Examining the Role of Trust in Peer-Assisted Learning

Abstract

Peer-assisted learning is increasingly an element of academia and applied settings. Through member interaction, individuals in teams or groups may experience a litany of positive outcomes, including increased engagement, increased retention of information, and a more comprehensive understanding of a topic. However, the mechanisms behind these outcomes are not well understood. Our intent for this study is to examine individual learning outcomes in a controlled environment in order to identify sources of variation in performance. We hypothesize that trust development between individuals will be positively correlated with individual performance on a learning task. In order to test this hypothesis, we use a paired-associates learning task in a controlled environment. Our study results indicate that an interactive lecture condition produces higher accuracy than a peer-assisted learning condition. Possible explanations and ramifications of these pilot findings are explored in the discussion