What is PLTL? PLTL (Peer-Led Team Learning) is a voluntary supplement to your calculus experience here at Washington University. A small group of students meets with one leader for two hours each weekend. The leader is an older student who has demonstrated superior knowledge of the material covered in the course and has been identified as having the skills required to help your group. Together, the group works through a problem set that has been developed by the program coordinator with approval from the professor of the course. The problem set is written in order to encourage you to use various problem-solving methods while working alone, in pairs and in larger groups. PLTL can be an effective learning tool for most students. It should help you to stay current with the material being presented in lecture each week and prepares you for the next week's quiz. In order to participate in the program, you must make the commitment to attend all of the meetings. This is necessary for the group to be able to succeed. (Two absences are allowed with permission of your leader or the program coordinator.)
 PLTL was originally designed to be used as an aid for students learning chemistry. It was initiated for calculus students at Washington University in Fall 2004.� The Teaching Center has some more general information about PLTL. For more information about other universities implementing PLTL, visit City College of New York's PLTL site. http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/peer-led-team-learning-pltl-groups http://www.sci.ccny.cuny.edu/~chemwksp/ shapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1
What is a group meeting like? You and 6-8 other Calc students will meet in a seminar room in one of the dorms on the South 40. The seminar rooms provide a good atmosphere for the meetings--everyone sits at one table, and there is a whiteboard for putting problems up for all to see. The leader will make sure that the environment is comfortable and productive, and the group will work on a problem set together. Each person in the group will be expected to contribute to the problem-solving process, but this should not be intimidating. You are all there to help the group achieve its goal, and there are many ways for an individual to contribute to the group's success each week.
When/Where do the groups meet? All groups meet for two hours on Saturdays or Sundays in seminar rooms in dorms on the South 40.
Why do the groups meet on the weekend? Meeting on the weekends might seem like a bad time--you may have many other things that you would like to do on your weekend. However, it is extremely difficult to schedule groups during the week due to evening exams and other commitments. Group meeting times are offered at various times throughout the weekend in an attempt to meet most students' schedules.
Where do the problems come from? Some of the problems may be from your text book. Some will be from other calculus text books. Another source is old exams. The styles of questions that you are assigned for homework and given on exams are taken into consideration, and problems are modified accordingly. Some problems have even been inspired by online material. The problem sets are designed to cover the basic material that you have encountered during the week as well as to invite you to think more deeply about the concepts you have just learned, so some of the problems will seem familiar, and others, more unusual. All will be relevant to the material in your course, even if that is not immediately apparent to you.
Why is attendance important? PLTL is all about working together in a group. This is next to impossible if the group changes from week to week. The groups meet just 10-12 times during the semester. You are allowed two excused absences, but you are strongly encouraged to have perfect attendance. It is especially important for the entire group to attend the first few meetings when group dynamics are being worked out. It throws the whole group off if one person misses two of the first three meetings and then shows up later expecting the group to change its established style to accommodate a late addition.
What if I have even more questions? If you are still not sure what PLTL is, or would like to ask a specific question, please e-mail the program coordinator, Lisa Kuehne. If you would like to know what other resources are available for Calculus students, please visit the Mathematics Department, Cornerstone:The Center for Advanced Learning, or the Resources section of this site. mailto:lmkuehne@wustl.edu?subject=PLTL%20information%20request http://math.wustl.edu http://cornerstone.wustl.edu Resources.html shapeimage_8_link_0shapeimage_8_link_1shapeimage_8_link_2shapeimage_8_link_3
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