Using Reflection with Peers to Help Students Learn Effective Problem Solving Strategies

TL;DR

This study shows that peer reflection activities in physics recitations improve students' problem-solving strategies, such as diagram drawing, which correlates with better exam performance, highlighting the value of collaborative reflection in learning.

Contribution

It introduces a peer reflection intervention in physics recitations and demonstrates its positive impact on students' problem-solving behaviors and exam performance.

Findings

PR group drew more diagrams on final exam problems.

Diagram drawing correlated with higher exam scores.

Peer reflection enhanced problem-solving strategies.

Abstract

We describe a study in which introductory physics students engage in reflection with peers about problem solving. The recitations for an introductory physics course with 200 students were broken into the "Peer Reflection" (PR) group and the traditional group. Each week in recitation, students in the PR group reflected in small teams on selected problems from the homework. The graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants (TAs) in the PR group recitations provided guidance and coaching to help students learn effective problem solving heuristics. In the recitations for the traditional group, students had the opportunity to ask the graduate TA questions about the homework before they took a weekly quiz. On the final exam with only multiple-choice questions, the PR group drew diagrams on more problems than the traditional group, even when there was no external reward for doing so. Since there was no partial credit for drawing the diagrams on the scratch books, students did not draw diagrams simply to get credit for the effort shown and must value the use of diagrams for solving problems if they drew them. We also find that, regardless of whether the students belonged to the traditional or PR groups, those who drew more diagrams for the multiple-choice questions outperformed those who did not draw them.