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In large introductory STEM courses, students often face two challenges at once: mastering demanding material and finding their footing in an unfamiliar academic environment. The Peer-Led Team Learning program (PLTL) tackles both by bringing students together outside the classroom in small groups that are guided by trained peer leaders who have mastered the coursework. 

In the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture (COLSA), this interactive and innovative program is transforming the learning experience for students in courses like Introductory Biology, General Microbiology, and Human Anatomy and Physiology — and significantly improving their ability to master the material. 

PLTL groups typically consist of eight to 12 students working through discipline-specific activities with an upper-level student leader who previously excelled in the course. It is not tutoring or an informal study group. As Megan Enos-Fournier, senior lecturer in the department of molecular, cellular, and biomedical sciences explains, “It’s students collectively working through activities, thinking about the course material from a different perspective. It’s way more active.”

The leaders facilitate discussion, pose questions, and help students “make their thinking visible” — a core goal across 91��Ƭ��’s STEM education initiatives. “The leaders might bring a problem to the students, but the students have to work together to solve it,” says Melissa Aikens, associate professor in the department of biological sciences. “The leader’s not stepping in to tell them where they’ve gone wrong.”

“They’re not just reviewing course material,” adds Enos-Fournier. “They're spending time working on activities that were built in conjunction with the course instructor, focusing on the aspects of the course and the material that the instructor expects them to have a handle on moving forward.”

This structure fosters academic confidence and lowers the social barriers common in large first-year courses. Many students arrive at 91��Ƭ�� from small high school classrooms and suddenly find themselves in lecture halls with 200 peers. PLTL offers an immediate, small-scale community within those courses. “There’s an element of peer mentoring in this process,” says Aikens. “Students are more likely to listen to a peer who has done it and been successful in that course.”

Funded in part through a National Science Foundation grant supporting innovations in STEM gateway courses, PLTL is one of several collaborative learning models being expanded across campus. Faculty are seeing evidence that it boosts engagement and supports stronger learning outcomes. Students routinely report that PLTL helps them better understand the “hows” and “whys” of complex problems, not just the final answers.

The program also benefits the peer leaders. They gain public speaking experience, deepen their mastery of foundational concepts, and develop metacognitive skills that strengthen their performance in advanced coursework. “If you can explain it to somebody else, you can be confident that you really understand it,” says Enos-Fournier.

The program was initially brought to campus in 2000 by Chris Bauer, professor of chemistry in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences (CEPS), and he is a principal investigator on the NSF grant, along with CEPS’ faculty Orly Buchbinder, Karen Graham, and Dawn Meredith, who retired in 2024. In COLSA, PLTL is led by Aikens and Enos-Fournier, whose commitment to the program has been central to expanding and shaping PLTL at the college and enhancing student success. Lecturer Brett Gunn, Principal Lecturer Tim Montminy, and Professor Paul Tsang, all in the department of molecular, cellular, and biomedical sciences, also take advantage of the program for the introductory courses they teach.

Demand for the program at the college continues to grow — some semesters bring 30 to 40 applications from students eager to become leaders. And semester after semester, student feedback echoes the same message: PLTL works. As one student told Enos-Fournier, “PLTL is amazing. Everyone should do it.”