A presentation from the STEM Annual Conference 2014.
Peer-Instruction (PI) forms a central part of many undergraduate science curricula. In a PI session students answer a multiple choice question designed to probe their conceptual understanding discuss the question in small groups and then answer the question again changing their answer if they wish. The conversations that students have during PI are a key aspect of the pedagogy often resulting in students changing from an incorrect to a correct answer. In order to answer a PI question students use knowledge and skills that can be thought of as 'resources'. In this talk we present a framework for understanding PI conversations based on the idea that peer-dialogue results in the activation of these resources. We propose that this enables students to see the problem differently and therefore answer the question correctly.
Our analysis of PI conversations among physics students at Edinburgh found three different types of resource activation: activation of knowledge elements activation of linkages between knowledge elements and activation of control structures (epistemic games and epistemological frames). We use these results to gain insights into how learning takes place during successful PI conversations (when students engage in productive Physics discussions and change from an incorrect to a correct answer). We also use the framework to understand what happens during an unsuccessful PI question (in which there is no evidence of a conceptual Physics discussion) and use this information to suggest how such questions can be improved. The implications for pedagogical practice will also be discussed.
