Peer instruction
Encyclopedia
Peer Instruction is an evidence-based teaching method developed by Harvard Professor Eric Mazur
in the early 1990s. Originally used to improve learning in introductory undergraduate physics classes at Harvard University
, Peer Instruction is an interactive teaching method that involves flipping the traditional classroom by moving information transfer out and moving information assimilation into the classroom. Research demonstrates the effectiveness of Peer Instruction over more traditional teaching methods, such as pure lecture.
Peer Instruction as a learning system involves students preparing to learn outside of class by doing pre-class readings and answering questions about those readings using another method, called Just-in-Time-Teaching. Then, in class, the instructor engages students by posing prepared conceptual questions or ConcepTests that are based on student difficulties. The questioning procedure outlined by Eric Mazur
is as follows: 1. Instructor poses question based on students' responses to their pre-class reading; 2. students reflect on the question; 3. students commit to an individual answer; 4. instructor reviews student responses; 5. students discuss their thinking and answers with their peers; 6. students then commit again to an individual answer; and finally, 7. the instructor again reviews responses and decides whether more explanation is needed before moving on to the next concept. Peer Instruction is now used in a range of institutional types across the globe and in many other disciplines, including philosophy, psychology, geology, biology, math, and engineering.
Eric Mazur
Eric Mazur is a prominent physicist and educator at Harvard University. Mazur is known for his work in experimental ultrafast optics and condensed matter physics and a national leader in science education...
in the early 1990s. Originally used to improve learning in introductory undergraduate physics classes at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Peer Instruction is an interactive teaching method that involves flipping the traditional classroom by moving information transfer out and moving information assimilation into the classroom. Research demonstrates the effectiveness of Peer Instruction over more traditional teaching methods, such as pure lecture.
Peer Instruction as a learning system involves students preparing to learn outside of class by doing pre-class readings and answering questions about those readings using another method, called Just-in-Time-Teaching. Then, in class, the instructor engages students by posing prepared conceptual questions or ConcepTests that are based on student difficulties. The questioning procedure outlined by Eric Mazur
Eric Mazur
Eric Mazur is a prominent physicist and educator at Harvard University. Mazur is known for his work in experimental ultrafast optics and condensed matter physics and a national leader in science education...
is as follows: 1. Instructor poses question based on students' responses to their pre-class reading; 2. students reflect on the question; 3. students commit to an individual answer; 4. instructor reviews student responses; 5. students discuss their thinking and answers with their peers; 6. students then commit again to an individual answer; and finally, 7. the instructor again reviews responses and decides whether more explanation is needed before moving on to the next concept. Peer Instruction is now used in a range of institutional types across the globe and in many other disciplines, including philosophy, psychology, geology, biology, math, and engineering.