Abstract
This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Previous definitions of peer-assisted learning portray the peer-teacher as a non-expert in teaching content and delivery. In this paper, we reflect on a near-peer initiative at our medical school which seems to depart from this definition. This initiative involves intercalating medical education students in the delivery of foundational sessions on professionalism for first year students for a full year, with individual supervision and support from an experienced teacher and extended medical education study. Reflections from a range of people involved are brought together to begin to understand the supportive features and challenges of near-peer teaching in our context and to identify areas for future research. These reflections highlight the potential for differences and contradictions in the ways that teachers and learners are understood within peer-assisted learning initiatives, and emphasize the need to consider the teaching context in peer-assisted learning scholarship.
Highlights
A number of reviews and guides have reported benefits of peer-assisted learning (PAL) for tutors, tutees, and institutions
A more detailed understanding of PAL is beginning to emerge through studies which have employed observational methods (Cianciolo et al, 2016; Tai et al, 2016a) or socio-cultural theoretical frameworks (Bennett et al, 2015)
Further reflection on culture and context is necessary to move beyond simple understandings of PAL and maximise peer-to-peer and near-peer learning
Summary
A number of reviews and guides have reported benefits of peer-assisted learning (PAL) for tutors, tutees, and institutions (for examples, see Irvine et al, 2017; Ross & Cameron, 2007; Tai et al, 2016b). Most previous PAL scholarship has taken the form of standard teaching evaluations, reporting satisfaction ratings or assessing students’ later performance in tests of knowledge or skill (Irvine et al, 2017; Tai et al, 2016b). This means that gains in clinical knowledge and skills are most frequently reported, whereas outcomes in harder to measure areas, such as professionalism, remain more speculative (Tai et al, 2016a; 2016b). The intercalating medical education students contribute to the teaching of IDEALS on campus
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