOI:10.1021/ed800132w