Datasets from the study Peer learning as a key component of an Integrated Teaching Method in large size classes

The theory and research on learning in higher education are pointing out that active methods are able to improve learners’ performance more than passive ones and to trigger situated and deep learning. However, some factors prevent their spread and trust amongst university instructors, like their complex logistics in large size lectures. Indeed, in academic crowded classes these interactive-engagement methodologies are sporadically employed and seem to be rarely successful. In this context, in the academic years 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 we carried out a quasi-experiment at Politecnico di Milano aimed at investigating the effectiveness of the integration of peer learning activities, strengthened by the use of technology, into traditional Physics lectures as a teaching method in large size classes. Data related to both an experimental and a control group were gathered and analysed through descriptive and inferential statistics; Shapiro-Wilk, Levene, Mann-Whitney U, Wilcoxon signed-rank and Kruskal-Wallis tests were employed. Our combined strategy appears to be effective with relation to learning Physics and more successful than traditional courses centred on academic lectures, regardless of the difficulty of the issues investigated. Furthermore, a threshold for the exposure to peer learning in order for it to be effective has been highlighed. In this page it is shared: 1) Dataset with reference to both 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 2) R Script with reference to both 2017-2018 and 2018-2019