Peer teaching: Academic achievement of teacher-led versus student-led discussion groups

Abstract

Problem-based small-group discussions are the cornerstone of health sciences education at the University of Limburg (The Netherlands). In each of three courses, fifteen discussion groups of about eight students were randomly assigned a staff-tutor (control condition) or student-tutor (experimental condition).In two of the courses no significant differences in cognitive test achievement between the two conditions were found. In one course students tutored by staff-tutors performed significantly better than students tutored by student-tutors. However, no significant differences in test performance were found between students tutored by high-achieving versus average-achieving studenttutors. These findings contradict the "congruence" hypothesis from information processing theory. Several other explanations are explored.Health sciences education at the University of Limburg (Maastricht, The Netherlands) features problem-based small-group discussions alternated with periods of self-directed learning. This problem-based self-directed learning method is designed to teach problem-solving skills, self-learning skills and enhance motivation and knowledge retention (Schmidt and De Volder, 1984). One of the cornerstones of this method is the discussion group consisting of about eight students in which health science phenomena (so-called problems) are analyzed and learning goals are formulated (Schmidt, 1983). These groups are guided by tutors who are faculty members. Their role is to stimulate the discussion, not to give lectures. In 1981 it was decided to explore the possibility of assigning the role of tutor not only to faculty staff but also to (undergraduate) students~ The main reason for this was what Goldschmid and Goldschmid (1976, p. 14) called "economic considerations": "Given today's high student-faculty 0018-1560/85/$03.30 9 1985 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.

Exploring the Relationships Between Tutor Background, Tutor Training, and Student Learning: A Problem-based Learning Meta-Analysis

“…Still, other researchers view content novices as equally effective for PBL tutoring to content experts (De Volder, De Grave, & Gijselaers, 1985;Hendry, Phan, Lyon, & Gordon, 2002;Kwizera et al, 2001;Moust, De Volder, & Nuy, 1989;Moust & Schmidt, 1994;Park, Susarla, Cox, Silva, & Howell, 2007;Regehr et al, 1995;Steele, Medder, & Turner, 2000;Swanson et al, 1990), claiming that content expertise is at odds with good facilitation because an expert will constantly inject their content knowledge (Des Marchais, Bureau, Dumais, & Pigeons, 1992;Moust et al, 1990;Silver & Wilkerson, 1991) and suppress the student-directed design. Hmelo-Silver and Barrows (2006) report that tutor training is the most important factor in effective PBL, and suggest that content expertise is helpful but not critical for success.…”

Using Peer Teams to Lead Online Discussions

“…Aside from the obvious economic advantages reported by several authors (Bluxom et al, 1975;De Volder, Grave, & Gijselaers, 1985;Goldschmidt & Goldschmidt, 1976), there have been reports of affective and cognitive benefits. Beach (1974) provides a description of the environment in a peer-led discussion that is opposite to Kremer and McGuiness' (1988) description of the instructor led discussion: "Student-led discussions provide a free and relaxed atmosphere for discussion, which makes students feel uninhibited in asking questions and Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2002 (1) Page 5 challenging the statements of others " (p. 192).…”

Perceived learning effectiveness of a course Facebook page: teacher-led versus student-led approach

“…Previous research states that student-and teacher-centered teaching methods are both valuable and effective learning formats (Adler et al, 2004;Andrews, 1981;De Volder et al, 1985). It is also noted that relative effectiveness of methods varies depending on many factors, and thus, calls for empirical examination of their effects in designing the educational setting.…”