By:
Dana E. Lee, PharmD
PGY-1
Pharmacy Practice Resident
Howard
County General Hospital
What is peer facilitation?
Peer
facilitation is a process where students or peer colleagues who are more
advanced in their learning process facilitates or leads activities to support
fellow colleagues' learning. Some examples of peer facilitation can be
undergraduate TA's who facilitate class reviews or peer tutors who have just
completed the same learning process. Another example would be fourth-year APPE
students who can facilitate courses (ex: Abilities lab) for student pharmacists
in year one to three of their pharmacy educational career.
Is student
facilitation effective?
One
study published in the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education reviewed
the impact of student versus faculty facilitators on motivational interviewing
student outcomes. Faculty and student facilitators were both asked to teach
second-year pharmacy students about motivational interviewing (MI) and then the
second-year pharmacy students self-assessed their attitudes, confidence, and
competence in MI skills.1 The students in the study had said that
faculty facilitators may be more intimidating and less relatable whereas
student facilitators made them feel more comfortable.1 The study
concluded that peer facilitation can be equally as effective as faculty facilitation.
This suggested equivalence can provide an opportunity to utilize more student
facilitators and lessen faculty workload.1
In
a recent study published in the Currents
in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, second year pharmacy students were used
to introduce a pharmaceutical care model to first year students. The study had
shown that peer teaching events outside a lecture hall can allow for effective
learning, connections to be made between the student facilitator and other
students, and allow for relevant advice to be provided from peers who have just
gone through the same curriculum.2 Other studies have also shown
that peer-to peer learning provides not only professional support but emotional
and personal support as well.3 Not only can be it be effective for
the students who are learning from their peer facilitators, but the students
who are facilitating the learning of their peers have an opportunity to review
their own knowledge, skills, and practices.4
Perspective:
Aristotle had
recognized peer instruction to be beneficial, so this is not a new concept.
Students appreciate the chance to work with peer facilitators and can obtain
help from peer facilitators about other classes that students are taking.5
It has also been shown that students
who are less vocal with faculty feel more comfortable to ask questions with peer
facilitators.6
Personally,
I had the privilege of being a peer student facilitator during my third year
and fourth year of pharmacy school. I not only facilitated abilities lab for
one full year, I was able to create assignments, and be involved with creating
and implementing instructional materials. It gave me an ability to connect with
students, provide advice that is more relevant for the students, and allowed me
to grow not only as a student but also as a leader. I was able to review
material for myself but also see students at eye level with their questions
because I had recently experienced the same learning material. Therefore, peer
facilitation can be beneficial for the students, the professors who are
utilizing them, and for student facilitators themselves. Students who are peer
educators can become great partners to the professors who are teaching the
courses and grow in leadership.7 Student facilitators can also
restructure material and provide feedback about the courses they are
facilitating8 thus can be a valuable evaluation tool for the
professor's instructional methods as well.
So
if the use of peer facilitation is quite effective and equally efficacious to
faculty teaching, this begs the question, why don't we get more students
involved in peer teaching? It is time for us to consider how we can really advocate
for more student involvement in active learning activities. This can lessen
faculty workload and be great learning experiences for the students. Integration
of student peer facilitation in instructional design or as methods of
instructional delivery should continue to be utilized and considered for
current and future learning activities, as it may be of benefit for all parties
involved.
References:
1. Widder-Prewett,
R, Draime, JA, Cameron G, Anderson, D, Pinkerton M, Chen, AMH. Impact of
student vs. faculty facilitators on motivational interviewing student outcomes.
Am J Pharm Educ. 2017; 81(6): Article
107. https://www.ajpe.org/doi/abs/10.5688/ajpe816107
2. Kolar, Claire, Hager,
Keri, Janke, Kristin. Using peer teaching to introduce the Pharmaceutical care
model to incoming pharmacy students. 2018 Feb 10(2): 170-77. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877129717300199
3. Biech, Elaine.
Chapter 14: Peer-to-peer learning. Wiley.
2015 May. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/9781119154761.ch14
4. Burgess, Annette,
Diggele Christie van, Mellis Craig. Students as facilitators in a teacher
training program: motivation for leadership roles. Adv Med Educ Pract. 2015;6: 615-620.
5. Velez, JJ,
Simonsen JC, Cano J, Connors JJ. Teaching partnerships: the use of peer
facilitators in the college classroom. Journal of Agricultural Education. 2010.
51(4): 49-58. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiY7q7D3M_dAhXndN8KHf9sBRwQFjAAegQIAxAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jae-online.org%2Fattachments%2Farticle%2F1516%2FVol%252051%2520No%25204%2520pg%252049%2520-%2520Velez.pdf&usg=AOvVaw2P1hgmzcwTvNly0uIju9Hk
6. Campbell,
Elaine. Students as facilitators: an evaluation of student-led group work. Practitioner Research in Higher Education.
2015. 9(1): 52-58. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1130318.pdf
7. Owen, Julie. Peer
educators in classroom settings: effective academic partners. Wiley. New Directions for Student Services. 18 Mar 2011. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ss.384
8. Ashwin, Paul.
Peer facilitation and how it contributes to the development of a more social
view of learning. Research in
Post-Compulsory Education. 2008. 8(1): 5-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/13596740300200137
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