Abstract:

A teaching team of the Section of Physiology, Department of Biochemistry and Physiology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Science has implemented the method SLIDE-4-U (“Slide-for-you”) in a funded project by the University of Barcelona (2020PID-UB/023) from the academic year 2020-2021 to 2022-2023. This method aims to involve the students in their own learning process and in that of their peers through the explanation of slides specially designed for this purpose. The material contains diagrams and images but lacks text, making it not self-explanatory. The function of the student will be to appropriately explain the content, which means that they have to understand the meaning of the content before.
This approach has been used in different types of classes. For example, it has been adapted for undergraduate classes, which involve a higher number of students, and also for postgraduate levels, which typically have a smaller number of students in the group. The methodology has been implemented in two diferent formats: face-to-face and online. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the online use of this approach was critical in engaging the students in the class development. Additionally, the SLIDE-4-U method has been used in two different formats. On the one hand, Students were provided with the assigned slides in advance. For that, the first day of class, two weeks prior, they received all the information regarding the development of the session. On the other hand, the alternative approach consisted on communicating the students the method and the slide assignation the same day of the class, without sufficient time to prepared the content. In this case, the slide content should be clear enough for interpretation. Finally, in some cases the contents explained during the session were evaluated at the end of the class, thus being an evaluative action.
In all cases, it is the teacher who designs the slides, which contain single specific contents (based on images, schemes, flow diagrams, and so on). During the presentation class, the teacher conducts the session, manages student timings and provides additional information or corrects students’ explanations, if necessary.
Teachers’ and students’ feedback were obtained through different systems. Students expressed their appreciation for this type of peer teaching and reported a highly positive experience. The teachers were also very enthusiastic with the methodology. In conclusion, the SLIDE-4-U approach, either face-to-face or virtual, for undergraduate or postgraduate students, with or without prior preparation, proves to be a positive strategy to involve the student in their learning process.

Keywords:

Peer-teaching, slide, class-construction.