Assessment of peer-led team learning in an engineering course for freshmen

• Autores: Michael C. Loui, Brett A. Robbins, Erik C. Johnson, Niranjan Vengkatesan
• Localización: The International journal of engineering education, ISSN-e 0949-149X, Vol. 29, no. Extra 6, 2013, págs. 1440-1455
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • In ECE 110, a required course for freshmen (first-year students) majoring in electrical or computer engineering, students mayattend optional supervised study sessions, which implement peer-led team learning. Small, permanent teams of students met weeklyin 90-minute sessions, under the supervision of graduate teaching assistants, undergraduate teaching assistants, or undergraduatevolunteers. In these sessions, student teams worked on difficult problems adapted from examinations given in previous semesters.We hypothesized that students who attended the study sessions would earn higher scores on examinations, and they would persistat higher rates in engineering. We also sought to describe the affective benefits that students perceived from attending the studysessions. For three semesters, we recorded students’ study session attendance and final exam scores. We surveyed students to obtaintheir average hours each week spent on ECE 110 and to gauge the perceived benefits of the sessions. We performed linearregression and analysis of covariance tests on the numerical data to analyze student performance. To analyze retention(persistence), we used data about the courses that students took immediately after ECE 110 to form two-way contingency tables. Inall three semesters, regular session attendees did not have significantly higher persistence rates, but they scored significantly higheron final exams. Regular attendees reported that they improved their understanding of the material, and made new friends. Somestudents began to see peers as helpful sources of knowledge. In summary, regular attendance in peer-led team learning sessionsbenefits students both academically and socially.