Trends

A fellow instructor here in the Electrical Department is trying new techniques with his students whereby he assigns topics to small groups to research and then present to the rest of the class. While only tried in one class, he commented that the students were quite receptive to learning for each of the small groups. Again it occurs to me that this is another use of peer learning within the classroom.

And there may also be a side benefit of peer pressure, providing the students with additional incentive to give a good presentation in front of their fellow students.

Additionally, I can see that this sharing of the students is a peer learning technique that I want to utilize whenever possible in my lab classes. Providing 2 benefits; 1) Confirmation for the sharing student that they understand the material, and 2) Assisting the learning student with another viewpoint or person whom they can learn from.

In theory classes, I've identified the strong students based on their results in the evaluations that I have. I'll check with them first to ensure they are comfortable with it and if so, then I'll mention to the class that if they are looking for some extra help, or an additional perspective, to go talk with these students who have a solid grasp on the theoretical concepts.