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Improving Academic Performance of Sport and Exercise Science Undergraduate Students in Gross Anatomy Using a Near‐Peer Teaching Program
Author(s) -
Viana Ricardo Borges,
Campos Mário Hebling,
Santos Douglas de Assis Teles,
Xavier Isabela Cristina Maioni,
Vancini Rodrigo Luiz,
Andrade Marília Santos,
de Lira Claudio Andre Barbosa
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
anatomical sciences education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.126
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1935-9780
pISSN - 1935-9772
DOI - 10.1002/ase.1790
Subject(s) - attendance , coursework , medical education , session (web analytics) , interquartile range , psychology , medicine , mathematics education , computer science , world wide web , economics , economic growth
Peer and near‐peer teaching programs are common in medical undergraduate courses. However, there are no studies that have investigated the effectiveness of a near‐peer teaching program on the academic performance of undergraduate students pursuing sport and exercise science coursework. This study was conducted to analyze the effectiveness of such a program for students who participated in a course on the functional anatomy of the locomotor apparatus. A total of 39 student participants were divided into two groups: students in one group voluntarily attended at least one session of a near‐peer teaching program, and students in the other group attended no sessions. The final grade (range 0–100%) was recorded and used as an indicator of academic performance. The final grade of students who attended the near‐peer teaching program (69.5 ± 16.0%) was 38.7% higher ( P = 0.002, d = 1.06) than those who did not (50.1 ± 20.4%). When the academic performance of the same students was evaluated in another course (exercise physiology) that did not offer a near‐peer teaching program, there were no significant differences between the groups (students who attended or did not attend the near‐peer teaching program). A significant positive association was found between near‐peer teaching program frequency and the number of students approved and not approved in the course ( P = 0.041). A significant difference ( P = 0.001) was found in the attendance at regular classes between the group who participated in the near‐peer teaching program (median: 62 hours; IQR [interquartile ranges]: 4.0 hours) and those who did not (median: 58 hours; IQR: 4.0 hours). Gender was not a moderating factor on academic performance or near‐peer teaching program attendance. These results highlight the effectiveness of a near‐peer teaching program on the academic performance of students from a sport and exercise science degree program while enrolled in an anatomy course. Anat Sci Educ. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists.