The implementation of peer teaching for motivating students to study at university (on the example of teaching a foreign language)

Abstract

The article highlights a type of learning “Peer Teaching” as a tool for students’ motivation to study at universities. The peculiarities of using this type of collaborative learning as well as advantages and disadvantages of its implementation in the Ukrainian educational environment are revealed in the article. Peer Teaching along with formal traditional education and other approaches in informal education is defined as a strategic way of information transaction in the society in order to motivate students to self-development and self-improvement. Peer Teaching implies collaborative learning, namely a group work, without any interference of a teacher that is more common for cooperative learning. Among the principles of its realization in the educational process the following ones have been distinguished: integrity, complexity, availability, progression, equality, activity, priority of human rights and responsibility. The author recommends for more effective Peer Teaching to conduct workshops and trainings as well as other forms and teaching methods that will be more informal and will be able to create natural and comfortable environment as well as to have all the necessary equipment and trained tutors. It is offered in the article to divide Peer Teaching into learning within a group; learning at the faculty level; interdisciplinary learning both at the inter-faculty and inter-university levels. The results of the experiment have shown the necessity of the realization of Peer Teaching for the integration of the national system of education into the world educational and scientific environment as well as the implementation of the European experience of organization of the educational process at universities and for humanization and democratization of learning.