Abstract:

Peer instruction is a technology-supported active learning pedagogy to increase engagement and participation of students during lectures. Students answer a multiple choice question typically using clickers (hand-held remote devices with a minimum of 5 option buttons), discuss the question with their peers, and then answer the question again. In physics, peer instruction has years of evidence of increased conceptual learning. The method allows lecturers to get precise real-time feedback and evaluate students' responses to concept tests statistically. With this pedagogical technique, students can learn concepts at the beginning/end and during the lecture. The instructor probes for common misconceptions about concepts, stimulate discussion concerning these misconceptions, and stimulate critical thinking in student in the process. In this research, we describe how peer instruction can be improved using videos of experiments to construct the questions used in the test. Instead of clickers we have developed and used the “Cuestionarios” tool of the e-learning platform “Campus Virtual” of the University of Malaga as classroom response system in large lecture physics classrooms. This modified form of peer instruction has been tested by comparing student performance in conceptual tests with and without videos of experiments during the chapter of Newton´s law of motion in Physics I course. The results showed that students were positive about the use of this pedagogical technique and believed that it helped them learning.

Keywords:

Peer instruction, Campus Virtual, active learning.