Near‐peer teaching in anatomy: An approach for deeper learning

Abstract

Peer teaching has been recognized as a valuable and effective approach for learning and has been incorporated into medical, dental, and healthcare courses using a variety of approaches. The success of peer teaching is thought to be related to the ability of peer tutors and tutees to communicate more effectively, thereby improving the learning environment. Near-peer teaching involves more experienced students acting as tutors who are ideally placed to pass on their knowledge and experience. The advantage of using near-peer teachers is the opportunity for the teacher to reinforce and expand their own learning and develop essential teaching skills. This study describes the design and implementation of a program for fourth year medical students to teach anatomy to first-and second-year medical students and evaluates the perceptions of the near-peer teachers on the usefulness of the program, particularly in relation to their own learning. Feedback from participants suggests that the program fulfills its aims of providing an effective environment for developing deeper learning in anatomy through teaching. Participants recognize that the program also equips them with more advanced teaching skills that will be required as they move nearer toward taking on supervisory and teaching duties. The program has also provided the school with an additional valuable and appropriate resource for teaching anatomy to first-and second-year students, who themselves view the inclusion of near-peer teachers as a positive element in their learning. Anat Sci Educ 2: [227][228][229][230][231][232][233] 2009.

The anatomy of anatomy: A review for its modernization

“…Therefore, to maximize reliability of knowledge while attempting to overcome the shortage of anatomy demonstrators, near-peer tutoring has been suggested as a possible solution by Evans and Cuffe (2009), which was positively received by fourth-year tutors and their first-and second-year students. More senior students teach their junior peers in hope of reinforcing and expanding their own knowledge as well as developing teaching and communication skills that they will be expected to utilize in a supervisory role throughout their careers.…”

The gross anatomy course: An analysis of its importance

“…Multiple reports compare problem-based learning (Azer and Eizenberg, 2007), peer teaching (Krych et al, 2005;Evans and Cuffe, 2009), team-based learning (Nieder et al, 2005), computer or web-based teaching materials (Bryner et al, 2008;Petersson et al, 2009), and clinical skills (Dusseau et al, 2008) with traditional dissection methodology. Winkelmann (2007) reviewed several novel teaching methods and found that they were mostly judged to be ''not disadvantageous'' while at the same time not achieving significantly better results than traditional teaching methods on comparable examinations.…”

An Evaluation of Peer Teaching Across the Curriculum: Student Perspectives

“…It is through this preparation that student teachers are deepening their own learning and becoming better overall learners [11][12]. They are better able to anticipate learning issues due to the similarity of their knowledge and relying on successful strategies they used as learners [1].…”