A Peer-Tutoring Scheme To Support Independent Learning and Group Project Work in Mathematics

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Record: 1 A peer-tutoring scheme to support independent learning and group project work in mathematics. By: Houston, Ken; Lazenbatt, Anne. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, Sep96, Vol. 21 Issue 3, p251, 16p, 4 Charts; Abstract: Discusses a peer-tutoring scheme introduced to an undergraduate mathematics module. Provision of a learning support for an independent learning program; Function as task groups for group project work; Assessment of student attitude to peersupported independent learning programs; Students' acceptance of the need to work in groups.; (AN 9609200206) Database: Academic Search Premier
A PEER-TUTORING SCHEME TO SUPPORT INDEPENDENT LEARNING AND GROUP PROJECT WORK IN MATHEMATICS
ABSTRACT A peer-tutoring scheme was introduced to an undergraduate mathematics module. This was to provide a learning support for an independent learning programme. These student support groups also functioned as task groups for group project work. In the independent learning programme, students were directed to read selected passages of text, to attempt certain exercises and to devise peer assessment tasks. For some of the sessions senior students were present and functioned as additional peer tutors. To assess the students' attitudes to the peer-supported independent learning programme, an Attitudes to Peertutoring Questionnaire was constructed. The results show that the students readily accepted the need to work in groups and to support one another. Overall, 78% felt that they could work easily without pressure and that the sessions were not a complete waste of time. However, 65% of the students did not appear to enjoy the independent learning sessions and felt that they preferred to be responsible only for their own learning. Introduction In higher education, there has recently been a pronounced move towards student-centred learning (Goldschmid & Shore, 1986; Goodlad & Hirst, 1989). Students are being asked to take more responsibility for their own learning techniques and one way of enabling students to do this is to offer them peer support. The strategy in education of training students to help their peers learn is by no means new. The student help concept, termed peer-tutoring, has been implemented in many undergraduate settings (Bruffe, 1988; Collier, 1980; Goldschmid & Goldschmid, 1976; Nicholls, 1992; Saunders, 1992; Sims & Metcalf, 1989). Indeed, many of the new teaching and learning strategies developed as a result of the Enterprise in Higher Education Initiative, (Training, Employment and Education Directorate, 1989) are designed to ensure that students develop personal transferable skills such as teamwork, leadership, problem-solving and communication skills. Few quantitative studies which measure the success of these programmes exist in the literature (Goodlad, 1989). Indeed, much of the published literature in the field relies on anecdotal reports of lecturing sessions and the subjective interpretation of case
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histories in order to show their success. The lack of objectivity based assessment of peertutoring programmes has been explained by the need for: better measures of outcomes, particularly, in the social area, than are now available. (Klaus, 1985, p. 6) The solution to this problem would require a balance between the experimental approach, which utilizes programmes designed by researchers to examine microscopic aspects of the tutoring experience in a laboratory setting, and a more in-depth qualitative approach in a naturalistic setting. A peer-tutoring scheme was introduced to an undergraduate mathematics module on mathematical modelling. Primarily, the scheme was to be a learning support for an independent learning programme through which the students would learn part of the course and which was introduced at the same time. Students would also be involved in group project work, and this activity, while new to these students was not new to the module. It was intended that the peer-tutoring groups would function not only as learning support groups but also as project task groups. The module concerned is a first-year module for students on the honours and ordinary Bachelor of Science (BSc) degrees in Mathematics, Statistics and Computing, and a second-year module for students on the Higher National Diploma (HND) in Mathematical Studies. It is an introduction to applied mathematics and attempts to familiarise students with 'the way of life of an applied mathematician'. It covers three things: (a) mathematical methods (b) mathematical models (c) mathematical modelling (a) Mathematical Methods are 'tools' for doing things. For example, this module aims to teach students to recognise and solve certain types of differential equations. There are well-defined 'methods' for solving each type once it is recognised. Here a 'method' is an algorithm or sequence of instructions which, when carried out, will solve the equation. Before starting this module, students will have met some types of differential equations and the corresponding methods of solution, so the ideas are not entirely new. Generally, this topic would be taught by teacher exposition followed by pupil repetition. It is fairly mechanical and it seemed to be an appropriate topic to include in an independent learning programme Many textbooks give a clear exposition and lots of practical examples, and reading a textbook on this topic seemed to be a more efficient way of transferring knowledge to students than giving a series of lectures. What is missing, of course, is the 'commentary' and the immediate presence of the lecturer. Peer-tutoring, through learning support groups within the class and through postgraduate and senior students giving tutorial support, was seen as a substitute. There is support for these ideas from Boud (1981) who gives carefully reasoned arguments for using peer-tutoring as a means of promoting the development of
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autonomous learning habits in students. He says 'It is desirable that students learn to work with their peers' and that 'A preponderance of classroom teaching is [incompatible with autonomy]'. 'Given suitable conditions [students] can facilitate and support each others' learning'. Furthermore, there are examples in the literature of this sort of activity being carried out in school classrooms. For example Bloom (1984) found that students who were in peertutored groups achieved significantly better than students who were only taught in the conventional way. He states 'We believe that this solution is relevant at all levels of education'. Harper et al. (1993) working with 7-year old children conclude that 'the results of this investigation are supportive of the notion that Classwide Student Tutoring Teams and Direct Instruction are useful adjuncts to teacher-led instruction'. 'Participants believed the procedure beneficial and perceived few negative consequences of its use'. Fuchs et al. (1994), again working with young children, researched the nature of student interactions during peer-tutoring and concluded that it was important for tutors to provide explanations as well as give directions as to what to do. Learning new methods for solving mathematical problems by reading books or journals is an essential part of 'the way of life of an applied mathematician' so it is a useful skill for students to develop. Peer support comes first from one's colleagues through conversation and, if that does not clarify everything, one can write to the author of the book and hope that they are alive and well and willing to reply! Formative assessment is an essential part of learning and the 'first line' assessors are oneself and then one's peers. Learning mathematical methods by independent learning with peer support seemed to be a suitable activity to enhance with a scheme for self and peer assessment. Answers to many of the practice exercises are given 'at the back of the book'. In the next section on methodology, there is a description of the ways in which peer support and self and peer assessment were introduced to enhance the learning of the mathematical methods via this independent learning programme. (b) Mathematical Modelling is a creative activity. It is the very essence of an applied mathematician's work. Modelling is a process whereby a phenomenon in the world is studied and a mathematical representation or model of the essential features of the phenomenon is created. Thus a Mathematical Model is the product of the process of mathematical modelling. It is a mathematical entity (such as a differential equation) together with a 'map' or set of statements which describe how the modeller moved from the phenomenon to the abstract representation. This map would include statements of definitions and assumptions made in the modelling process and is a necessary and important part of the model. A model is a mathematical description of a simplification of the phenomenon. Generally, someone will be asking questions about the phenomenon which has just been modelled--'What will happen next year?' 'What if this value were different?' These
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questions can also be mapped into the model, and corresponding mathematical problems can be created. These are solved using an appropriate mathematical method (which the mathematician may already have in his or her tool bag, or which they may have to look for in the literature, or they may have to invent one). The answers to the mathematical problems then have to be interpreted as answers to the questions asked about the original phenomenon. Through observation it may be possible to verify or validate the model in some circumstances, thus giving modellers some confidence when they use the model to predict the behaviour of the phenomenon in some other circumstances. The modeller may find that the model is not very good and they will then need to revise the model and start again. These activities--simplification, problem solution, interpretation, validation, revision---comprise mathematical modelling. Usually mathematical modelling is a team or group activity. There is discussion about the phenomenon under consideration and the questions to be answered. The simplifying assumptions have to be agreed and a suitable method of solution found and used. The results must be interpreted and, if possible, validated. There may be a division of labour to speed up the process and to make best use of the particular talents of the individuals in the group. Those who participate in group based mathematical modelling must have good interpersonal skills. This method of learning mathematical modelling is well established and its use is widespread. There have been six, biennial international conferences on the Teaching of Mathematical Modelling and Applications, and the published proceedings of these conferences give ample justification for its use. (Berry et al., 1984, 1986a and b; Blum et al., 1989; de Lange et al., 1993; Nisset al., 1991; Sloyer et al., 1995.) Mathematical modelling is a new activity for all the students taking this module. Working in groups is a new activity for the BSc students taking the module; the HND students will have had experience of this in Year 1 of their course. These activities have been standard practice in this module for several years. Students are introduced to the ideas through lectures and demonstrations (some on video); then task groups are formed, tasks assigned and/or selected and work begins. At the end of the period (about four weeks) each group presents a written report to the lecturer and gives a seminar presentation to the class. Both of these are assessed, the latter by peer and lecturer assessment. New task groups are formed, new problems set and after another four weeks the group write a report and give a poster presentation. Again the latter is peer and tutor assessed. Not only do these students create their own mathematical models, they also study models created by other people. Generally, when engaging in modelling, especially for the first time, problems are set which can be solved using nothing more advanced than 'last year's mathematics'. The purposes of the models part of this syllabus are to demonstrate to students how the methods they are currently learning (i.e. differential equations) have been used in modelling, and also to help give students insights into the modelling process as carried out by others. For example, population growth is studied. Simplifying
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assumptions and definitions are described and models obtained and used. This part of the module is usually delivered by lectures and tutorials with the lecturer present. The module is summatively assessed by written examination, which concentrates on methods and models, by the written reports and oral and poster presentations, which concentrate on modelling and interpersonal skills, and a comprehension test which, to some extent, covers all three aspects of the course. (See Berry & Houston, 1995; Houston, 1993a, b, 1995.) Methodology Development of the Task Groups As described above, it was standard practice in this module to form students into task groups for the purpose of engaging in mathematical modelling. These groups usually consisted of three or four students and for this first task they were selected by the lecturer to reflect, as far as possible, a mix of gender and ability. It was also felt that, at the beginning of the course, students would not know one another well enough to select groups for themselves. (This may not be an issue in the future because the module is now a second semester module rather than an all-year course.) These task groups were also asked to function as peer support groups for the independent learning aspects of the module. After four weeks, on the completion of the first modelling exercise, the groups were reformed to tackle the second exercise. In the past, the lecturer reassigned the students in an attempt to get them to meet and work with as many different people as possible. In this experiment, since we were interested in exploring different ways of forming peer support groups, the students were asked to form new groups which would tackle the second modelling assignment and would function as peer support groups for the rest of the semester. Again groups were limited to three or four (four being the desired size). Some of the groups stayed the same. Others formed themselves into groups of friends, some a mixture of men and women and others all of one gender. One student was left on his own for a while; he was eventually taken in by a mixed group of three. The class was timetabled for four, 2-hour slots in the week. The semester lasted for 12 teaching weeks followed by three examination weeks, with a 3-week break in the teaching period at Easter. It was intended that one slot in the week be devoted to a lecture/tutorial with the lecturer definitely present, one slot to modelling activity with the lecturer present at the beginning and end of the four-week periods, and one slot to independent learning with the lecturer not present most of the time. Students were expected to attend this session and they took it in turns to record attendance on a register provided by the lecturer. The remaining slot was available for whichever of these activities needed more time that week. A classroom with moveable furniture was available. The groups, whether assigned or self-selected, worked quite happily at the group modelling project tasks. They had a common purpose with things to produce by a deadline. These tasks lent themselves readily to group work. On rare occasions when a
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student does not cooperate, they usually incur the wrath of their peers who have to carry the burden themselves. For the peer-supported, independent learning programme, students were directed to read certain passages from the set text and to attempt certain exercises each week. They were to do this on their own outside class and also during the first hour of the slot devoted to independent learning. During the second hour they were asked to get together in their groups to discuss the material read, the worked examples in the book and the exercises attempted. They were asked to explain to one another some aspect of the material they had covered and to compare notes on their attempts at the exercises. If the whole group was stuck on a particular problem, they were to ask another group and if the whole class was stuck they were to ask the lecturer when he/she was next present. For some of these sessions senior students were present and available to help. Peer-tutoring Evaluation Sample A total of 39 mathematics students completed the Peer-tutoring Evaluation Questionnaire and the Attitudes to Peer-tutoring Questionnaire (see Appendix l a & b). Development of the Questionnaire The questionnaire was designed to discover participating students' views on a number of points. These included: Willingness or otherwise to become involved in the group activity. Adjustment to peer tutor authority and loss of academic staff authority. Assessment of increased motivation/interest. Increase of creative/intellectual participation. Greater degree of integration with students engaged in same activity. Increased use of cognitive activities eg explaining, directing, responding, questioning, organising, criticising, arguing, defining, presenting, reading, listening and giving opinions. Increased use of affective activities e.g. problem-solving, leadership skills, taking group control, directing others. Assessment of increased or enhanced learning as results of participation in peer-tutoring scheme. Student attitudes to peer-learning. Evaluation of most and least helpful aspects of experience. Recommendation of peer-tutoring schemes in the future. As available information from other relevant studies is relatively sparse it is helpful to combine the freedom and breadth of response which can be encompassed in open-ended questions with the more objective indices by the use of a questionnaire. The Peer-tutoring Evaluation Questionnaire was developed specifically for the project and contained two sections (see Appendix la & b). Section one contained 18 questions and section two contained 20 attitudes pertaining to peer-learning. Section two was factor analysed and resulted in three factors, namely: ambivalence, teaching and feelings. The concept of
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validity is a difficult one to interpret in this type of study, though the questionnaire measures were of high face validity. Development of the Attitudes to Peer-tutoring Questionnaire To assess the students' attitude to the peer learning sessions, items for the initial questionnaire were based on similar areas of enquiry in the literature (Keller, 1974; Goldschmid & Shore, 1986; Goodlad & Hirst, 1989) and on observations gleaned from students during informal conversations regarding the use of peer-tutoring in higher education. Using this material as a base, a 20-item questionnaire was compiled. Responses were recorded on a yes/no, positive/negative scale. Once completed the questionnaire was distributed to the 39 students in both the BSc/HND Mathematics groups. Reliability Tests When initial Principal Components Analysis was performed on all 20 items in the questionnaire, the resulting factor analysis solution accounted for 48.5% of the variance. The internal reliability of the questionnaire was found to be 0.2, based on Cronbach's Alpha (Cronbach, 1951), suggesting only a fair degree of reliability. Four items for which correlations with the total score were less than 0.3 were omitted from further analysis. The remaining 16 items were subjected to Principal Components Analysis and Orthogonal Varimax Rotation. Cattell's Scree Test (Cattell, 1966) was used as a guide to the optimum number of factors to be extracted, and a three-factor solution was decided on as the one drawing the greatest meaning from the data. This solution accounted for 42.3% of the variance (see Table 1). Rotation resulted in three clearly-defined and meaningful factors. Only those with loadings of 0.4 or higher were retained in the final questionnaire. Details of the rotated factors and resulting scales are presented in Table 2. The result of this procedure was a 16 item questionnaire having 3 factors, which was entitled the Attitudes to Peer Tutoring Questionnaire (Appendix lb). Internal Consistency Measures of internal consistency based on Cronbach's Alpha (Cronbach, 1951) were computed for the complete sets of scales. Overall Consistency was Cronbach's Alpha = 0.4402, suggesting a moderate level of reliability for the complete questionnaire. Outcomes and Evaluation The students readily accepted the need to work in groups and support one another in the group project work on the modelling tasks. They organised their time and delegated separate tasks to themselves. They cooperated in the writing of the report and in the oral and poster presentations. They were happy enough working in assigned groups or selfselecting groups, and the only disagreement that came to light was when one woman from a group of three women dropped out soon after the start of the second exercise. The other two had to do all the work themselves and were angry at the drop out.
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However, the students did not so readily accept the ideas associated with peer support and peer assessment of the independent learning activity. They found the textbook too hard to understand and preferred to work at their own pace and not to have to meet weekly deadlines for reading and doing problems. They did not appreciate the value of setting their own problems for peer assessment. They found it difficult to support one another because they themselves had an inadequate knowledge of the subject matter. The independent learning sessions were generally noisy. They did, however, appreciate the presence of senior students at some of the tutorials. They tended to seek the advice of these tutors on all aspects of their work the 'modelling' problems as well as the 'methods' problems. These attitudes were determined through conversation and the Peer Tutoring Evaluation Questionnaire (see Appendix la). A more detailed report now follows. Students did not enjoy the independent learning sessions (65%). They were equally divided in their opinions about how easy it was to work collaboratively. They said that the groups should be selected by the lecturer to reflect a mix of males and females and a mix of abilities and not just social friendships. About 55% to 60% felt reluctant to join a peer learning group and did not find it a valuable experience. The group sessions did not reinforce (57%) or clarify (65%) their own personal learning, nor did this increase their level of performance (85%) or level of ability (73%). They would not recommend this type of learning to other students (65%) nor volunteer to act as tutors in the future (68%). They felt that they learnt very little from their peers (80%), that they would not necessarily have learnt more by working alone (47% with 25% unsure), but they were very sure (72%) that they would have learnt more from conventional lecturing. However, they did say that the independent learning sessions made them feel that they could work easily without pressure (78%) and, surprisingly in the light of earlier responses, that peer learning is not a complete waste of time (63%). About half the class were bored by the activity and about half felt that they did not belong to a group that cared for one another. They were divided on the value to learning of having the opportunity to talk about their work. Many felt that they had an inadequate understanding of the subject matter (43%) and more felt uncomfortable within the group (70%). They did not believe that it enhanced their communication skills (90%) although 60% felt that they could be a good teacher. They said that they were pressurised for time (65%), and were embarrassed by the activity (73%). They would prefer to have responsibility only for their own learning (65%). An analysis of the attitudes questions shows that overall 15 students out of the 39 tested had a positive attitude to the scheme (scored less than 30), with 12 of them being in the BSc group. The negative attitude taken by the HND group may, perhaps, be understood by recognising that these students were coming up to their final examinations, that they had had a fairly dependent style of education up to now, and consequently were anxious
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that this new, independent style of learning might prejudice their ability to obtain a good grade. They felt insecure and resented the innovation. Discussion of the Factor Analysis Scales within the Attitudes to Peer-tutoring Questionnaire Factor 1 (Appendix 2, Table 4) Ambivalence. Of the 11 attitudes examined in this factor, six proved positive while the remaining five were negative. The mathematics students listed the most positive gains of peer learning as an extended range of transferable skills deriving from teamwork, more efficient verbal transfer of information, more relaxed attitude to work, greater familiarity with subject matter than was possible with a more conventional style of teaching and finally increased levels of course performance and achievement. While the questionnaire elicited such positive reactions it also provided an opportunity for students to register certain concerns about a new teaching technique. This may have been sponsored more by concern regarding the immediate outcome of their present courses, and a hesitancy to accept change. Nevertheless, it resulted in several more negative reactions to the peer learning experience. These ranged from the overly hostile view that peer learning is a complete waste of time, through criticism of classmates' expertise in specific subject areas and inexperience with regard to communicating their knowledge, to the general complaint that academic standards might fall by placing the responsibility of teaching on those who traditionally saw themselves as learners. These reactions can be explained by an understandable nervousness in the face of innovation. Since the majority of students have spent their learning lives in a system which promotes competition, several clearly found difficulty in adjusting to a new system where yesterday's competitors become today's collaborators. Factor 2 (Appendix 2, Table 4) Teaching. This factor addressed attitudes towards teaching. All responses were very positive, with students feeling that they had developed better communication skills as a result of the peer learning exercise, that they had developed confidence enough to be good teachers and to demonstrate familiarity with the subject matter in a classroom situation. Factor 3 (Appendix 2, Table 4) Feelings. The factor dealing with feelings prompted two different reactions. On some occasions students found the peer learning experience very embarrassing and on other occasions confessed to being bored. Reflection The evaluation illustrates that these students were just not mature enough to take so much responsibility for their own learning. They had been accustomed to conventional teaching and lecturing through 'A' levels and their first semester modules. This reflection is reinforced by the comments of the senior students who acted as tutors: Only two group members appeared to ask pertinent questions.
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The class did not appear to enjoy this type of learning and used any excuse to either chat among themselves or become involved in other ongoing projects rather than tackle the job in hand. The class should have been prepared to take more responsibility for their own learning. The senior students felt that they themselves had benefited from the experience and now had a deeper understanding of the subject matter. However, they would have liked more training in the areas of group dynamics, teaching skills and communication skills. Despite all their fears, 12 of the 14 HND students passed the module assessments, some with very high marks, and 21 of the 26 BSc students passed, again some with high marks. The mean and standard deviation of the scores in the written examinations are illustrated in Table 3. These results are similar to previous years, so the students did not suffer as a result of the independent learning activity. The fact that the students worked happily in groups on the modelling tasks suggests that their discontent is more with the independent learning aspect of the course than with the ideas of peer-tutoring and peer support. It is, we believe, worth persisting with an independent learning scheme for all the reasons outlined in the Introduction. However, students appear to need more 'expert' help than was available to this cohort. Better written materials, which set clear goals for each week's learning, should be provided. Also, there should be frequent testing to encourage regular study habits, perhaps with less emphasis on the setting of peer assessment tasks. These tests could be quite short and could be peer assessed using specimen solutions provided by the lecturer. (This technique was used successfully by Catterall, 1995). Nevertheless, we believe that peer assessment which involves the setting of assessment tasks as well as the marking of them, while quite a difficult activity, is desirable, and is rewarding in terms of its value as a learning aid. Perhaps the peer teaching aspects of the scheme could be more formally structured with particular students selected each week to give a short seminar presentation to their group on that week's topic. Students will always be embarrassed when they give a presentation to their peers, but this tends to ease with practice and maturity. It is our experience that final-year students, most of whom will have spent a year on placement in industry, usually give very polished performances in seminars. The 'boring' aspect of the activity which some students confessed to, needs further investigation. Are mathematical methods innately boring when decontextualised? Was it all just too hard for them and they did not know what to do next? Senior students who acted as tutors mentioned that they would have liked training for the job. Such a training course is being prepared and should be available to student-tutors in the future. The competitive attitude adopted in particular by the HND students is a difficult one to combat since it is not clear how to reward cooperation. This attitude is easy to understand
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when it is realised that these students are approaching finals and are competing with one another for places in year 2 of the BSc course and for jobs. One way could be to make admission to the BSc course dependent only on reaching a certain standard rather than on both reaching the standard and gaining a high enough ranking in the class to be offered one of the available places. The number of places available to these students depends on other resource factors. Perhaps a policy change is called for! There may also be a reluctance on the part of brighter students to give up their time to help less able students and thus hold themselves back. (This phenomenon was encountered by Curran, private communication, in his unsuccessful attempts to introduce a peer support scheme for engineering students.) They need to be persuaded of the benefits to themselves to be obtained from teaching the subject to others. Teaching strategies which could be adopted in the future include the following. A variety of peer support mechanisms will be suggested and an investigation will be carried out at the end of the semester to determine the extent to which the different mechanisms were used. Project task groups will be formed and it will be suggested that these could function as peer support groups. Another mechanism would be to pair off the students to give one another 'front line' peer support. Friends will be encouraged to help one another prepare for the tests. They will certainly be encouraged to help one another prepare for the (summative) comprehension test. The activities of 'independent learning' and 'peer support for independent learning' became just one activity for the students. They did not like the former and therefore did not appreciate the latter. The activities need to be separated. TABLE 1. The attitudes to peer tutoring questionnaire. Rotated factors--eigenvalues and percentages of variance Factors 1 2 3 Eigenvalues % of variance Total variance 4.32442 27.0 1.38701 8.7 1.05369 6.6 42.3%
TABLE 2. Rotated factors of resulting scales for the attitudes to peer tutoring questionnaire Factor Scale Items 1 2 3 written examination Mean (%) Standard deviation (%) Ambivalence Teaching Feelings 11 3 2
TABLE 3. Mean and standard deviation scores obtained by the students in the
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BSc HND
51.5 55.0
19.4 19.2
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SLOYER, C., BLUM, W. & HUNTLEY, I. (1995) (Eds) Advances and Perspectives in the Teaching of Mathematical Modelling and Applications (Yorklyn, Delaware, Water Street Mathematics). TRAINING, EMPLOYMENT AND EDUCATION DIRECTORATE (1989) An Introduction to the Enterprise Curriculum (Sheffield, Department of Employment). Appendix 1a: Peer-tutoring Evaluation Questionnaire Peer-tutoring is a system of instruction in which learners help each other and learn by teaching. As you have been involved in a peer-tutoring project in mathematics there are listed below a number of questions asking how you felt during these independent learning sessions and your attitudes to this type of study. Please answer each question as honestly as you can as this information will help the University ascertain how valuable and interesting this experience has been for you. Thank you. Name: Course: Year: This questionnaire relates to the Independent Learning from the Set Texts. 1. Did you find the independent group learning sessions enjoyable? Yes/No Why or why not? underbar 2. Did you find it easy to work collaboratively in the group? Yes/No Why or why not? underbar 3. Do you feel the groups should be selected: (i) by the lecturer? (ii) by the students? (iii) to achieve a mix of males and females? (iv) to achieve a mix of abilities? (v) to reflect social friendship groups? Why or why not? underbar Yes/No/Indifferent Yes/No/Indifferent Yes/No/Indifferent Yes/No/Indifferent Yes/No/Indifferent
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4. Did you ever feel reluctant to become a member of a peer-learning group? Yes/No Why or why not? underbar 5. Did you find it a valuable learning experience? Yes/No Why or why not? underbar 6. Did you find the group sessions (Please tick as many as you wish) (a) reinforced you own personal learning? underbar (b) clarified your own personal learning? underbar (c) increased your level of performance? underbar (d) increased your level of ability? underbar 7. How would you assess your peer group's ability to meet your individual learning needs? (Please circle which applies) Excellent Good Fair
8. What part of the group sessions was the most useful to you? underbar 9. Which was the least helpful? underbar 10. Do you feel that you will be a more capable student having
gone through this programme of learning? Yes/No Why or why not? underbar 11. Would you recommend this type of learning to other students? Yes/No Why or why not? underbar 12. Would you volunteer next year to be a tutor for year 1
group? Yes/No Why or why not? underbar
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13. Which of the skills listed below did you bring to the learning session. (Tick as many as you wish) Problem-solving skills Leadership skills Research skills Study skills Communication skills Technical skills Teaching skills Modelling skills Knowledge skills Skills in working effectively in a team and cooperating with others underbar underbar underbar underbar underbar underbar underbar underbar underbar underbar
14. How much did you learn from the other members of your group in the discussions and group exercise? (Circle which answer applies to you) 'I learnt a great deal from collaborating with others' 'I learnt a few things of value through collaboration' 'I learnt nothing of value at all'
15. In your opinion, would you have learnt more if you had worked alone on this project? (Circle which applies to you) Yes 16. No Don't know
In your opinion would you have learnt more from the more
conventional type of lecturing situation? (Circle which applies to you) Yes No Don't know
17. Cognitive Activities in Discussion Groups When you were participating in your group sessions did you use any of the activities listed below?
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Often Explaining Questioning Responding Directing Organising Criticising Arguing Giving opinions Defining Presenting Reading Listening -------------------------------------------------
Sometimes -------------------------------------------------
Never -------------------------------------------------
18. Did you value the presence of the year 2 and Postgraduate Tutors at these sessions? Why or why not? underbar Appendix lb. Attitudes to Peer-tutoring Questionnaire Overall, did the independent learning sessions make you feel 1. that you could work easily without pressure? 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. that peer learning is a complete waste of time? bored? that you belonged to a group that cared? that you had the chance to learn more by talking? that you had an inadequate understanding of the subject matter? uncomfortable within the group? that you have developed better communication skills? that you could be a good teacher? Yes/No
Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No
10. that you could learn skills by working in a group? 11. that you became pressurised for time? 12. very embarrassed? 13. confident enough to demonstrate how much of the subject matter you really know? 14. that you could get help without showing ignorance to a lecturer? 15. that you have insufficient ability/knowledge to teach your subject? 16. that you would prefer to be responsible for your own learning and not that of the group? 17. that you have developed better communication skills?
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18. that your level of performance and achievement have increased? 19. that academic standards would fall if peer learning became an established mode of teaching in Higher Education? 20. that you understood the subject matter better than you would have during conventional lecturing? Yes/No
Yes/No Yes/No
Appendix 2. Attitudes to Peer-tutoring Questionnaires--3 factors TABLE 4. Attitudes to Peer-tutoring Questionnaire--3 factors Attitude Factor loadings Ambivalence 0.73225 -0.70063 0.62164 0.60767 -0.58022 -0.57096 0.54507
Factor 1
You had the chance to learn more by talking That peer learning is a complete waste of time That you could learn skills by working in a group That you had inadequate understanding of the subject matter That you could work easily without pressure That your level of performance and achievement have increased That you have insufficient ability/knowledge to teach your subject That academic standards would fall if peer learning became an established mode of teaching in higher education That you understood the subject matter better than you would have with conventional lecturing That you could get help without showing ignorance Factor 2 Teaching
0.54276 -0.52212
That you have developed better communication skills That you could be a good teacher That you are confident enough to demonstrate how much of the subject matter you really know Factor 3 Feelings
-0.48435 0.47700 0.42625
That you were very embarrassed That you were bored
0.41392 0.41103
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~~~~~~~~ By KEN HOUSTON and ANNE LAZENBATT, University of Ulster, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland KEN HOUSTON was educated at Queen's University, Belfast, where he gained BSc (Hons) and PhD degrees. He is Professor of Mathematical Studies in the School of Computing and Mathematics. He is interested in the teaching, learning and assessment of Mathematical Modelling and all else pertaining to introducing students to 'the way of life of an applied mathematician'. This includes the development of 'enterprise' competencies, the use of Information Technology and innovative teaching strategies like peer tutoring. He is the editor of Innovations in Mathematics Teaching, SEDA Paper 87, 1994, and coauthor of Mathematical Modelling with John Berry. Correspondence: Professor Ken Houston, School of Computational Mathematics, University of Ulster, Shore Road, Jordanstown, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland, BT37 0QB. Tel: (01232) 366953. Email:sk.houston@ulst.ac.u ANNE LAZENBATT was educated at the University of Ulster where she gained her BSc (Hons) and DPhil degrees in Psychology. She is currently employed as Research Fellow in the School of Health Sciences. Her main research interests include health education and innovative teaching practice and she has published a number of articles in these areas. The authors, with Sandra Griffiths, have recently published a resource pack Enhancing Student Learning through Peer Tutoring in Higher Education, University of Ulster, 1995, and are preparing a book on the subject. Correspondence: Dr Anne Lazenbatt, School of Health Sciences, University of Ulster, Shore Road, Jordanstown, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland, BT37 0QB. Tel: (01232) 368858. E-mail: A.lazenbatt@ulst.ac.uk Copyright of Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

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group? Yes/No Why or why not? underbar

-0.48435 0.47700 0.42625

That you were very embarrassed That you were bored

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