Combining Peer Discussion with Instructor Explanation Increases Student Learning from In-Class Concept Questions

Use of in-class concept questions with clickers can transform an instructor-centered “transmissionist” environment to a more learner-centered constructivist classroom. To compare the effectiveness of three different approaches using clickers, pairs of similar questions were used to monitor student understanding in majors’ and nonmajors’ genetics courses. After answering the first question individually, students participated in peer discussion only, listened to an instructor explanation only, or engaged in peer discussion followed by instructor explanation, before answering a second question individually. Our results show that the combination of peer discussion followed by instructor explanation improved average student performance substantially when compared with either alone. When gains in learning were analyzed for three ability groups of students (weak, medium, and strong, based on overall clicker performance), all groups benefited most from the combination approach, suggesting that peer discussion and instructor explanation are synergistic in helping students. However, this analysis also revealed that, for the nonmajors, the gains of weak performers using the combination approach were only slightly better than their gains using instructor explanation alone. In contrast, the strong performers in both courses were not helped by the instructor-only approach, emphasizing the importance of peer discussion, even among top-performing students

Active Learning Methods and Strategies to Improve Student Conceptual Understanding: Some Considerations from Physics Education Research

Active learning methods and strategies are credited to be important means for development of student cognitive skills This paper describes some forms of active learning common in Physics Education and briefly introduces some of the pedagogical and psychological theories at the basis of active learning. Then, some evidence for active learning effectiveness in developing student critical cognitive skills and improving their conceptual understanding are examined. An example study regarding the effectiveness of an Inquiry-Based learning approach in helping students to build mechanisms of functioning and explicative models, and to identify common aspects in apparently different phenomena, is briefly discussed

The role of grammar in the writing curriculum: A review of the literature

For most Anglophone countries, the history of grammar teaching over the past 50 years is one of contestation, debate and dissent: and 50 years on we are no closer to reaching a consensus about the role of grammar in the English/Language Arts curriculum. The debate has been described through the metaphor of battle and grammar wars (Kamler, 1995; Locke, 2005), frequently pitting educational professionals against politicians, but also pitting one professional against another. At the heart of the debate are differing perspectives on the value of grammar for the language learner and opposing views of what educational benefits learning grammar may or may not accrue. At the present time, several jurisdictions, including England and Australia, are creating new mandates for grammar in the curriculum. This article reviews the literature on the teaching of grammar and its role in the curriculum and indicates an emerging consensus on a fully-theorized conceptualization of grammar in the curriculum