The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a no peer-discussion strategy and a peer discussion strategy on student learning and attitudes in two large lecture sections of an undergraduate macroeconomics class using informal dyads and a combination of traditional and Think-Pair-Share questions. Random assignment was used to determine the experimental and control sections. Each section contained more than 400 subjects, comprised predominantly of freshmen and sophomore students from across a wide variety of disciplines. Dependent variable one, student learning, was subdivided into four dependent variables and categorized according to Bloom's (1956) taxonomy for additional analysis. Dependent variable two, student attitude, was measured by a survey that assessed four different factors. The results for the student learning variable did not support the hypothesis that students in the peer discussion group would have higher test scores. The hypothesis that the predicted increased student attitudes in the peer discussion group was only partially supported. However, survey reliability was very low, thereby reducing the value of the finding. The importance of classroom management and structure emerged as an overall factor to consider when developing instructional strategies that include the use of informal dyads and peer discussion in large lecture classes. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2013. / January 31, 2013. / Bloom, clicker, instructional strategies, peer discussion / Includes bibliographical references. / Robert Reiser, Professor Directing Dissertation; Stephen McDowell, University Representative; Valerie Shute, Committee Member; Alysia Roehrig, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_183655 |
| Contributors | Barber, Kimberly A. (authoraut), Reiser, Robert (professor directing dissertation), McDowell, Stephen (university representative), Shute, Valerie (committee member), Roehrig, Alysia (committee member), Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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