Can Synchronous Online Near-Peer Teaching Offer the Same Benefits as the Face-to-Face Version When Used in Clinical Neuroanatomy Education?

Abstract

COVID-19 sparked massive educational change and dictated that traditional courses rapidly transitioned online. This presented a unique challenge for anatomy, a visually orientated subject that has conventionally relied heavily on face-to-face teaching. Near-peer teaching (NPT) is one method with the potential to address this challenge. When given more responsibility, student-teachers are more likely to deliver effective teaching sessions and include the most appropriate resources for the learners. Current literature surrounding the use of NPT in both frontline and supplementary settings have already demonstrated its potential, however, its efficacy in an online environment is still largely unknown. The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton has a well-established NPT programme as part of its 5year undergraduate course (BM5). A quasi-experimental cohort study was conducted to determine whether the benefits associated with NPT are preserved when delivered online. Two cohorts of second year BM5 students received cranial nerve NPT as part of their formal clinical neuroanatomy module, one face to face (N=150) and the other online (N=168). Knowledge tests were undertaken by participants to assess knowledge gain and retention, and an established Likert style survey instrument was administered to assess student perceptions. Both online and face-to-face NPT sessions resulted in significant increases in student knowledge gain (p<0.0001), yet the difference between the two was insignificant (p=0.2432). Subsequent knowledge retention tests were also shown to be similar (p=0.7732). Students perceived both methods of NPT delivery positively but found online NPT less enjoyable (p<0.0001) and considered it to be a more inefficient use of time (p=0.0035). This research suggests that online NPT can be deployed without a detrimental risk to learning when compared to traditional NPT applications in pre-clinical neuroanatomy teaching.