Using Peer Instruction to Develop Understanding in Mathematics
Transposition, or the rearranging of equations, is a key topic in Mathematics but has wider application across Business, Engineering and Science. Students find this a tricky topic because they often don’t understand the underlying principles and consequently apply rules and procedures incorrectly. In this session, In this session, Catherine discussed some of the initiatives and resources that have been developed by colleagues in the Department of Mathematics to enhance learning and develop understanding and competence in this topic.
The focus of the session was to demonstrate how an active learning strategy, peer instruction, is being used to enhance learning in this topic. Peer instruction is designed to engage students during class through activities that require each student to apply the core concepts being presented, and then to explain and discuss those concepts with their fellow students. The process has been shown to engage students, increase understanding of key concepts and support knowledge retention. While the examples presented will relate to Transposition in Mathematics – the teaching strategy can be effectively applied across disciplines to develop understanding of difficult topics.