Paper
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The Case for Peer Teaching: Implications for Nursing Education
Sally S. Blowers, RN, PhD1, Priscilla Ramsey, RN, PhD1, and Carolyn Merriman, APRN, MS, BC2. (1) Department of Adult Nursing, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, USA, (2) Family/Community Nursing, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, USA
| Learning Objective #1: identify the merits of peer teaching. |
| Learning Objective #2: evaluate the feasibility and benefits of incorporating peer tutoring as a teaching/learning method in a nursing program. |
The call to evidence-based practice rightly extends to nursing
education. There is an urgent need to identify and validate alternatives to the
standard teaching practices used in most nursing programs in order to maximize
our teaching effectiveness and our educational outcomes in this era of nursing
shortage. This qualitative case study offers support for the practice of peer
teaching as an effective educational strategy.
A formal peer tutoring program was established in a
four-year baccalaureate nursing program in a regional Appalachian university's College of Nursing. The program includes
recruitment, individualized tutor training, centralized communication, a convenient
location for tutoring activities, a salary for tutors (without charge to the
tutorees*), and resources for tutors. Following the initial semester of
implementation, a pilot study was conducted to identify the quality and effects
of peer teaching, and to understand the nature of the peer tutor/tutoree relationship
from the perspectives of the participants. Twelve peer tutors and 14 tutorees
were interviewed by the faculty director of the peer tutor program. A two-part guiding
question was used to initiate each interview: Please talk about the best/worst
tutoring session you have experienced. The interviews were audio-taped and
transcribed verbatim, then analyzed for common themes. The themes were then
presented to two focus groups to check for correspondence between the data and their
experiences. Additional data included Likert-scale evaluation forms completed
by both tutors and tutorees.
Preliminary data analysis indicates that peer tutors use essentially
the same teaching techniques and methods as faculty. However, the outcomes of peer
teaching indicate that learners more often achieve deep learning (as opposed to
surface learning) when taught by peers and that the peer teacher/peer learner relationship
is broader in scope, more significant, and often more long-lasting than the
faculty/student relationship.
*The word tutoree is used throughout instead of “tutee.”