Can Near-Peer Teaching Improve Academic Performance?

Abstract

Near peer teaching is becoming increasingly popular within healthcare education. The experiences and effects of near-peer teaching upon the near-peer teachers' academic performance are poorly understood. In order to address this, the objective of this study was to examine whether a near-peer teaching program improved the overall clinical unit scores of undergraduate paramedic near-peer teachers. Students in their final year of an undergraduate paramedic, or nursing/paramedic degree were given the opportunity to volunteer as near-peer teachers for a first year clinical skills unit. The overall unit scores in a final year clinical unit of 74 students involved in the near-peer teaching program were compared with a randomly selected sample not involved. 74 students participated in this study as near-peer teachers between 2011-2013 (n=23 in 2011, n=18 in 2012, n=33 in 2013). In each year, the median clinical unit grade of participating near-peer teachers was significantly higher than that of the students not involved in the near-peer teaching program when examined using a Mann-Whitney U Test (71 vs 67, p=0.006 in 2011; 76 vs 72, p=0.007 in 2012; 75 vs 71, p=0.004 in 2013). This study has demonstrated that participation in a near-peer teaching program can result in improved overall clinical unit grades for undergraduate paramedic near-peer teachers. This study has added objective data to the variety of subjective information evaluating the effects of near-peer teaching upon the teachers themselves.

The Evidence Base for Peer Assisted Learning in Undergraduate Medical Education: a Scoping Study

“…Three other scoping studies were identified during the search. The first focused on academic performance after PAL 3 , while another reported on "group study" (identifying 18 peer reviewed studies and 17 studies from the grey literature) 61 and another on "peer coaching" 62 . The different synonyms that can be used to identify a practice such as peer teaching challenges any scoping study.…”

“…It is a wellestablished tradition in general education. Recently, studies and reviews have demonstrated its benefits in medical education to both tutors 2,3 and those being taught [4][5][6] . PAL is rooted in the concepts of both social constructivism and cognitive congruence 7 .…”

Near-peer teaching programme for medical students

“…Compared with conventional faculty staff, near‐peer educators can better frame their teaching around students’ level of understanding, foster more comfortable learning environments and connect with students on more personal levels . Students find learning from near‐peer teachers more meaningful than learning from faculty members, and NPT results in similar or better academic and clinical student performance …”

“…1,[3][4][5] Students fi nd learning from near-peer teachers more meaningful than learning from faculty members, and NPT results in similar or better academic and clinical student performance. 1,6,7 Near-peer teachers also benefi t from participating in NPT programmes. 1,5,6 Despite expectations to teach, supervise and provide feedback during residency, and beyond, medical students rarely receive formal preparation for these tasks.…”

What are the educational and curriculum needs for emergency medical technicians in Taiwan? A scoping review

“…Peer-assisted learning (PAL) has been used in health care education for several decades, and has a proven track record in benefitting paramedic students’ performance in both the clinical and academic arenas. 42 – 46 In Taiwan, peers have no teaching role in EMT training courses due to restrictions on time available for training and low numbers of instructors and peers in training organizations. It is recommended that PAL is adopted as a key component in the development of EMT training in Taiwan.…”