Abstract:

Background:
Pedagogical approaches implemented in formal medical education have evolved from traditional face-to-face teaching to online modalities in recent decades. However, near-peer teaching (NPT), while gaining popularity as a supplementary learning tool in undergraduate medical education, has largely remained as an offline activity. A limited number of publications have reported on NPT programmes being abruptly moved online amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, yet there is no existing literature evaluating NPT purposely designed to be delivered online.

Aim:
This study aimed to explore the interactions taking place in online NPT among peer learners (PLs), peer teachers (PTs) and subject content, and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of implementing NPT in an online setting.

Methods:
A qualitative study was performed, whereby 9 PLs and 3 PTs were recruited through purposive sampling of medical students from the University of Hong Kong who participated in a 5-month long NPT programme. Semi-structured interviews were held, which were recorded, transcribed and analysed independently by two researchers to identify recurrent themes.

Results:
The qualitative data revealed three main themes, namely: the nature of interactions in online NPT; the conceptualization of online “interaction” by PLs/PTs; and the advantages and disadvantages of online NPT. Peer learner engagement was rated highly and online NPT was described as comfortable and convenient by both PLs and PTs. On the other hand, interaction was limited, particularly between PLs. A majority of PLs adopted a passive learning approach by refraining from contributing to discussions unless anonymity and privacy were promised. Furthermore, PLs largely believed that learning in online NPT took place through the direct transmission of knowledge from PT to PL, whereas PTs expected learning in online NPT to be a shared responsibility and collaborative process among both PTs and PLs.

Conclusion:
While online learning has its unique advantages, this study revealed the barriers, challenges and opportunities to implementing NPT in an online setting with respect to encouraging student-student, student-teacher and student-content interactions. The wide spectrum of academic and social benefits of NPT suggests that it may be most appropriate to deliver NPT using a blended learning approach, in which the respective strengths of online and face-to-face learning are most effectively utilised to foster meaningful interactions and promote effective learning. Further research should compare online and face-to-face NPT and explore the underlying variables that shape the learning environment and nature of interactions in both mediums of instruction.

Keywords:

Near-peer teaching, Peer teaching, Peer-assisted learning, Peer teacher, Peer learner, Medical student, Medical education, Online education, Distance learning.