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Generous benefactor gave funds to help at risk students in the Biology Core Courses (4 intro courses all majors take)
Hired tutors from students who had done well (B+ or better) in the course the previous year
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Tutor training minimal
Students solicited to join after first exam
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Those earning ~70% or less
Met weekly in small groups (~4 students) – question/answer format
Funds eventually ran out but continued by giving tutors course credit
No formal assessment but conclusion was that this approach didn’t work for the truly struggling students

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Peer Learning in Biology (1 credit)
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Group and learning skills to facilitate the understanding of complex biological processes.
Prerequisite: Concurrent enrollment in biology or life science course and permission of program.
First offered in Spring 2006
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All four core courses
Students solicited at the beginning of the semester
 email to those enrolled in the course
Allowed any student to enroll
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Students could enroll later in the semester if they felt they needed to
No formal assessment
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Increased tutor training and having stronger students in the groups seemed to help

 Peer Leadership in Biology (1 credit)
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Leadership training in guiding others to learn, communicate, and apply biological principles.
Prerequisite: 8 credits in biology or life science courses and permission of program
 Course for tutor training
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Regular meetings but variable content
 Could be more effective
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Needed a dedicated instructor

 Students register for the course before the semester begins
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Can add later if there is space available
Classroom appears on their class schedule
 Two instructors took charge of Bio 003 and Bio
251
 More structured tutor training
 Clearer expectations for students
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Grade (Sat/Un) based upon performance, not just attendance

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First core course – Basic Concepts and Biodiversity
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1066 students (mostly 1 st – 4 th semester)
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316 enrolled in Bio 003 – ~10 students per section – 30%
Preparation/expectations survey at beginning
Quizzes/discussions on note taking and effective learning techniques
Course packets (worksheets) to guide discussions
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Definitions, summarize lecture, thought questions
33 peer leaders in Bio 251
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Weekly peer leader training
Course evaluations other info still being analyzed

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Bio 220W – Populations and Communities
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~400 students in course
~19 students in Bio 003 (6 peer leaders) – 5%
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Can add as semester progresses
Bio 240W – Animal and Plant Physio/Dev
~625 students in course
~48 students in Bio 003 (9 peer leaders) – 8%
Each week, a different student is responsible for summarizing the lectures from the previous week
All students must write multiple choice questions for the same material
Preliminary results – more interactive, stronger students are not dominating the discussion each week

 Peer Lead – Sophomore/Junior year
 Assistant Undergraduate TA –
Junior/Senior year
 Undergraduate TA – Senior year