Students helping students: Evaluating a pilot program of peer teaching for an undergraduate course in human anatomy

Abstract

The educational literature generally suggests that supplemental instruction (SI) is effective in improving academic performance in traditionally difficult courses. A pilot program of peer teaching based on the SI model was implemented for an undergraduate course in human anatomy. Students in the course were stratified into three groups based on the number of peer teaching sessions they attended: nonattendees (0 sessions), infrequently attended (1‐3 sessions), and frequently attended (≥ 4 sessions). After controlling for academic preparedness [i.e., admission grade point average (AGPA)] using an analysis of covariance, the final grades of frequent attendees were significantly higher than those of nonattendees (P = 0.025) and infrequent attendees (P = 0.015). A multiple regression analysis was performed to estimate the relative independent contribution of several variables in predicting the final grade. The results suggest that frequent attendance (β = 0.245, P = 0.007) and AGPA (β = 0.555, P < 0.001) were significant positive predictors, while being a first‐year student (β = −0.217, P = 0.006) was a significant negative predictor. Collectively, these results suggest that attending a certain number of sessions may be required to gain a noticeable benefit from the program, and that first‐year students (particularly those with a lower level of academic preparedness) would likely stand to benefit from maximally using the program. End‐of‐semester surveys and reports indicate that the program had several additional benefits, both to the students taking the course and to the students who served as program leaders. Anat Sci Educ 9: 132–142. © 2015 The Authors. Anatomical Sciences Education published by Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of the American Association of Anatomists.

Improving Academic Performance of Sport and Exercise Science Undergraduate Students in Gross Anatomy Using a Near‐Peer Teaching Program

“…Furthermore, previous studies have demonstrated that students provide positive feedback about peer teaching (Goode et al, ; Furmedge et al, ; Agius et al, ), near‐peer teaching (Evans and Cuffe, ; Durán et al, ; Nelson et al, ; Rosenberg et al, ), and reciprocal peer‐teaching programs (Manyama et al, ). Moreover, beyond their gains in knowledge, students show improvement in understanding and retaining the material presented, improvement in study habits, more positive attitudes toward the subject, and independent self‐learning (Manyama et al, ; Bruno et al, ; Hanson et al, ).…”

Students helping students: Five years of experience

“…Near peer teaching (NPT) is a similar variant, in which higher level students (tutors typically 2-5 years ahead of the tutee in the academic program) mentor their junior classmates (tutees) by temporarily assuming the role of the instructor. Therefore, implementing an NPT program within an undergraduate curriculum stands to prepare medical students for their future role as educators.We have read with great interest the recent article published in ASE by Bruno et al (2016), and we applaud their work; however, as the authors mentioned, there were several limitations. In the United Kingdom, the General Medical Council's guidelines, Tomorrow's Doctors: Recommendations on Undergraduate Medical Education, states that a medical graduate must "function effectively as a mentor and teacher" (GMC, 2009).…”

“…In the United Kingdom, the General Medical Council's guidelines, Tomorrow's Doctors: Recommendations on Undergraduate Medical Education, states that a medical graduate must "function effectively as a mentor and teacher" (GMC, 2009). Therefore, implementing an NPT program within an undergraduate curriculum stands to prepare medical students for their future role as educators.We have read with great interest the recent article published in ASE by Bruno et al (2016), and we applaud their work; however, as the authors mentioned, there were several limitations. We agree that the sample size and the number of sessions involved were too small to draw any longstanding conclusions.…”

“…This method has been utilized in many university and medical school settings (Evans and Cuffe, 2009;Jackson and Evans, 2012;Cantwell et al, 2015;Riddell and King, 2016). With regards to the analysis of student perceptions regarding the program, the authors based their findings on comments from the majority of students (74.3%) who attended a single session of the peer teaching program in human anatomy (Bruno et al, 2016). Therefore, implementing an NPT program within an undergraduate curriculum stands to prepare medical students for their future role as educators.…”

Peer Tutoring for Anatomy Workshops in Cambodia

“…Students who receive tutoring from peers also report improvements in understanding, interpersonal skills and study habits. (Lockspeiser et al, 2008;Manyama et al, 2016) In addition to the reported benefits of peer tutoring there are numerous accounts of improved learning outcomes for students who participate in workshops designed for active learning (Gonsalvez et al, 2015;Bruno et al, 2016;Saavedra et al, 2016;Scott et al, 2017). Active learning aims to enable students to participate in a range of activities designed to help them think critically about the content and apply it to reallife situations.…”