The Impact of Peer Instruction on the Level of the Continuous Physics Achievement of Grade 9 Students


Ergin S., Şen A. İ., ATASOY Ş.

6th World Conference on Learning, Teaching and Educational Leadership, Paris, France, 29 - 31 October 2015, pp.1

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Summary Text
  • City: Paris
  • Country: France
  • Page Numbers: pp.1
  • Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of peer instruction (PI) courses on the level of the continuous physics achievement of grade 9 students. The study group consisted of 46 students who received the examination of a vocational high school in Ankara. In this particular study, achievement tests have been applied at the end of each unit during a school year. During the spring term of the 2012-2013 academic years, units of 'energy' and 'force and motion' have been implemented for the PI and other units have been processed according to their current own curricula. In the implementation of the PI courses, it was determined that there is an improvement for the success in the unit of energy; nevertheless, there is no significant impact on the level of the continuous physics achievement. Furthermore, it is found that the PI has no impact on the permanent learning. The reason of improving student achievements in the implementation of the PI courses may be explained with their increased social interactions in the courses and assistance in the problem-solving process. Thus, this study suggests that the PI process can be useful to improve physics understanding of the students who, in particular, are shy, have a low self-esteem and a low level of achievement.