Peer instruction for high school students as a special audience of art museum educational programs

Abstract

A quasi-experimental study and survey analysis was used to examine and analyze the effectiveness of trained peer instruction for high school students as a special audience of a museum education program at a multidisciplinary museum in West Texas. Effectiveness of peer training and instruction was determined as a result of information retention and comfort level with the instructor, achieved by the special audience of a museum education program which utilized a trained peer instructor (experimental group), compared to the information retention and comfort level with the instructor achieved by the special audience of the museum education program which utilized a museum educator (control group). Results indicate there is no significant difference in the information retention levels between the control and experimental groups. Study results also indicate there is a significant difference in the comfort level of the students with their instructor, with the peer-instructed group being more comfortable with their instructor than the museum educator-instructed group.