Peer teaching for life-long learning skills.

Abstract

The use of peer teaching has been incorporated into the teaching of accounting at the Australian Defence Force Academy. This has created an environment where students take more responsibility for their own learning and become self-regulated learners, which is critical to the development of life-long learning skills.

Introduction

In 1999, the use of peer teaching was incorporated into the teaching of accounting to undergraduate students at the Australian Defence Force Academy. Originally intended as method of coping with students who had different levels of prior knowledge in accounting and of encouraging students to take more responsibility for their own learning, it quickly became apparent that there were additional benefits from the new teaching approach. In particular, students reported that their confidence with accounting concepts increased in topics where peer teaching was incorporated, they felt that they had more control of their learning and they felt confident to manage accounting information in the work-place.

This meant that an environment conducive to developing life-long learning skills was being created. Based on this feedback, the outcomes of peer teaching were more closely monitored. This article describes how peer teaching is used in the Australian Defence Force Academy to develop life-long learning skills and discusses the outcomes of a peer teaching approach.

Literature Review

Peer teaching is a method of self-regulated learning which allows the learner to exercise control over the acquisition of skills and knowledge. This is important in the development of lifelong learning skills (Smith, 2001). Peer teaching has been recognised as one of the most effective teaching methods (Biott & Easen, 1994; Cohen, Sampson, & Boud, 2001; Reynolds, 1994; Scime, 1998). Student centered teaching methods have been found to be more effective than teacher dominated methods in developing higher order thinking skills (Biggs, 1999; Bloom, 1953; Gibbs & Oxford Centre for Staff Development., 1995), in developing leadership and problem solving skills (Rubin, 1998), and in achieving motivated students (Rubin, 1998). Research indicates that self-motivation is a prerequisite for self-regulated learning (Meece, 1994). The ability to self-motivate is one of the criteria for selection of military students for officer training (ADFA, 1998). The level of self-motivation can be increased by giving students feedback that ability is an acquired skill rather than a fixed or inherent skill (Wood, 1989). Self-motivation can also be increased by giving a student self-confidence which leads to situation specific efficacy (Smith, 2001).

The essential difference between a self regulated learner and other learners is that self-regulated learners make a stronger use of conscious selection and control over critical thinking and learning strategies, and they continually self-assess their progress and the effectiveness of their learning strategies (Zimmerman, 1986, 1989). Self-regulated learners consciously reflect on the most effective way to achieve mastery of a learning goal. Learners are more likely to self-regulate their learning when the choice of learning approaches includes rehearsing, elaborating, modeling and organizing (Meece, 1994; Smith, 2001). Thus, a learning environment that incorporates these learning approaches will create an environment that is more conducive to students becoming self-regulated learners. In accounting, there has been recognition that accounting students must be given life-long learning skills became the requirements of the profession change rapidly (Francis, 1995). Although studies on the development of life-long learning skills in accounting have focused on students undertaking accounting degree programs, this could be extended to students who will not become professional accountants but who will prepare or rely on accounting information in the work-place.

Background

The Australian Defence Force Academy is a tri-service institution co-located with Australia's Defence Headquarters in Canberra, Australia's capital city. Officers study towards an undergraduate civilian degree taught by civilian academies from the University of New South Wales, one of Australia's most prestigious universities. While completing their degree studies, students undertake some military studies, taught by military staff. Students are accommodated on the campus in residential blocks comprising single rooms with shared facilities. Students are divided according to their year of study, service and degree program. Meals are provided at a cadets' mess. On weekends, students participate in organized sporting activities. Thus, students who study together do everything else together too, developing close bonds. Students are required to wear a uniform and observe all normal military protocol on campus. Attendance at classes is compulsory. Accounting is taught to second year undergraduate students taking economic or management studies. The student profile of a typical accounting student reflects the general student demographic at the Academy. Students are academically talented, having received tertiary entrance scores that ranked them in the top twenty-five percent Australia-wide of their matriculation year. The student group has a large male majority of primarily Army students since the Army intake per year is triple the intake of the Navy or Air Force.

There are some features of the undergraduate students peculiar to the Academy and not replicated at Australia's civilian universities. The military selection process includes psychological tests biased towards students who demonstrate leadership skills and the ability to work well in teams, which are essential qualities for officers in an operational military environment (ADFA 1998). As with most above average students, they are competitive and approach time management of their studies strategically (Philips, 2001). Competitiveness is enhanced by the public recognition of and reward for academic achievement at the Academy. Although some of these qualities may be present in individual students in civilian universities, they are unlikely to be common to every member of the student group, as they are at the Academy. The advantage of the stringent selection process from an academic perspective is that there are particular strengths of the group which can be built on to enhance learning outcomes: the competitiveness and ability to work well in teams formed the basis of the peer teaching program in the undergraduate accounting course. The course at the Australian Defence Force Academy has extremely small numbers for an accounting course. This is a feature of the Academy's teaching environment. Tutorials and laboratory sessions have less than ten students. A group of 40 or more students is considered a large class. This environment is conducive to teaching innovation.

Peer Teaching Approach

Peer teaching has been used in accounting lectures, tutorials and computer laboratory sessions at the Australian Defence Force Academy for four years. During that time, formal and informal feedback from students has been actively sought. In lectures, a mirroring technique is used whereby students attempt to model and elaborate upon recent learning. After explanations of difficult technical points, the lecture is paused so students can discuss the concepts in pairs, explaining them to each other to determine whether they have a shared understanding and to develop Defence related applications.

Listening to a lecture for understanding in order to be able to explain a concept to others encourages a deeper level of understanding so that students cannot be passive listeners in lectures. Variations on this approach are used: student pairs will be asked to discuss the concept that they found hardest to understand and try to seek common understanding, or student pairs will be asked to summarize key learning points.

Mirroring is used in conjunction with small group problem solving, debates, small group discussions and self-reflection exercises on material covered. Each of these approaches expands the opportunities for learning by requiring students to respond to information rather than only absorb it, and to organize their learning independently. Tutorials provide an enhanced environment for peer teaching. Since many of the Academy's class-rooms are equipped with boards on all walls, there is ample space for students to work on the same or different problems in small groups and write answers on the boards. Groups who are able to correctly solve a set problem explain their solution to a group who is unable to correctly solve the problem, or groups compare approaches to completed problems when their answers are the same but method differs. To explain their approach to a problem, students must understand concepts, organize their thinking and be able to elaborate on their thought processes, reinforcing their own learning in the process.

During the accounting course, students are required to work in self-selected small groups to develop and conduct a tutorial on an aspect of the course. These are evaluated by their peers using a marking scale and feedback sheet that students have previously developed collaboratively. The importance of using peer assessment is that the process of thinking about how a presentation should be marked and the type of feedback that would be constructive forces students to consider their own performance, how they would prefer to be assessed and the type of feedback they would find helpful. Informal staff feedback suggests that since the introduction of peer assessment, presentations have become better structured and organized.

Teaching computer laboratory sessions can be difficult when students have differing levels of computing and accounting familiarity. This is overcome by asking students to work in small groups and using students who have mastered a difficult area as explainers and coaches to assist those having difficulty. In this process, all students gain confidence. Student with mastery gain reinforcement of their abilities and students receiving assistance gain confidence as they gain understanding to complete an assigned task. From the lecturer's perspective, peer teaching is not an abrogation of teaching responsibility but a change in role. The lecturer facilitates learning but must be aware of the different learning experiences taking place in the class-room and must be ready to guide or assume control. The danger is that the lecturer will assume control too soon; the aim is that students feel that they are directing their learning. Peer teaching is not an appropriate technique for all subject areas within a course but can be used selectively to enhance student learning.

Discussion

The advantage of peer teaching is that students become confident about their ability to direct their own learning, which is critical to the development of life-long learning skills. Students receive self-feedback that they have the ability to master the subject matter and as their confidence increases, so does their motivation. By increasing the range of learning opportunities, students develop the ability to rehearse, elaborate, model and organize the subject matter, which are the features of a learning environment that is conducive to students becoming self-regulated learners. As part of this process, they are constantly reassessing their own approach to learning accounting.

Peer teaching allows for the different experiences and aptitudes of students. For the majority of students, the subject matter is unfamiliar. Within three weeks, the material covered at the tertiary level has digressed from the secondary school curriculum and those who may have studied accounting at the secondary level have lost any advantage derived from an existing knowledge base. In the early weeks of the course, peer teaching allows students who have prior knowledge to demonstrate it, maintaining their interest in the course. As the course moves into unfamiliar territory, the inherent competitiveness of students at the Academy means that students with prior knowledge want to continue to be seen as a repository of accounting knowledge and work to retain their perceived position in the group. The inherent competitiveness of the students encourages others to work at a similar level.

Students learn at different rates. Like other disciplines, accounting provides a particular way of thinking and viewing the world. Students who readily grasp the concepts being taught can become bored or impatient if the lecturer is slowing the pace of teaching to accommodate those students who need additional time. Peer teaching keeps fast learners actively involved, creating less tension in the class-room. When surveyed on the effectiveness of peer teaching in accounting, accounting students at the Academy consistently comment that peer teaching enhanced their understanding. There is no statistically significant difference in the results from students with and without prior accounting knowledge. Peer teaching provides reinforcement learning in a way that is stimulating because the students are active participants in their learning. The responsibility for understanding shifts to them as they direct their level of understanding through the give and take process of listening, absorbing and explaining to others. Students must take some responsibility for their own educational experience in a peer teaching situation. Peer teaching necessitates small group interaction. In a military environment where students form a close knit group, small group work tends to be very successful. Students are able to identify what they do not know immediately because it is not possible to clearly explain something to another person unless you understand it. Explaining a topic to one other person is less threatening than admitting a lack of understanding within a large group setting. Most people are happier to risk a wrong answer in a small group than in the larger group.

Although the feedback from students on peer teaching is consistently positive, the feedback of academic staff is not: academic staff are aware that the shift in teacher/student roles increases the burden placed on them and students. They feel obliged to constantly develop new activities and approaches to the presentation of information, although student feedback conducted annually by the University of New South Wales indicates that they do not require constant teaching innovation or novelty. Student feedback indicates that a peer teaching approach places more responsibility on them to prepare in advance of classes to ensure they understand course content, but that this is an acceptable trade-off for an environment where their views are heard and valued. Peer teaching was introduced into the accounting course inter alia to create an environment where students would become self-regulated learners, a skill that extends beyond the class-room. Over 90% of students surveyed strongly believed that this teaching approach enhanced their learning by giving them control of their learning environment and increased confidence in preparing and using accounting information. All students expressed the view that peer teaching should continue to be used in the teaching of accounting.

Conclusion

The use of peer teaching in accounting at the Australian Defence Force Academy has assisted students to develop life-long learning skills. It has been successful for three reasons: it creates an environment where students have opportunities to rehearse, elaborate, model and organize their learning experiences to gain confidence about their abilities in accounting, students are required to continually reassess their own approaches to learning, and it draws upon the inherent strengths of the student group. These strengths are readily identifiable and exist strongly throughout the entire group because of the stringent military selection process for officers that favor a particular psychological and academic profile. Although these teaching techniques could therefore be expected to be successfully applied to groups of military students studying in other discipline areas, they may not be as easy to implement with non-military students. This is because nonmilitary student groups should have a more diverse psychological profile because their selection processes for tertiary education does not focus on meeting the stringent psychological requirements for officer selection but solely on academic merit. However, although this case study involved an exclusively military group of students, there is certainly evidence to suggest that peer teaching has benefits for all student groups (Scime, 1998).

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Frances Miley, University of New South Wales--Australian Defence Force Academy, is senior lecturer in accounting whose research is on education issues, defence finance management and accounting history.