Presentation Date:
Monday, March 1, 2004
Location:
Harvard University (Cambridge, MA)
Presentation Slides:
The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center and the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center at Harvard University, in conjunction with the Cambridge-Harvard GK12 Program, announce a workshop for middle and high school science and math instructors on Peer Instruction by Professor Eric Mazur. The basic goals of Peer Instruction are to encourage and make use of student interaction during lectures, while focusing students' attention on underlying concepts and techniques. The method has been assessed in many studies using standardized, diagnostic tests and shown to be twice as effective as the conventional lecture approach to teaching. Peer Instruction is now used in a wide range of science and math courses at the college and secondary level.
In this workshop, participants will learn about Peer Instruction, serve as the class in which Peer Instruction is demonstrated, discuss several models for implementing the technique into the classroom, and learn about available teaching resources. High school physics teachers Kristy Beauvais and Meghan Walbran will also describe how they have successfully implemented the Peer Instruction method in their classrooms.