Peer learning in higher education: an example of practices

Nowadays, academic institutions face the challenges of an increasing number of student enrolments as well as dropouts. An important factor which allows predicting learner dropout is the number of university educational credits gained across the first term in the first academic year. Since active methods enhance students’ learning more than traditional lectures, a possible effect of their implementation in an academic course might be an increase in the pass rate in final examinations, thus contributing to moderate the learners’ dropouts. In this perspective, a case study was implemented to examine whether integrating peer learning into traditional physics lectures through the use of technology may have positive effects on student learning in large size classes. This study aimed at 1) outlining how this educational method was implemented in the context of an academic physics course at Politecnico di Milano, and 2) illustrating some preliminary results regarding the final achievement of the students involved in this teaching methodology.