Peer instruction enhanced student performance on qualitative problem-solving questions

2009

Self Cite

We used collaborative testing in a veterinary physiology course (65 students) to answer the following questions: 1) do students with individual correct responses or students with individual incorrect responses change their answers during group testing? and 2) do high-performing students make the decisions, that is, are low-performing students carried by high-performing peers? To address these questions, students first completed the exam in the traditional format as individuals. After completing the exam as individuals, students completed the same exam in groups of two. Finally, the same questions were discussed by the instructor and students (instructor feedback). We found that students with individual incorrect responses changed their answers during group testing more often than students with individual correct responses (odds ratio: 7.58, P < 0.01). Furthermore, student feedback was more beneficial when group members had different individual answers than when they had same individual answers (P < 0.05). In addition, when group members had different individual answers, more answers were changed to correct responses than to incorrect responses (77% vs. 23%, P < 0.01). It was more important to have the correct answer than to be the high-performing student, because the student with the correct response (being either the high- or low-performing student) generally prevailed ( approximately 80% of the time, P = 0.5). Finally, the positive effects of group testing (77% of total effects, P < 0.05) were due to students who changed their individual answer to the correct response after discussion with peers with the correct response and also with the incorrect individual response.

mentioning

confidence: 93%

Student interaction characteristics during collaborative group testing

Giuliodori

2009

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“…We also learn by talking in the classroom (1,4,5,16,30). In fact, discussion enhances student understanding even when none of the students initially know the correct answer (9,24). Furthermore, discussion enriches the learning experience by increasing engagement and interest while promoting thinking about what is understood and what remains to be understood (27).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The flipped exam: creating an environment in which students discover for themselves the concepts and principles we want them to learn

2014

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Students are naturally curious and inquisitive with powerful intrinsic motives to probe, learn, and understand their world. Accordingly, class activities must capitalize on this inherently energetic and curious nature so that learning becomes a lifelong activity where students take initiative for learning, are skilled in learning, and want to learn new things. This report describes a student-centered class activity, the "flipped exam," designed to achieve this goal. The flipped exam was a collaborative, group effort, and learning was interactive. It included a significant proportion (∼30-35%) of material not covered in class. This required students to actively search for content and context, dynamically making connections between what they knew and what they learned, grappling with complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity, and finally discovering answers to important questions. Accordingly, the need or desire to know was the catalyst for meaningful learning. Student assessment was determined by behavioral noncognitive parameters that were based on the observation of the student and the student's work as well as cognitive parameters (i.e., the student's score on the examination). It is our view that the flipped exam provided a student-centered activity in which students discovered, because of the need to know and opportunities for discussion, the important concepts and principles we wanted them to learn.

“…For example, active learning strategies, including peer instruction (5,17,26,27,39), collaborative testing (4,34,38), construction of physical models (19), and playing educational games (20,33,35,41), have been shown to enhance intellectual intelligence (21,24,31). Furthermore, active learning strategies, such as model construction and manipulation, encourage critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and interactive learning (19,32,36).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning by doing: construction and manipulation of a skeletal muscle model during lecture

Rodenbaugh

2012

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Active learning, "learning by doing," enhances student performance on examinations and improves student retention of course content. Active learning also provides inquiry-based, collaborative, and problem-solving activities that promote curiosity, skepticism, objectivity, and the use of scientific reasoning. To incorporate active learning into our undergraduate anatomy and physiology course of 70 nursing students, students constructed working physical models of skeletal muscle during the scheduled class time. Our goals were to actively engage students in the process of building and testing their own mental models from the information they were acquiring. During the process, the focus was on the student acquiring knowledge, thinking about the information, testing assumptions, solving problems, and appreciating the joy, excitement, and love for learning. We conclude that the construction of physical models during class is a valuable educational experience.