The impact of inquiry-based, group-work approaches to instruction on both students and their peer leaders

Abstract

Discipline-based educational research (DBER) has shown that three instructional techniques – Supplemental Instruction (SI), Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL), and Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) – can be effective ways of improving student performance in chemistry courses at the K-12 or college/university levels. The goal of this paper is to use an analysis of the literature to compare and contrast these instructional techniques and, when possible, to determine “best practices” for their implementation. Particular attention will be paid to four themes related to the impact of PLTL on students, impact on peer-team-leaders, how to motivate peer leaders, and impact of peer leaders on the instructors who implement PLTL in their classroom.