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I thought that I had a very engaging lecture before.
I would have students laughing. I would occasionally ask them to do small
things in groups. Really it was those 20 or only 40 percent
who were really engaged. I started using peer instruction because I
had read the research literature in physics, mostly, where they had shown increased learning
gains of two- to three-fold in classes that use peer instruction versus classes that used
standard lecture. So I thought I would give it a try.
My colleagues who were encouraging me to use peer instruction said, "Oh Beth. Just wait.
You won't believe the difference when you see peer instruction."
And they were absolutely right. The very first time I opened up a group discussion
and asked the students to turn to their neighbors and discuss, the classroom just erupted.
It was from the front all the way to the back and every student was turning and engaging.
There's just really no comparison between how engaged my lectures are now and what they
were before.