SUSTAINABILITY OF GRADUATE PROGRAMS: PEER LEARNING AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS

Abstract

In the effort to build bridges for quality learning, there is need to address learning approaches that will support sustainability of graduate programs. This study, therefore, sought to determine if classroom interaction and hence academic achievement will improve using peer tutoring approach or the conventional teacher centered approach using fourteen (14) PhD students of Educational Administration, during the 1^st semester of the 2015 – 2016 academic session, using the seven (7) Principles of Educational Administration as the learning content. The fourteen (14) PhD students were randomly grouped into 2, with each group consisting of seven students. One group was the experimental group, taught using the peer-learning approach, while the other group was the control, taught using the conventional teacher-centered approach. Three research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The Experimental group teaching involved group orientation, discussions, peer teaching and teacher guidance, while the Control group approach involved the teacher teaching, students answering questions and teacher concluding the lesson. Both treatments lasted for 7 weeks. Efforts were made to control for contamination by extraneous variables. Results showed that the Experimental group performed significantly better (72%) than the Control group (68%). The result of the ratings of the impact of the two approaches on academic achievement, showed that the post learning test scores of the Experimental group was higher (80%) than that of the Control group (67%). In other words, the Experimental group benefitted more from the peer learning approach than the Control group did from the conventional teacher centered teaching approach. These findings corroborate earlier studies on the efficacy of peer learning over the teacher-centered approach.

Article visualizations: