Understanding the experience of being taught by peers: the value of social and cognitive congruence

Abstract

Students valued learning from near-peers because of their recent experience with the materials and their ability to understand the students' struggles in medical school. Students with the highest participation in the program valued the unique aspects of this kind of teaching most. Areas for improvement for this program were identified.

How does attending PowerPoint free peer to peer teaching impact student experiences at medical school?

“…Using Bloom's taxonomy (Bloom et al 1984), the seminars focused on the cognitive domain with comprehension being the main goal of Student-Seminars. The cognitive congruence of second years to first years enabled the seminars to focus on useful areas, and for tutors to naturally pitch sessions at the right level (Lockspeiser, et al 2008). …”

“…Senior students have a "greater awareness of the curriculum and assessment requirements" as compared to faculty as they have recently been in the exact position of their tutees . They show greater cognitive congruence with the students they teach, enabling them to teach at an appropriate level (Nelson et al 2013) and anticipate potential problems in understanding (Lockspeiser et al 2008). Peer assisted learning has been shown to improve both cognitive and psychomotor development (when teaching clinical skills) (Secomb 2008).…”

Implementation of a Near-Peer Teaching Model in Pharmacy Education: Experiences and Challenges

“…14,15 This concept is known as cognitive congruence. 11 In this model, the junior students had more opportunities to discuss information with the senior students than with the pharmacist:…”

“…The person integrates more centrally as he or she becomes more familiar with the ways in which the new culture functions. 14 In social research, this phenomenon is referred to as culture learning, the process whereby newcomers acquire culturally relevant social knowledge and skills allowing them to thrive in their new society. 16 Legitimate peripheral participation appeared to be a useful strategy for learning the way in which the medical culture worked in this model:…”

A vertical study programme for medical students: Peer-assisted learning in practice

“…Participants can assume a number of roles including facilitator, information provider and role model (Bulte et al 2007). In acknowledgement that a lack of leadership or expertise in facilitation may lead to inefficient use of learning opportunities, training is usually provided for students in the teaching role (Lockspeiser et al 2008;Evans & Cuffe 2009).…”