A comparison of interteaching and lecture in the college classroom.
Swap half your lecture for peer pairs and watch quiz scores rise—college students like it better too.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Two college professors ran a head-to-head race. One class got straight lecture. The other got interteaching: short mini-lessons, then students paired up to quiz each other while the teacher roamed and coached.
The teachers flipped the format every few weeks so the same kids tried both ways. Quiz and test scores were counted for each style.
Students also filled out a quick card saying which way they liked more.
What they found
Quiz scores were higher after interteaching weeks than after lecture weeks. Test scores followed the same pattern.
When asked, students picked interteaching two-to-one. They said the peer talk helped them remember.
How this fits with other research
Delini-Stula (1970) already showed that college kids can hit near-perfect scores when grades are tied to mastery. K et al. kept grades the same for both formats, so the gain came from the teaching style, not extra points.
McKearney (1976) found that a fast teacher pace cuts off-task behavior in first grade. Interteaching adds peer pace: students explain to each other, keeping the room moving without dead air.
Lydersen et al. (1974) proved that reinforcing academic work slashes disruption. Interteaching builds this in—students must talk about the material to earn the teacher’s praise and quiz success.
Why it matters
You can lift college scores without touching the syllabus. Just slice lecture time in half, add five-minute peer pairs, and walk the room to prompt and praise. Try it next class: teach for ten, pair up for five, repeat. The data say your quiz averages will jump and your students will thank you.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Interteaching is a new method of classroom instruction that is based on behavioral principles but offers more flexibility than other behaviorally based methods. We examined the effectiveness of interteaching relative to a traditional form of classroom instruction-the lecture. In Study 1, participants in a graduate course in special education took short quizzes after alternating conditions of interteaching and lecture. Quiz scores following interteaching were higher than quiz scores following lecture, although both methods improved performance relative to pretest measures. In Study 2, we also alternated interteaching and lecture but counterbalanced the conditions across two sections of an undergraduate research methods class. After each unit of information, participants from both sections took the same test. Again, test scores following interteaching were higher than test scores following lecture. In addition, students correctly answered more interteaching-based questions than lecture-based questions on a cumulative final test. In both studies, the majority of students reported a preference for interteaching relative to traditional lecture. In sum, the results suggest that interteaching may be an effective alternative to traditional lecture-based methods of instruction.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 2006 · doi:10.1901/jaba.2006.42-05