I was sitting in the library and working on my paper the other day. I was distracted by the everlasting sounds of “chatting”. A group of four students were sitting at another table. I looked at them and realized that they were not just chatting, but discussing. I noticed that one of students seemed to be the “little teacher” who helped the other three students get clarification on some concepts and all of them worked together to solve problems. I saw their confused and struggled faces during my 10-minute observation, but I also saw their satisfied and happy faces when they were on their way out of the library. I do not know what course they were preparing for, but I believe that working with other peers and working as a team help them learn from each other during their peer learning time. What do you think about peer learning?

Also, I found an article “Teaching Tough Course Led Chemistry Professor to Push Peer-Learning Approach” written by Katherine Mangan addressing peer-led team learning approach which was introduced by Dr. Kampmeier, a Professor Emeritus of Chemistry in University of Rochester and a national leader of peer-led team learning approach.

The article is here:

http://chronicle.com/article/Teaching-Tough-Course-Led/127240/