Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Session 2230

Effects of Reciprocal Peer Tutoring on Student Performance in an Environmental Control Systems Course at an Undergraduate Level Ifte Choudhury Texas A&M University College Station

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of reciprocal peer tutoring (RPT) on student performance in one of the Environmental Control Systems courses offered by the Department of Construction Science, Texas A&M University. Reciprocal peer tutoring has been used extensively at school level for developing academic skills of the students. It has also been used at college level for different disciplines. In this technique, students occasionally function equally as both tutor and tutee in a classroom situation. It enables the students to gain both from the preparation and instruction in which the tutors engage, and from the instructions that the tutees receive. Apart from RPT, some other probable correlates of student performance such as gender difference, overall academic ability of a student, semester in which the course was offered (summer vs. regular), and the academic major of a student were also taken into consideration to determine whether RPT continues to remain statistically significant in the presence of these variables. The study population consisted of the students who attended the course in Summer terms of 1998 and 2000, and Spring semester of 2000. Sample size of the study was 156 students. Relevant data was collected from the Student Information Management System database of the university. The data was analyzed using stepwise regression procedure and a General Linear Model. The findings generated from the analysis of the data indicated that RPT has a statistically significant effect on student performance in this particular Environmental Control Systems course. Overall academic ability and the academic major of a student are also positively correlated with student performance.

Key words: General Linear Model, Environmental Control Systems, Reciprocal Peer Tutoring, Stepwise Regression, Undergraduate Education.

I. Statement of the Problem

Peer tutoring is a cooperative learning strategy that capitalizes on the benefits students receive from preparing to tutor one another. It has been found to be an effective technique for increasing students’ academic achievement 1,2,3. Literature indicates that both the tutors and tutees attain a better understanding of the materials by participating in the process 4,5.

Advancing this strategy a step further, a few other researchers have developed a procedure that enables all the members in a group to participate in the role of the tutor. This is known as reciprocal peer tutoring (RPT). In this technique, students function equally as both tutor and

Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2001, American Society for Engineering Education

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Choudhury, I. (2001, June), Effects Of Reciprocal Peer Tutoring On Student Performance In An Environmental Control Systems Course At An Undergraduate Level Paper presented at 2001 Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 10.18260/1-2--9165