Peer Learning Specialist Schools Trust National Conference

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Peer LearningSpecialist Schools Trust National
Conference

• Peter Tymms
• Durham University

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Outline

• Why?
• Evidence for peer learning
• Potential benefits
• Forms of peer learning
• Services versus Learning by Tutoring
• Some examples
• Practical Advice
• Fife Peer Learning Project

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Question

• Is it best for teachers to teacher or for them to
  get the pupils to teach?

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An Example

• Teaching mechanisms on organic chemistry to 17
  year olds.
• I taught half the class
• The other half taught 16 year olds

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Focus on the question .

• But which to teacher and which to enlist as
  teachers?
• Allocate at random

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More specifically

• Rank order by ability
• Toss for first and second
• Toss for third and fourth
• Etc
• The same for the tutees
• Match tutor to tutee by ability

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Result

• Tutors learnt better by teaching
• Tutees learnt equally well

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By how much Effect Sizes

• Normal curve and ES2.xls

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Results of Meta-Analysis

• Tutors Tutees
• Cross-age 0.4 0.5
• Same age 0.3 0.3
• Maths 0.6 0.6
• Reading 0.2 0.3
• lt A month 0.6 1.0
• gt A term 0.1 0.2

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Conclusion

• There is solid evidence especially in favour of
  cross-age peer tutoring.
• Attitudes/self-esteem evidence is not so clear
  but individual stories are heartening.

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Forms
Tutorial Services Projects
Learning by Tutoring
Peer Tutoring
Mentoring
Coaching
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Examples

• PhD students at MIT
• Engineering undergraduates in schools
• A level Chemistry students
• Primary children teaching fractions
• Five year olds writing for 4 year olds
• Special needs children teaching others

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Practical Advice

• Identify tutors and tasks
• Find tutees
• Locate a venue
• Pre-test and pair up
• Provide a small amount of pre-training
• Prepare materials
• Run sessions light touch but watchful
• Test tutees and share with tutors
• End and plan next project
• Write up

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Fife Peer Learning ProjectResearch Design

• http//www.fifepeerlearning.org/

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We know that ..

• Peer Learning is effective
• But
• Can a whole Authority change together?
• Which is best
• Cross-age or Same-age?
• Mix or separate subjects?
• Intensive or light?

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The International Issue

• Governments do not know how to improve education
• The USA have spent billions of dollars on
  reading to no effect.
• England spent 500 million on the national
  literacy strategy to no effect
• Etc etc etc
• This project aims to find a new way forward.

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Cross-age versus Same-age

• Research suggests Cross-age works best
• But
• It is hard to sustain and organise

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Mixing versus Separation

• Learning skills in one context may help in
  another
• But
• Research suggests that transfer is problematic

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Intensive or Light

• Harder more intensive work might get better
  results
• But
• Intense work can confuse and be onerous

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What data will we collect?

• What Heads and Teachers say
• What schools have done
• Pupils
• Progress
• Attitudes
• Home background, sex, age etc
• Behaviour
• From Fife primary schools and many others in
  Scotland

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So for this project

• All schools have been randomly assigned.
• Everyone works for two years
• We then get together and learn how much
  difference we have made and which approaches work
  best
• And we tell others.

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References

• Cohen, P. A., J. A. Kulik and C. C. Kulik (1982).
  "Educational Outcomes of Tutoring a
  meta-analysis of findings." American Educational
  Research Journal 19(2) 237-248
• Falchikov, N. (2001). Learning together Peer
  tutoring in Higher Education. London,
  RoutledgeFalmer.
• Fife Peer Learning Project http//www.fifepeerlea
  rning.org/
• Fitz-Gibbon, C. T. (1983). "Peer Tutoring a
  possible method for multi-ethnic education." New
  Community 11 160-166
• Fitz-Gibbon, C. T. (1988). "Peer Tutoring as a
  Teaching Strategy." Educational Management and
  Administration 16 217-229.
• Fitz-Gibbon, C. T. (1992). Peer and Cross-Age
  Tutoring. Encyclopedia of Educational Research.
  M. C. Alkin. New York, Macmillan Publishing
  Company 980-984.
• Fitz-Gibbon, C. T. (2000). Cross-age tutoring
  should it be required in order to reduce social
  exclusion? Combating Social Exclusion Through
  Education Laissez-faire, Authoritarianism or
  Third Way? G. Walraven, C. Parsons, D. van Veen
  and C. Day. Leuven, Garant 307-315 (includes
  practical advice)
• Goodlad, S. and B. E. Hirst (1990). "
  Explorations in Peer Tutoring. OxfordBasil
  Blackwell.
• Osguthorpe, R. T. and others. (1985). "Increasing
  Social Acceptance Mentally Retarded Students
  Tutoring Regular Class Peers." Education and
  Training of the Mentally Retarded. 20(4) 235-40
• Topping, K. J. (1998). The paired science
  handbook Parental involvement and peer tutoring
  in science. London and Bristol PA, Fulton and
  Taylor Francis.
• Topping, K. J. and S. Ehly, Eds. (1998).
  Peer-assisted learning. Mahwah, NJ, Lawrence
  Erlbaum
• Tymms, P. B. (1989). "Peer Tutoring with 'A'
  level Chemistry Students." Paired Learning
• Tymms, P. B. and C. T. Fitz-Gibbon (1995).
  "Students at the Front Using Performance
  Indicators for Professional Development."
  Educational Research 37(2) 107-122