A comparison between peer-assisted learning and self-study for electrocardiography interpretation in Thai medical students

• Main Authors: JAKRIN KEWCHAROEN, NATTAWAT CHAROENPOONSIRI, SITTINUN THANGJUI, SOWITCHAYA PANTHONG, WASANA HONGKAN
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shiraz University of Medical Sciences 2020-01-01
• Series: Journal of Advances in Medical Education and Professionalism
• Subjects: peer group; electrocardiography; self-assessment
• Online Access: http://jamp.sums.ac.ir/article_45978_7bc7045532c5c7912e41916ac6372283.pdf

Introduction: Peer-assisted learning has been shown to be an<br />effective teaching and learning method. However, this technique<br />has not been proven in Thai medical school. We aimed to compare<br />the effectiveness of peer-assisted learning and self-study in<br />interpreting an electrocardiogram in Thai medical students.<br />Methods: This is a prospective, randomized controlled trial,<br />conducted in Chonburi teaching hospital, a community hospital<br />affiliated with Chulalongkorn University. All medical students<br />from the fourth and fifth years, a total of eighty students, were<br />randomly assigned to two groups of peer-assisted learning<br />(PAL) and self-study (SS) via stratified randomization done<br />by computer-generated randomization. The two groups were<br />matched for sex and grade point average. In the PAL group,<br />teaching was performed by the fourth and fifth year medical<br />students. We conducted five weekly study sessions. Different<br />topics of electrocardiogram interpretation were assigned to tutors<br />for teaching. SS group would separately study the same topic on<br />their own. Constructed response questions were used to assess<br />the students at the beginning as a pre-test and after a five-week<br />session as a post-test. Online self-assessment was delivered to<br />students one month after the study.<br />Results: Mean pre-test and post-test score was put into the<br />analysis and compared across groups using t-test. No significant<br />difference in pre-test score was observed between the two groups<br />in the same academic year. There was a significant difference<br />between the mean post-test score between the fourth year PAL<br />and SS groups. Also, the mean difference score in the fourth year<br />PAL group was higher than the fourth year SS group. However, in<br />the fifth year group, there was no significant difference between<br />the PAL and SS groups in the mean post-test score and mean<br />difference score.<br /> Conclusion: In conclusion, peer-assisted learning is an interesting<br />method to improve understanding and interpreting skills of basic<br />ECG better than self-study in the early clinical year medical<br />students.