Abstract
This study aimed at describing how well the goals of a peer teaching initiative implemented over a two-year period were achieved at a South African medical school from the students’ perspective. We conducted a mixed method study to elicit the perspectives of 5th year medical students who had recently completed a course that involved peer teaching during the 2016 academic year. Participants were purposefully sampled, and data were collected through focus group discussion (FGD) for the qualitative phase, and semi-structured questionnaires for the quantitative phase of the study. The FGDs were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed thematically, using an inductive approach to identify the emerging themes. The quantitative data obtained from the semi-structured questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive analysis, and the results presented in percentages and frequencies. A total of twenty-seven respondents took part in three FGDs, each group comprised nine participants. The number of completed semi-structured questionnaires were sixty-six. Three major themes emerged from the results namely, being a peer teacher, being a peer learner, and students’ recommendations. The results showed that the implementation of peer teaching exercise motivated active learning among the students who ‘taught’ their peers, firstly, through their preparation for the peer teaching activity and secondly through the actual teaching itself. However, this kind of motivation was not reported by the participants who were not opportune to ‘teach’ during the exercise. The implementation of peer teaching model is effective in promoting active learning among medical students. Further research is needed to refine the strategies adopted and to identify alternative activities other than “teaching” during peer teaching exercise.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Ethical clearance to conduct this study was obtained from the Health Research Ethics Committee (HREC) at the University of Stellenbosch and the Sefako Makgatho University Research Ethics Committee (S15/09/203).
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The participants were invited on a voluntary basis; full explanation was given in the form of an information leaflet and a letter of informed consent was completed and signed by all participants.
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Sukrajh, V., Adefolalu, A.O. & Louw, A.J.N. Promoting active learning in medical education using the peer teaching model: perceptions of senior medical students. SN Soc Sci 1, 158 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-021-00170-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-021-00170-1