A Comparison of Interteaching and Lecture in the College Classroom

Abstract

Interteaching is a new method of classroom instruction that is based on behavioral principles but offers more flexibility than other behaviorally based methods. We examined the effectiveness of interteaching relative to a traditional form of classroom instruction-the lecture. In Study 1, participants in a graduate course in special education took short quizzes after alternating conditions of interteaching and lecture. Quiz scores following interteaching were higher than quiz scores following lecture, although both methods improved performance relative to pretest measures. In Study 2, we also alternated interteaching and lecture but counterbalanced the conditions across two sections of an undergraduate research methods class. After each unit of information, participants from both sections took the same test. Again, test scores following interteaching were higher than test scores following lecture. In addition, students correctly answered more interteaching-based questions than lecture-based questions on a cumulative final test. In both studies, the majority of students reported a preference for interteaching relative to traditional lecture. In sum, the results suggest that interteaching may be an effective alternative to traditional lecture-based methods of instruction.

Interteaching: Bringing Behavioral Education Into the 21st Century

“…The list is by no means exhaustive; in fact, given the paucity of interteaching research conducted thus far, we assume that other researchers will inevitably identify important questions that we have yet even to ponder. direct and Systematic replication Saville et al's (2005Saville et al's ( , 2006 findings provide promising evidence regarding the efficacy of interteaching. nevertheless, as Sidman (1960) pointed out nearly a half-century ago, direct replication is vital to establishing the validity of an observation.…”

“…As noted previously, a growing body of research suggests that interteaching might be an effective and enjoyable alternative to more traditional pedagogical arrangements (Goto & Schneider, 2009;Saville et al, 2005Saville et al, , 2006. As with any new area of research, though, there is still extensive room for examination and a vast set of questions that have yet to be answered.…”

“…To examine the generality of Saville et al's (2005) findings, Saville, Zinn, neef, Van norman, and Ferreri (2006) compared interteaching to lecture in two different college courses. In Study 1, students in a graduate-level special education course took pretests at the beginning of the quarter and then alternated between interteaching and lecture sessions over the next 8 weeks.…”

“…Sidman also discussed the importance of systematic replication, in which a researcher examines whether a phenomenon occurs under conditions that differ from those prevailing in the original experiment. Although we have used interteaching in a number of our undergraduate and graduate courses, the researchers who have thus far published their findings on interteaching have used relatively small convenience samples consisting of introductory psychology students (see Saville et al, 2005;Saville & Zinn, 2009), students in undergraduate research methods courses (Saville et al, 2006, Study 2), or students in a graduate-level special education course (Saville et al, 2006, Study 1). It would therefore be interesting to examine whether interteaching produces similar results in other types of psychology courses-large, survey-level courses; smaller, capstone-level courses; graduate-level seminars; and even distance-learning courses.…”

On Academics: Teaching Research Methods to Graduate Students in Public Health

“…11 A recent study of active learning assessed the use of study guide questions for pending lectures, and outcomes were greater for the study guide than for traditional lecturing. 12 Research methods should be taught and evaluated by the very methods being taught. This requires experimental or quasi-experimental methods to model the application of science for teaching evaluations.…”