%0 Journal Article %T Mathematical theory of peer-instruction dynamics %A Hideo Nitta %J Physical Review Special Topics. Physics Education Research %D 2010 %I %X A mathematical theory of peer instruction describing the increase of the normalized number of correct answers due to peer discussion is presented. A simple analytic expression is derived which agrees with class data. It is shown that our theory is connected to the mathematical learning models proposed by Pritchard et al. It is also shown that obtained theoretical lines are useful for analyzing peer-instruction efficiencies. %U http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.6.020105