Perceived Usefulness of Reciprocal Peer Teaching Among Doctor of Physical Therapy Students in the Gross Anatomy Laboratory

Abstract

Background and Purpose. Reciprocal peer teaching (RPT) describes an education method whereby students alternate between teacher and student roles. The use of RPT has not been described in previous physical therapist education literature. The first purpose of this study was to assess the perceived usefulness of RPT among first-year Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students as a method for teaching and learning human anatomical relationships in the dissection laboratory. The second purpose was to determine if exposure to RPT during a semester course in gross anatomy had an effect on students' anatomy course grade. Subjects. Participants were 27 professional (entry-level) DPT students, graduating class of 2008, who participated in the RPT experience in the gross anatomy laboratory, and 21 DPT students, graduating class of 2007, who did not participate in the RPT experience. Methods. Students in teacher roles worked in pairs and rotated among their fellow classmates within the laboratory, illustrating anatomical concepts previously discussed in the classroom. At the completion of the course, students were queried about the perceived usefulness of the RPT experience using a 12-item survey instrument that used a 5-point Likert scale. The internal consistency of the survey instrument was estimated by Cronbach's alpha. The median anatomy course grade (MACG) for the class of 2008 and class of 2007 was compared statistically using a Mann-Whitney U-test. Results. Cronbach's alpha was 0.85. Students provided the strongest responses for survey items that assessed the perceived usefulness of RPT for teaching and learning anatomical relationships (median Likert scores ranged from 4 to 5). MACG for the class of 2008 (MACG = 3.70) was significantly greater than the MACG for the class of 2007 (MACG = 3.30; Z = 2.19, P = .029). Discussion and Conclusion. First-year DPT students perceived the usefulness of RPT in the dissection laboratory as a valuable resource for teaching and learning anatomical concepts. In addition, the RPT experience was also perceived to be helpful when communicating with patients. Furthermore, exposure to RPT had a significant effect on the MACG. Key Words: Physical therapist education, Reciprocal peer teaching, Peer teaching, Physical therapist students. INTRODUCTION The historical origins of peer tutoring or teaching in Western civilization date back to Greece in the first century AD. Peer teaching eventually spread to Rome, Germany, and other European countries before it reached America.1 In the strictest sense, peer tutoring dents and approximately the same age. A primary reason posited for the effectiveness of one-on-one peer teaching is that tutors and tutees speak similarly than do teachers and students.2 The success of peer teaching in the health sciences was reported by Walker-Bartnick et al3 who described a tutoring model for the basic science courses in medical school. The investigators used a one-to-one tutor-rutee model, and only students having academic difficulty were eligible to receive peer teaching. Lake provided the first evidence of the effectiveness of group peer teaching in college-level courses when he described the enhancement of physical therapist (PT) student performance in a gross anatomy class.4 Several fifth-year PT students who had previously completed a gross anatomy course were selected by the PT program's faculty to provide 7-weekly tutoring sessions over a 10-week academic quarter to third-year PT students currently enrolled in the gross anatomy course. Lake used both academic performance and perceived value of peer teaching to assess the effectiveness of the peer-teaching system. Compared to untutored students, tutored students demonstrated a smaller decline (P