Peer tutoring day: Perceptions and its effectiveness on the academic performance of students in learning high school physics

This study looked at how well high school students performed academically in physics when using the Peer Tutoring Day (PTD) approach. Specifically, it assessed students' perceptions of PTD in terms of helpfulness, confidence, and motivation, as well as its implications on achievement scores. A mixed-methods, one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was used. High-performing students served as tutors, while lower-performing students were tutees. Data were collected through a 15-item achievement test, a Likert-scale survey, and focus group discussions (FGDs). Results showed that students rated PTD as very helpful (mean = 3.58), very empowering (mean = 3.38), and very motivating (mean = 3.44). The favorable contribution of PTD to the learning outcomes was confirmed by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, which showed a substantial improvement in posttest results (p=0.000). Qualitative findings revealed that PTD fostered collaborative learning, deepened conceptual understanding, and strengthened interpersonal relationships. However, challenges such as limited tutor preparation time and initial discomfort in tutor-tutee interactions were mentioned. The study concludes that PTD is a helpful, motivating, and confidence building strategy, which enhances students’ understanding of physics. It recommends allocating sufficient preparation time for tutors and fostering a supportive classroom environment to optimize the intervention's benefits.