Peer-Led Team Learning : A Guidebook

Peer-Led Team Learning is an innovative model in science education. Student-leaders (peers) guide the activities of small groups of students in weekly Workshop meetings. The students work through challenging problems that are designed to be solved cooperatively. The peer leaders are trained to ensure that the students are actively and productively engaged with the material and with the each other. This methodology offers a number of educational opportunities: the supportive format encourages questions and discussions that lead to conceptual understanding; students learn to work in teams and to communicate more effectively; peer leaders learn teaching and group management skills. Designed exclusively for instructors, this unique book explains the theory behind peer-led team learning, offers suggestions for successful implementation (including how to write effective group problems and how to train peer leaders), discusses how to evaluate the success of the program, and answers frequently asked questions.