Analysis of the Impact of Formal Peer-led Study Groups on First-year Student Math Performance

Formal peer-led study groups were created for first-year engineering and computer science students. The groups were organized around the math course taken by the students so that all students in the study group were taking the same math course, although students did not necessarily come from the same course section. In the 2010-11 academic year, these groups were organized as a formal class, and students received a grade based upon their participation. This was done to increase participation rates over past years during which the study groups were offered in a less formal setting. Analysis of previous years’ groups had indicated that greater participation in the study groups correlated with higher grades in the associated math courses. Study groups featured 6-12 students, and were directed by an upper-level engineering or computer science student. The student peer mentor would pose math problems to the students in the class. These problems came from homework assigned in the math classes, additional nonassigned problems from the math books, and outside sources. The students then worked on the problems together, until a solution was found. The student mentor would provide guidance if the students were unable to solve a problem without assistance, but would not completely solve the problems for the students. In the second year of the study, approximately 70% of the first-year students in engineering and computer science attended at least one session of the study groups, with nearly all students attending 9 or more of the weekly sessions. Grades of the students who participated in the study groups were generally 0.3-0.7 points (on a 4-point scale) higher than the average course grades of all students in the courses. In this paper, the format of the study groups will be described in detail, and the analysis of the impact of the study groups on the student grades will be presented.