Customer Reviews

Peer Instruction: A User's Manual

5 star:		(2)
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3 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you have a class of 30,40,50 or more, and/or you have problems in terms of participation of your students in lessons, or if you would like to create useful discussions in your class by which your students can develop their conceptual understanding of physics; this book will serve as a great source. There are lots of materials that can be used in the class, along with standard tests such as FCI, MBT. Eric Mazur's Peer Instruction method is a research based well functioning teaching method. I have been using the materials in my highschool physics instructions, and seen the effectiveness of them. For example, well designed quizzes which I used to test reading assignments were very useful. Highly recommended for physics teachers.

The book has 252 pages of which 42 contain content and the remainder is resources. As the accompanying CD also contains all the resources, I wondered why 200 pages of the book was used for this. I expected more for the price.
The peer instruction approach is certainly a valuable method, and it is worth seeing his particular model for lessons. The questions provided are very similar to those on IB exams--which combine a very good blend of conceptual questions, and problem solving with estimations and assumptions--as such I already had very good resources in this regard. Paul Hewitt's textbook and worksheets are at a similar level of difficulty and have much to offer in terms of forming a conceptual basis for physics understanding.

Peer Instruction is a excellent source for a number of non-traditional assessment items designed to measure a student's understanding of fundamental physics concepts.

While the book contains electronic copies of the Force Concept Inventory and the Mechanics Baseline Test, it's real strength are the ConcepTests. These one question assessment items are designed to allow the student to determine their own understanding of the conceptual foundations of the material as well as giving the instructor a way to determine the overall class understanding of an idea so that a decision on whether to spend more time covering the concept should be spent.

Additionally, there are a number of reading quiz questions that can be used at the beginning of class or in an on-line environment to encourage students to come to class prepared.

Physics educators will find this an excellent resource, especially when combined with any of the new classroom "voting" systems desgned with this sort of approach in mind. Highly recommended for physics educators and students taking an introductory college level physics course.

The book is an excellent, comprehensive how-to manual for any instructor who wants to begin using Peer Instruction. It is comprehensive to the point that most physics teachers can start using PI "out of the box" and make changes as needed that suit their teaching style. There are also additonal teacher resources are available at the Harvard Galileo website. That being said, there are a number of conceptual assumptions made in some of the ConceptTests questions. As a high school physics teacher who has be using research-based interactive engagement materials for several years (i.e. Hestenes' Modeling, Laws' Workshop Physics and McDermott's Tutorials), I was struct by some of conceptual leaps students would be expected to make in some of the Concep Tests questions, particularly in regard to Newton's laws and forces. These gaps can be addressed by rewriting some of the Concep Test questions which Mazur himself admits is the hardest part of implementing PI. I'd have given this book 5 stars were it not for this issue. Otherwise, it is an outstanding, groudbreaking addition to physics education research and the movement to reform physics instruction. Highly recommended.

I love the book but I was upset that it came with an old floppy disk instead of a cd. This should have been part of the description.