Peers Matter: The Role of Peers on Student Engagement (2016)

Undergraduate: Elizabeth Gaudette

Faculty Advisor: Patrick Akos
Department: History

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Keeping students engaged and motivated is one of the most challenging task for teachers, but is an influential factor to student success. Students that have positive friendships and peer relationships feel more connected to their classroom and communities. These bonds are key factors to the level of engagement student¿¿¿s exhibit. Students who are more engaged can stay on task, and have a stronger likelihood to participate. The purpose of this project is to understand the connection between good peer relationships and student engagement; it explores how peers can be used as an engagement tool, and what teachers can do to facilitate these relationships. Research about both the positives and negatives of peer relationships is comprehensively reviewed in this project. This pool of research is compared to current educational peer practices through observations in a kindergarten classroom. The purpose of comparing classroom observations and existing research is to understand if the peer relationships are fostered in elementary classrooms, and to see how a particular teacher uses peers on a daily basis. The dynamic between students and their peers are vital, and is a key way to help teachers keep students inspired.