title: Which peer teaching methods do medical students prefer?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The beneficial effects of peer teaching in medical education have been well-described in the literature. However, it is unclear whether students prefer to be taught by peers in small or large group settings. This study's aim was to identify differences in medical students' preferences and perceptions of small-group versus large-group peer teaching.
  
  
  METHODS
  Questionnaires were administered to medical students in Year 3 and Year 4 (first 2 years of clinical training) at one institution in the United Kingdom to identify their experiences and perceptions of small-and large-group peer teaching. For this study, small-group peer teaching was defined as a tutorial, or similar, taught by peer tutor to a group of 5 students or less. Large-group peer teaching was defined as a lecture, or similar, taught by peer tutors to a group of more than 20 students.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-three students (81% response rate) completed the questionnaires (54% males; median age of 23). Nearly 55% of respondents reported prior exposure to small-group peer teaching but a larger proportion of respondents (86%) had previously attended large-group peer teaching. Of all valid responses, 49% did not have a preference of peer teaching method while 47% preferred small-group peer teaching. The majority of Year 3 students preferred small-group peer teaching to no preference (62.5% vs 37.5%, Fisher's exact test; P = 0.035) whereas most Year 4 students did not report a particular preference. Likert-scale responses showed that the majority of students held negative perceptions about large-group peer teaching, in comparison with small-group peer teaching, with respect to (1) interactivity, (2) a comfortable environment to ask questions, and (3) feedback received.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most respondents in this study did not report a preference for small-versus large-group settings when taught by peers. More Year 3 respondents were likely to prefer small-group peer teaching as opposed to Year 4 respondents.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Nithish
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jayakumar
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Danushan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Srirathan
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Rishita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jakubowska
authors.affiliation: Clinical Education Centre, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Annan
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Dekan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Albasha
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching; D006113:United Kingdom