Dear Sir
Peer-assisted learning (PAL) is used in a number of institutions, in a formal and informal manner, as a means to transfer knowledge and skills. By being mutually beneficial, PAL allows students to develop organisational, interpersonal and teaching skills. The benefits of such an educational tool were also found to extend to tutors and the institution itself (Boud et al. Citation2001).
In our project the aim was to use PAL in medical education (ME) to cover a topic required in the curriculum which was not sufficiently covered within the Teaching Hospital. We defined PAL to be where peers were of a similar age and educational background and used group work to facilitate teaching and thus consolidate their own knowledge. In our project we had ‘cross level’ tutoring within the same institution, where there were existing differences (Falchicov Citation2001). Four fourth-year students facilitated teaching for junior students by liaising with educational tutors and the vascular surgeon to allow valid teaching to be given. Vascular seminars were held with small group practical sessions aided by booklets, presentations and videos developed by the students with supervision by the expert. Data on effectiveness were collected by questionnaires after ethical approval. We ensured a standardised fashion and methods of teaching were used and ethical approval was sought.
Our results showed that 90% of students would recommend this type of teaching and 85% felt more comfortable in this type of teaching. When asked to rank 12 methods of teaching in order, using a ranked score method, PAL was the fourth most effective way of learning, it consistently ranked higher than PBL, community teaching, lectures, videos and private study.
Establishing such a project would need to involve several members of staff within the institution. We subsequently trained more students to facilitate PAL teach other topics which were poorly covered. We found PAL in ME had a three-tier benefit for students, staff and the institution. It was a successful way to disseminate expert knowledge in a standardised and quality assured manner.
Fozia Hayat, Foundation Year 2, Salford Royal Foundation Trust, Salford, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Acknowledgements
Author wishes to thank Nashaba Ellahi, Sebastion Pillon, Milli Raizada, Kathryn Smith, and Robert Salaman.
References
- Boud D, Cohen R, Sampson R. Peer learning in higher education: Learning from and with each other. Routledge Publications, London 2001
- Falchicov N. Learning together: Peer tutoring in higher education. Rouledge Falmer publications, London 2001