THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PEER TEACHING, STUDENT LEARNING, AND STUDENT PERCEPTION OF COURSE CHALLENGE

Over the course of four semesters, an instructor taught the same undergraduate course in speech and voice science. Across the four semesters, the instructor facilitated an increasing number of opportunities for in-class activities involving peer teaching. For each of the four semesters, students were assessed both mid-term and at the end of the semester on their ability to apply learned concepts to novel problems. Additionally, at the end of each semester, students were surveyed regarding their perception of course challenge, or difficulty. Across the four semesters, though student assessment outcome measures remained constant, student ratings of course challenge decreased. That is, students rated the courses with more opportunities for peer teaching as less challenging, while still demonstrating similar learning outcomes across the courses. Results are discussed in terms of the value of peer teaching, the relative importance of student perception of course challenge, and the optimal level of peer vs. instructor-guided learning.