Peer-Led Team Learning: Evaluation, Dissemination, and Institutionalization of a College Level Initiative: 16 (Innovations in Science Education and Technology, 16)

There seems to be no end to the flood of conferences, workshops, panel discussions, reports and research studies calling for change in the introductory science courses in our colleges and universities. But, there comes a time to move from criticism to action. In 1993, the Division of Undergraduate Education of the National Science Foundation called for proposals for systemic initiatives to change the way int- ductory chemistry is taught. One of the five awards was to design, develop and implement the peer-led Workshop, a new structure to help students learn science. This book is a study of 15 years of work by the Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) project, a national consortium of faculty, learning specialists and students. The authors have been in the thick of the action as project evaluator (Gafney) and co-principle investigator (Varma-Nelson). Readers of this book will find a story of successful change in educational practice, a story that continues today as new institutions, faculty, and disciplines adopt the PLTL model. They will learn the model in theory and in practice and the supporting data that encourage others to adopt and adapt PLTL to new sit- tions. Although the project has long since lost count of the number of implem- tations of the model, conservative estimates are that more than 100 community and four year colleges and a range of universities have adopted the PLTL model to advance student learning for more than 20,000 students in a variety of STEM disciplines.

This book is a real-world study of Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL), a method in which undergraduates work together, under the guidance of a peer leader, in course-connected workshops. PLTL is intended to complement lecture.

The text explains how the method evolved into a teaching/learning model. The evaluation uncovered six critical components for successful implementation. Evaluation at each new site looked at implementation, comparing methods, materials, training, and organizational arrangements with what had been found to work effectively. Those disseminating the model used the critical components to frame their presentations. Dissemination of the method is carefully documented and analyzed.

Evaluation of the program’s effectiveness was shared. Instructors compared grades of classes or cohorts of students with and without PLTL, with different kinds of controls. The external evaluator measured the quality of implementation, student satisfaction, the impact on leaders, and other factors. Finally, this study looks closely at institutionalization: the essential factors necessary for a program’s sustainability. The evaluation explained in this text is transportable to other programs and pedagogies.

"Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) is one of the success stories resulting from the National Science Foundation's investment in educational innovation. Gafney and Varma-Nelson provide a coherent, tour-de-force look at the in-depth research that has been carried out, not only to understand the effect of PLTL on student learning, but also to understand the nature of the pedagogical method itself.  This monograph is a jam-packed, one-stop destination for anyone who wants to learn what it means to understand a widespread pedagogical development in post-secondary science education."

Brian Coppola, University of Michigan