Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-25-2023
Keywords
Peer-led Team Learning, Minority Serving Institution, STEM, Perspectives, HSI Peer-Led Team Learning
Abstract
Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) is a pedagogical approach that has been shown to benefit all students, especially underrepresented minority students and peer leaders in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. In this work, we present results from our study of the impact of PLTL on our peer leaders from a controlled implementation in general biology, general chemistry, and statistics courses at a Hispanic-serving, minority-serving institution. More specifically, we have measured our PLTL program’s impact on our peer leaders' skill development, engagement with the subject material, and sense of belonging as peer leaders. Weekly peer leader reflections analyzed using the Dreyfus model exhibited a consistent set of skills, while those analyzed using the Pazos model revealed a consistent type of student-peer leader interactions, allowing for peer leaders to be assigned to specific levels in the hierarchy of each of the models. Analysis of eight skill-based Likert-scale questions on the SALG survey showed an overall positive shift at the highest level. Independent of the skill or interaction level of the peer leader, we observed several instances of peer leaders acknowledging development in their communication skills, sincere attempts at creating an engaging classroom, and a deep investment in their student’s success. Peer leaders also reported improvements in understanding of the subjects they were teaching, wanting to persevere and solve problems independently, and feeling passionate about helping other students.
ORCID ID
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4049-0337
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00075-23
Repository Citation
Narayanan, Madhavan; Powers, Kasey; Premawardena, Dhananjaya; Smyth, Davida S.; and et al., "Peer Leader Perspectives From a PLTL Implementation in a Hispanic-serving Institution" (2023). All Faculty Scholarship. 12.
https://digitalcommons.tamusa.edu/pubs_faculty/12
Comments
Originally published as:
Narayanan, M., Powers, K., Premawardena, D., Colby, K., Liou Mark, J., Rao, N., ... & Knopp-Kelly, M. (2023). Peer leader perspectives from a PLTL implementation in a Hispanic-serving institution. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, e00075-23.
Copyright © 2023 Narayanan et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommericalNoDerivatives 4.0 International license.