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. 2015 Mar 2;14(1):ar2.
doi: 10.1187/cbe.13-08-0168. Epub 2015 Feb 11.

Implementation of the peer-led team-learning instructional model as a stopgap measure improves student achievement for students opting out of laboratory

Julia J Snyder  1 , B Elijah Carter  2 , Jason R Wiles  2
Affiliations

Implementation of the peer-led team-learning instructional model as a stopgap measure improves student achievement for students opting out of laboratory

Julia J Snyder et al. CBE Life Sci Educ. .

Abstract

In entry-level university courses in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, students participating in associated laboratory sessions generally do better than those who have no related lab classes. This is a problem when, for various reasons, not enough lab sections can be offered for students and/or when students opt out of optional available lab courses. Faced with such a situation, this study evaluated the efficacy of the peer-led team-learning (PLTL) instructional model as a potential method for narrowing the achievement gap among undergraduate students electing not to enroll in an optional laboratory component of an introductory biology course. In peer-led workshops, small groups of students participated in solving problems and other activities that encouraged active learning. Students led by peer leaders attained significantly higher exam and final course grades in introductory biology than comparable students not participating in PLTL. Among the introductory biology students who opted not to enroll in the optional lab course, those who participated in PLTL averaged more than a letter grade higher than those who did not. This difference was statistically significant, and the PLTL workshops almost entirely closed the achievement gap in lecture exam and final grades for students who did not take the lab.

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Figures

FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 1.
Mean score of final exam and final course grade of Biology 123 students (non-lab/PLTL [n = 26] vs. non-lab/non-PLTL [n = 78]), during the Spring 2011 semester. Error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals. *, significant at p < 0.05.
FIGURE 2.
FIGURE 2.
Mean final course grade of Biology 123 students during the Spring 2011 semester. Line overbars indicate groups that were not significantly different (Tukey's HSD, p < 0.05). Error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals; non-PLTL and non-lab: n = 78; PLTL only: n = 26; lab only: n = 169; and PLTL and lab: n = 110.
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References

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