Varying the Preparation Guide and Group Discussion in a Classroom Analysis of Interteaching

Interteaching is a strategy that shifts the emphasis from passive student learning to active engagement through the use of preparation guides, small group discussions, clarifying lectures, and frequent testing. Several classroom studies have demonstrated that interteaching leads to better student comprehension and higher test scores. However, the specific strategies used in these studies vary slightly. The goal of the present study was to compare two different ways of implementing the preparation guide and group discussions to determine which method led to higher academic success. A group design was used in two sections of a psychology course over two semesters. One section experienced the standard interteaching method, where students completed the entire preparation guide prior to class and engaged in small group discussions during class. The second section was divided into two groups and each group was given half of the preparation guide to complete. Students, then, went through two rounds of group discussions: first, in a dyad with a member that completed the same portion of the preparation guide and then in a larger group with another dyad who completed the other portion of the preparation guide. Students in the second section scored more points on exam questions that came from their half of the preparation guide and they demonstrated less of a preference for interteaching than those who experienced the standard interteaching method. Results from this study indicate that instructors should have students read and complete the entire preparation guide to allow for more effective implementation of interteaching.