Peer Instruction

Peer Instruction is an interactive teaching style that actively involves students in the learning process by focusing attention on underlying concepts through interactive "ConcepTests," reading quizzes, and conceptual exam questions. Results, assessed through scores on the Force Concept Inventory and final exams, show that students better understand concepts and perform better on conventional problems in this environment. It can be easily adapted to fit individual lecture styles and used with any textbook. Eric Mazur's Peer Instruction approach has been successfully field-tested in a variety of settings, most of them quite different from his home campus at Harvard University (e.g., University of Massachusetts--Lowel and Appalachian State University). *Contains a step-by-step guide on how to plan Peer Instruction lectures using an instructor's existing lecture materials. *The complete set of class-tested and ready-to-use resources for implementing the method in a one-year introductory physics course includes: - Two diagnostic tests to evaluate students understanding of mechanics. - Student questionnaire handouts to assess students expectations for the course and to point out misconceptions. - 44 Reading Quizzes, organized by subject and designed to be given at the beginning of each class to motivate the students to read assigned material before class. - 243 ConcepTests, multiple-choice questions for use in lecture to engage the students and to assess their understanding. - 109 Conceptual Examination Questions, organized by major topic for use on exams. *Enclosed diskettes contain all of the above materials so they can be reformatted for 8 1/2 X 11 transparency and/or hand-out masters. *To complement the material in the book, a continually updated set of additional resources is available on the world-wide web at http://galileo.harvard.edu. - This server will act as an interactive forum for instructors who are implementing Peer Instruction in their courses. Instructor participation is welcomed! *Author welcomes comments and suggestions via e-mail at "mazur@physics.harvard.edu".