A Meta-Analysis on the Effect of Duration, Task, and Training in Peer-Led Learning.

This meta-analytic study compared the effect of peer-led learning versus non peer-led learning on students’ cognitive achievement in post-secondary education. Twenty-eight studies published in English from six countries between 1993 and 2017 were identified and used in the analysis. Result of the analysis on the random-effect model showed a moderate but positive effect, meaning that peer-led learning was associated with higher cognitive achievement than non-peer-led learning. Three study characteristics were examined including duration, student leaders’ training, and task type. Only the task type was found significant in moderating the effect of peer-led learning. Student leaders’ facilitation of problem-based learning tasks outperformed other types of tasks. Results of this study not only provided suggestions for peer-led learning designers and coordinators but also called for future research of student leaders’ readiness as well as online peer-led learning. INTRODUCTION Postsecondary educators have used peer-led learning (PLL) extensively in academic and extracurricular settings. PLL is a type of small group learning activity where student leaders, of similar status to the learners, guide or facilitate learning within a group (Eberlein et al., 2008; Ender & Kay, 2001; Topping, 2005). Instructors may select student leaders from a current or recent course, or student leaders may emerge from within a course (Quitadamo, Brahler, & Crouch, 2009). Student leader responsibilities vary; for example, while some facilitate discussions, others may take the role of a lecturer (Cuseo, 2010). Over the last several decades, PLL has evolved as an effective pedagogical practice. In 1973, Deanna Martin developed a PLL program called Supplemental Instruction, where senior student leaders were hired to help students through difficult courses (Martin & Arendale, 1992). In 1981, this program was endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education for its effectiveness on students’ final course grades and on retention in high-risk courses (Dawson et al., 2014). In 1993, the City College of New York implemented a similar program called Peer-Led Team Learning. In this program, senior students assisted undergraduate students in the class (Smith et al., 2014). Since then, PLL programs have been funded and disseminated nationwide (Dreyfuss, 2012). In 2008, a Peer-Led Team Learning program received the James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching Chemistry (Gosser, Kampmeier, & Varma-Nelson, 2010). According to reviews by Dreyfuss (2012) and Dawson (2014), the increasing and international reputation of PLL resulted in exponential growth in the number of individual studies conducted. Hooker (2010) conducted a narrative review of Peer-Led Team Learning studies administered between 1995 and Zha, Estes, and Xu 6 2003. Dawson et al. (2014) reviewed studies of Supplemental Instruction published between 2001 and 2010. Each confirmed the positive impact of PLL on student course grades and retention. PLL programs were shown to benefit learners while student perception was also favourable, and most students reported the PLL experience as engaging and productive. While narrative review was used in these studies, meta-analysis is considered a more rigorous method for identifying the overall effect of one treatment (Glass, 1976). Meta-analysis as a statistical approach synthesizes results from individual quantitative studies that examine a similar treatment but often reach different conclusions regarding the power of the treatment. The metaanalysis summarizes and identifies the direction and magnitude of an overall effect of a treatment across studies (Borenstein et al., 2009). This method is especially helpful when attempting to identify small, yet consistent, effects from individual studies (Kulik & Kulik, 1982). Researchers examined K-12 student academic achievement in relation to PLL activities (Ginsburg-Block, Rohrbeck, and Fantuzzo, 2006; Rohrbeck, et al., 2003). Findings in the two meta-analytic studies were consistent with findings from the narrative reviews shared previously in this paper. For example, Ginsburg-Block, Rohrbeck, and Fantuzzo (2006) found that PLL had an overall positive effect on student academic achievement when compared with students in non-PLL activities. Specifically, the academic achievement of students in PLL activities was about 0.48 standard deviations higher than that of non-PLL students. This medium effect could not be determined by merely reading individual studies with mixed results and is one advantage of using meta-analysis (Cohen, 1977). Another advantage is that this method enables researchers to relate study characteristics to the effect across studies (Bernard et al. 2004). For example, Cohen, Kulik, and Kulik (1982) found through meta-analysis that structured PLL programs, and shorter PLL session duration, were associated with positive and greater effect than un-structured programs and programs with longer duration. In the past decade, just two meta-analytic studies were conducted on general PLL, and each was focused on K-12 education (Ginsburg-Block et al., 2006; Rohrbeck et al., 2003). These studies provided insights into the overall effect of PLL and the efficacy of some characteristics in the design of PLL for K-12 education. PLL in post-secondary education, on the other hand, has not been thoroughly investigated even though some well-known models such as Supplemental Instruction and Peer-Led Team Learning have been widely adopted and examined in colleges and universities since the 1990s. In this article, we review the design framework of PLL in particular and the design of learning tasks that serve as the foundation of the three variables, or characteristics, examined in this study. The three characteristics are (1) the types of tasks required for student leaders to perform in PLL, (2) training received by student leaders, and (3) duration of an average PLL session. The authors collected and analysed 28 studies, published between 1993 and 2017 in six countries, in the multilevel analysis. Near the end of this paper, we discuss the results and implications for instructional design and future research in the PLL area. Zha, Estes, and Xu 7 LITERATURE REVIEW PLL is grounded in Piaget’s social learning theory, from which it gathers significance and versatility. Piaget (1932) believed that children communicate and learn better with their peers than with teachers who hold authoritative roles. Peer interaction may be used to generate cognitive conflicts that, in turn, help learners reconstruct and develop social and intellectual competence (Piaget, 1932). With regard to social identity theory, Tajfel and Turner (1979) proposed that an individual’s self-image is affected by the group to which he or she is attached. If a person is in a group where a positive association is developed, he or she will develop a positive self-image and high self-esteem. As such, peer groups have been considered a beneficial support for students who are experiencing physical, emotional, and cognitive adjustment (Tarrant, 2002). While the research of Piaget (1932) and Tajfel and Turner (1979) focused on children and adolescent development, Schmidt and Moust (1995) studied PLL among post-secondary students. Using social congruence theory, the researchers found that student leaders demonstrated both cognitive and social congruence with peers who have similar knowledge structures, learning pathways, and social roles. These students had mutual understandings and were able to communicate with other students easily. This finding is critical for student leaders and instructors who seek to identify and address difficult learning problems. Results of this study, and following studies, confirm that social and cognitive congruence have a positive yet indirect impact on student academic achievement (Lockspeiser et al., 2008; Schmidt & Moust, 1995). Tasks Social learning theory, social identity theory, and social congruence theory support PLL from a social learning perspective. However, these theories lack guidelines for the design of the PLL backbone: learning tasks. At what cognitive level should a PLL learning task be designed in order to engage students? Further, what tasks should student leaders perform to help students increase achievement? While it may be worthwhile to examine a variety of tasks that support higher-order thinking, this paper will focus on one popular method used in some PLL sessions called problem-based learning (PBL). In its most comprehensive form, PBL is interwoven throughout the curriculum and scaffolded as any pedagogical intervention. When using PBL in class, instructors or student leaders present a real-world problem, or problem simulation, to a learner group. Problems are designed at a particular level to engage students in higher-order thinking. Students work in the group, or as individuals, to identify and solve the given problem by applying what they know. The instructor or student leader facilitates this process. Studies have unanimously agreed on the positive effect of PBL on student motivation and attitude (Prince, 2004). In addition, Hung, Jonassen, and Liu (2008) conducted a narrative review of PBL and reported its positive impact on student application of knowledge. However, the researchers did not find a consensus regarding the impact of PBL on student acquisition of knowledge, especially conceptual knowledge. Zha, Estes, and Xu 8 In a qualitative review of seven meta-analyses, Strobel and van Barneveld (2009) found that PBL benefitted student skill development. Results of their analysis on student knowledge acquisition clarified mixed results from Hung et al. (2008) and showed that PBL helped students’ long-term knowledge retention but not immediate knowledge acquisition and retention. PLL has been widely implemented in foundational undergraduate courses to decrease the historically high dr