Peer lectures:

a valid tool for learning?

Sindhu Naidu, Tanmay Kanitkar,

Vruti Dattani, Owain Donnelly, Patrik Bächtiger, Elissa Rekhi

With thanks to Dr LJ Smith & Prof Jane Dacre

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In the next 10 min…

• MedSoc: Education

• Are peer lectures useful?

• What we did

• Conclusions

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MedSoc: Education

• Student-run society

• Aim: organise high-standard education events

• Diverse range

– “Approaching the OSCE”

– “Teaching core clinical data interpretation”

– “What I wish I had known”

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What do we know?

• Near-peer teaching is a valid form of education1, 2

• Students can be as good as formal teachers in small group teaching3- 5

• There is less evidence for peer-led lectures, but what there is looks promising6

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What we did

• 10 interactive ‘peer lectures’

• Summary lectures

• Large groups of 100 students

• Quality-assured

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How students rated the lectures

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2.85

3.9

• Content • Lecturers• Ability to answer questions

• Knowledge of the topic

How students rated the lectures

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2.85

3.9

• Content • Lecturers• Ability to answer questions

• Knowledge of the topic

How teachers rated the experience

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Discussion

Advantages DisadvantagesSocial and cognitivecongruence2

Not as knowledgeable as specialists

Personal experience Variability in teachers 4

Develop teaching skills Backlash from staff

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Conclusions

• Peer teaching is recognised as valid

• Our interactive lecture format was well-received by both students and peer teachers

• Potential for peer-led lectures to supplement formal curriculum

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Take-home Message

Large-scale peer teaching is an effective supplementary learning tool offering advantages to both learner and teacher.

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References

1. GMC, 2013. Good Medical Practice.

2. Lockspeiser et al., 2008. Understanding the experience of being taught by peers: the value of social and cognitive congruence.

3. Tolsgaard et al., 2007. Student teachers can be as good as associate professors in teaching clinical skills.

4. Büscher et al., 2013. Evaluation of the peer teaching program at the University children´s hospital Essen – a single center experience.

5. Cate & Durning, 2007. Peer teaching in medical education: twelve reasons to move from theory to practice.

6. Gill et al., 2012. Utility of a student-organised revision day.

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