The short-term effects of peer tutoring in first-year biology labs on students with and without ADHD

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Date
2025-03
Authors
Chambers, Amanda
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Abstract

Peer tutoring is an active learning strategy that has been implemented in many university-level courses. However, many studies that examine the effects of peer tutoring focus solely on the long-term impacts of peer tutoring on learning outcomes and student perceptions, without considering how peer tutoring may affect students with learning differences, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Therefore, this study considers the short-term effects of peer tutoring on learning outcomes and perceptions related to understanding metabolic experiments and the ability to focus in students with different relationships with ADHD. Data was collected from students in BIOL 1020 labs at the University of Manitoba during the Fall 2024 semester through an experiment lab, peer tutoring lab, final lab exam, and demographic survey. The main results of this study revealed that peer tutoring had no significant effect on the learning outcomes of students who have different relationships with ADHD. However, peer tutoring did have a significant positive effect on all students’ perceived understanding of metabolic concepts, regardless of their relationship with ADHD. Peer tutoring also had no significant impact on students’ perceived ability to focus, regardless of their relationship with ADHD. The findings of this study not only provide useful information to educators who may want to implement peer tutoring in their labs, but also demonstrate how peer tutoring affects all students the same, and can therefore be considered an inclusive active learning strategy for students, regardless of their relationship with ADHD.

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ADHD, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, peer tutoring, pedagogy
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