Skip to main content
To KTH's start page

Peer Instruction

This is an example of a learning activity carried out in a course at KTH. The course used the concept of Peer Instruction. The students took part of the material before the teaching session, and during the lecture the focus was on processing the material through discussion among the students.

About Peer Instruction

The course used the method Peer Instruction, which is a form of student-based learning where students answer questions individually and then discuss it together. The method has been shown to increase students' performance and motivation in the subject and supports each student in their learning. The aim is to give students the opportunity to train their long-term abilities by training them to argue and challenge their own assumptions. At the same time, the teacher can see and determine whether the students understood or whether further explanation is necessary.

Structure of lectures

The course had lectures on campus and used Peer Instruction in the teaching by preparing students for lectures, which were then based on processing the material through questions and discussion prepared by the teacher. This activity promoted student learning in that the majority of time was spent discussing and arguing with other students to arrive at an answer. The structure of each lecture was designed as follows:

  1. The teacher prepared material that the students took part in before the lecture.
  2. During the lecture, the teacher gave a short summary of the material.
  3. The teacher asked a question that was related to the material.
  4. Students reflected individually on the question.
  5. The students submitted an individual answer via Mentimeter , but the answers were not shown to the students.
  6. The students got to discuss their thoughts on the question with others who were next to them in the room. The teacher walked around and listened to the discussions but did not participate.
  7. The teacher opened the question again and the students could submit a new individual answer.
  8. The teacher went through the students' answers in the whole group and could then see if further explanation was needed or if they could proceed further.

Challenging questions

The questions asked during the lectures were designed to be challenging enough to arouse interest and discussion among the students. The more challenging the questions were, the more students could get out of the exercise. Questions that challenged students' misconceptions were especially good as they had great advantages in the students' learning process.