This article, based on the guidance of 17 teacher education students during their final term, presents the theoretical framework, procedures and results of an extensive experiment with portfolio assessment combined with peer tutoring. A recent reform programme in higher education in Norway has as one of its aims to improve the quality of teaching…

This article presents the results of a study investigating the experiences of undergraduates acting as peer leaders in an extensive peer-led team learning program in introductory undergraduate sciences and engineering courses. In an effort to understand the facilitator experience in the program better and to report initial findings on the benefits…

Successful inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms requires a variety of supports. This article demonstrates the role that peers can play in supporting each other. Whole-classroom strategies such as Class-Wide Peer Tutoring (CWPT) and cross-age tutoring are highlighted as methods of supporting inclusive education.…

Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) is a method of student assisted learning in which a successful undergraduate student guides a team of 6-8 students engaged in solving problems developed by the course instructor. The peer leaders serve as role models for their students who want to become peer leaders and the leaders also recruit other students to…

This study focused on preservice general education teachers who were prepared to use an evidence-based teaching practice and the effects the practice had on their pupils' academic performance. Participants learned to use Juniper Gardens Children's Project's Class Wide Peer Tutoring (CWPT) program through a two-hour workshop and with in class…

How much do specialized academic discourse communities matter to undergraduate writers? To what degree should theories of specialized discourses influence the design of undergraduate Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) programs? At the University of Iowa, where an undergraduate Writing Fellows program engages peer tutors in writing-intensive…

This article reports on the effectiveness of the first systematically developed health education intervention for the reduction of risky sexual behavior among soon-to-be-released prisoners in South Africa. Data from three out of four prisons are eligible for data analysis including 263 inmates. Using a nested experimental design, short-term…

The evidence indicates that peer-assisted learning can have a substantively important positive effect on struggling high school students' reading comprehension. Reservations remain about attributing improved comprehension to peer-assisted learning because the students were not randomly assigned to the intervention in the one study that met…

"ClassWide Peer Tutoring" ("CWPT") is a peer-assisted instructional strategy designed to be integrated with most existing reading curricula. This approach provides students with increased opportunities to practice reading skills by asking questions and receiving immediate feedback from a peer tutor. Pairs of students take turns…

This article reviews a specific body of writing intervention research, that of component analyses of cognitive strategy instruction. One rationale for examining the effects of individual components comes from meta-analyses, which indicate powerful intervention outcomes for complex strategies, though it is frequently unclear which component has the…

Student health advocates (SHAs) are high school students who, under the supervision of the school nurse, provide health education and health promotion activities to other students via a peer education model. This 3-year follow-up study explored how the SHA experience influences career choice and attitudes of the participants. It also examined what…

The paper reports on a multi-country review of formative assessment in adult education settings with specific reference to basic literacy and numeracy. It reports many examples of emergent innovative practice in Europe and elsewhere but concludes that there is a real need to develop a stronger conceptual base for formative assessment, as well as…

This article examines cognitive models of peer learning in school and the implications that these models have for the teaching of science in primary schools. The article is a product of the European Commission, Socrates Comenius 2.1 funded project "The Implementation of Scientific Thinking in (Pre) Primary Schools Settings (STIPPS)" project…

This investigation is a case study of peer educators in a community-based teen pregnancy prevention program. Research questions focused on identifying ways in which peer educators differed from other teens and exploring the perceptions of the peer educators about their experience in the program and the ways in which it has affected them. Data were…

We discuss a recent peer-learning project we undertook as co-conductors of the Young Conservatorium Wind Orchestra at Griffith University. Drawing on current educational theory on peer learning and material from our conducting practice and research, we explore how this approach offers professional conductors the opportunity to work together in an…