Advances in Medical Education and Practice (Jul 2023)
Peer Teaching in Undergraduate Medical Education: What are the Learning Outputs for the Student-Teachers? A Systematic Review
Abstract
Mohammed Anass Tanveer,1 Thomas Mildestvedt,2 Idun Grimstad Skjærseth,1 Harlad Haugsmyr Arntzen,1 Ellinor Kenne,3 Anna Bonnevier,4 Terese Stenfors,4 Monika Kvernenes1 1Center for Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; 2Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; 3Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; 4Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics (LIME), Division for Learning, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, SwedenCorrespondence: Mohammed Anass Tanveer, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, 5009, Norway, Tel +47 97 52 87 90, Email [email protected]: To achieve quality in medical education, peer teaching, understood as students taking on roles as educators for peers, is frequently used as a teaching intervention. While the benefits of peer teaching for learners and faculty are described in detail in the literature, less attention is given to the learning outputs for the student-teachers. This systematic review focuses on the learning outputs for medical undergraduates acting as student-teachers in the last decade (2012– 2022).Aim: Our aim is to describe what learning outputs student-teachers have from peer teaching, and map what research methods are used to assess the outputs. We defined learning outputs in a broad sense, including all types of learning experiences, intended and non-intended, associated with being a peer teacher.Methods: A literature search was conducted in four electronic databases. Title, abstract and full text were screened by 8 independent reviewers and selection was based on predefined eligibility criteria. We excluded papers not describing structured peer teaching interventions with student-teachers in a formalized role. From the included articles we extracted information about the learning outputs of being a student-teacher as medical undergraduate.Results: From 668 potential titles, 100 were obtained as full-texts, and 45 selected after close examination, group deliberation, updated search and quality assessment using MERSQI score (average score 10/18). Most articles reported learning outputs using mixed methods (67%). Student-teachers reported an increase in subject-specific learning (62%), pedagogical knowledge and skills (49%), personal outputs (31%) and generic skills (38%). Most articles reported outputs using self-reported data (91%).Conclusion: Although there are few studies that systematically investigate student-teachers learning outputs, evidence suggests that peer teaching offers learning outputs for the student-teachers and helps them become better physicians. Further research is needed to enhance learning outputs for student-teachers and systematically investigate student-teachers’ learning outputs and its impact on student-teachers.Keywords: peer-assisted learning, medical school, medical student, peer teacher
