QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF CYBER-PLTL SESSIONS: ASSESSING FREQUENT TEAMWORK SKILL USAGE IN STUDENT LEARNING

For more than three decades, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) teachers across the world have aimed to increase student retention and success in the field. An innovative approach that has been used by educators in reaching this goal is the Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) model - student teams who work in groups of six to eight in a workshop style learning environment led by a trained and qualified near peer. PLTL workshops are mostly offered as a compliment to lectures. Cyber Peer-Led Team Learning (cPLTL), a cyber adaptation of the well-established PLTL was developed at IUPUI in 2009. With the global pandemic of 2020 restricting people from meeting in person, cPLTL became more widely used to continue student growth while also posing a new challenge: can students develop non-technical skills while in a remote-based learning environment? In this research study, we use a qualitative video content analysis design to identify the use of teamwork skills during student-student interactions, student-information interactions, and student-tool/environment interaction from 6 recorded cyber PLTL sessions in the spring of 2022.

In each video, students were observed practicing leadership and communication more frequently in instances where students lead the discussion, asked questions, explained their thought process, and interacted with colleagues through written and verbal exchanges. We also identified moments of coordination where students solicited and brought team ideas together and engaged in peer-teaching. Metacognitive skills where students solved problems on their own through moments of deep thinking and think-aloud were also observed. However, we noticed that occasionally one or two students lead the discussions which tends to deprive their colleagues’ opportunities to develop their own leadership and cooperative skills and the benefits of learning through teaching. We provide evidence that cPLTL can potentially be used for teaching teamwork skills. Additionally, we provide implications for STEM education such as using explicit teamwork learning outcomes, functional team approaches, and giving students opportunities for peer-teaching.