A Statistical Evaluation: Peer-led Team Learning in an Organic Chemistry Course

Peer-led team learning, PLTL, also known as Workshop Chemistry, is one of five systemic reform initiatives in chemistry funded by the National Science Foundation in the 1990s (1, 2). Since then PLTL workshops in general chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemistry have been implemented in more than thirty post-secondary institutions and in one Montana high school (2, 3). The PLTL model has also been adapted for use in the instruction of biology, physics, and computer science (3). The workshop model emphasizes student achievement through active learning by providing a safe, supportive environment that encourages students to express their thoughts, ideas, thinking patterns, understandings, and misconceptions. The model mimics the desired characteristics associated with effective teamwork in industry. In their report “Implementation of a Peer-led Team Learning Instructional Approach in an Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Course” Lydia Tien, Vicki Roth, and Jack Kampmeier (4) describe their evaluation of the effectiveness of a PLTL program in the first semester of a sophomore organic chemistry course at a small research university in the eastern United States. The researchers employed quantitative and qualitative methods to compare the achievement, retention, and attitudes of students involved in the PLTL Workshop with those in a more traditional program. Their quantitative evaluation is the focus of this column.