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How Do Peers Impact Learning? An Experimental Investigation of Peer-to-Peer Teaching and Ability Tracking

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Classroom peers are believed to influence learning by teaching each other, and the efficacy of this teaching likely depends on classroom composition in terms of peers’ ability. Unfortunately, little is known about peer-to-peer teaching because it is never observed in field studies. Furthermore, identifying how peer-to-peer teaching is affected by ability tracking—grouping students of similar ability—is complicated by the fact that tracking is typically accompanied by changes in curriculum and the instructional behavior of teachers. To fill this gap, we conduct a laboratory experiment in which subjects learn to solve logic problems and examine both the importance of peer-to-peer teaching and the interaction between peer-to-peer teaching and ability tracking. While peer-to-peer teaching improves learning among low-ability subjects, the positive effects are substantially offset by tracking. Tracking reduces the frequency of peer-to-peer teaching, suggesting that low-ability subjects suffer from the absence of high-ability peers to teach them.

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  • Erik O. Kimbrough & Andrew D. McGee & Hitoshi Shigeoka, 2017. "How Do Peers Impact Learning? An Experimental Investigation of Peer-to-Peer Teaching and Ability Tracking," Discussion Papers dp17-08, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University.
    • Handle: RePEc:sfu:sfudps:dp17-08
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    Cited by:

    1. Fischer, Thomas & Rode, Johannes, 2020. "Classroom or pub - Where are persistent peer relationships between university students formed?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 474-493.
    2. David J. Cooper & Krista Saral & Marie Claire Villeval, 2021. "Why Join a Team?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(11), pages 6980-6997, November.
    3. McVicar, Duncan & Moschion, Julie & Ryan, Chris, 2018. "Achievement effects from new peers: Who matters to whom?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 154-166.
    4. Kiessling, Lukas & Radbruch, Jonas & Schaube, Sebastian, 2018. "The Impact of Self-Selection on Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 11365, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Sandro Ambuehl & B. Douglas Bernheim & Fulya Ersoy & Donna Harris, 2018. "Peer Advice on Financial Decisions: A case of the blind leading the blind?," NBER Working Papers 25034, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. João Firmino, 2018. "Class composition effects and school welfare: evidence from Portugal using panel data," Working Papers 2018/14, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    7. Agurto Adrianzén, Marcos & Fiestas Chevez, Hugo & Nuñez Morales, Wenceslao & Quevedo, Valeria & Vegas Chiyón, Susana, 2019. "Study-group diversity and early college academic outcomes: Experimental evidence from a higher education inclusion program in Peru," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 131-146.
    8. Diego Carrasco-Novoa & Sandro D´ıez-Amigo & Shino Takayama, 2021. "The Impact of Peers on Academic Performance: Theory and Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Discussion Papers Series 644, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Peer-to-peer Teaching; Ability Tracking; Peer Effects; Group Composition; Education and Inequality; Laboratory Experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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