Perceptions of undergraduate medical students about peer assisted learning.

Abstract

To assess the perceptions of undergraduate medical students about peer assisted learning (PAL). Study Design: Cross sectional study. Setting: Peshawar Medical College. Period: From March 2016 to August 2016. Materials and Methods: A total of 84 students from second year MBBS were included to record the perceptions about peer assisted learning. A total of six topics of urogenital module were selected for PAL session. A validated questionnaire having 17 close ended questions was used to evaluate PAL on Likert-scale. The participants consented and evaluated the questionnaire, from which data was gathered and analyzed to reveal the degree of satisfaction by the PAL. Results: There were equal number of males and females (40 each). About 65—75% agreed that PAL was more informative than classical lecture system; topic discussed was clearer and found answers to their questions. 60—70% liked to incorporate peer assisted learning in their modules, showed satisfaction to the contents covered, felt easy to communicate with peer tutor and were of the view that peer tutors performed well in their teacher’s role. Among peer tutors, 70—80% agreed that the endeavor improved their confidence in teaching, presentation and communication skills. Over 62% agreed that teaching at undergraduate level was a beneficial experience. Conclusion: The participants’ found the peer assisted learning teaching method as useful. Therefore, this strategy may be introduced in the college.

Using of Peer Assisted Learning to Conduct Pre-Training Situational Analysis for Nurse Intern

“…The interns found PAL as an effective and interesting activity, and they recommended this method to all unit orientation. This is in congruence with other studies where respondents were satisfied with this method and encourage the implementation of this strategy (Usman & Jamil, 2019;Andrew et al, 2016;Cameron et al, 2015; Bahaa, 2015) 8,12,16,17 .…”

“…Studies show that PAL increases confidence for tutors as well as tutees. Using PAL also enhances communication and presentation skills (Usman & Jamil, 2019) 8 . In addition, PAL gave tutors the opportunity to reflect on their previous experience, this supports previous study which indicates that taking the responsibility to prepare and deliver a lesson increases deep understanding of the task (Cameron et al, 2015) 16 .…”

“…Interns' perception was measured using a 5-point Likert-type scale (5 = strongly agree, 1 = strongly disagree). This scale included items such as; satisfaction, benefits, interaction and motivation, the effects on enhancing presentation and communication skills, self-confidence, and teaching skills (Usman & Jamil, 2019) 8 .…”

The impact of peer assisted learning on mentors’ academic life and communication skill in medical faculty: A systematic review

“…Based on the results and discussions on reviewed studies, this study have found that Singh, Scicluna, and Abdolalizadeh all had strongly implied the benefit of peer mentoring program in developing students' communication skills. Supported by previous study with similar result [14]- [17], Singh et al found in their studies that mentors developed improvement in communication skills as a result of mentoring activities, as the previous study [9]. Scicluna et al found that teaching their juniors improved mentors' communication skills.…”

Supplemental Instruction. Volume 2: Student Learning Processes

“…PAL coordinators are skilled leaders, who have the experience of creating session plans. They must have sufficient knowledge and confidence (Usman & Jamil, 2019) to answer both the leaders' and participants' questions during and outside the sessions. They need to be approachable and fair, but also assertive enough to manage the scheme.…”