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The Peer-Led Teaching and Learning (Workshop) model has been applied since 1998 to a subset of all General Chemistry laboratory sections at the University of Pittsburgh. In the workshop model, the graduate TA instructor is replaced by a team of 3–4 qualified advanced undergraduates. Each undergraduate acts as the teacher, mentor, and facilitator for a small group of students during lab sessions. In implementing the model, several changes to the labs' structure were made in an effort to increase students' active involvement and reflective thinking.
We report the first systematic comparison of conventional and workshop labs. A natural experiment proved possible because students sign up for labs without knowing the type of instruction they will receive. A reliable grading system was developed to characterize students' written responses to the final lab exam, and an independent rater used it to assess student learning. Assessments of learning were made without knowledge of students' instructional condition. Compared to students in conventional sections, students in workshop sections showed superior learning and critical thinking skills, and gave answers that were longer and of greater clarity. Possible reasons for these improvements are discussed.
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