Peer and collaborative learning

Published on 01/06/2015 by admin

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Last modified 01/06/2015

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27 Peer and collaborative learning

Students learning from each other is effective. This can be informal or incorporated into scheduled activities.

Introduction

Watching my 5-year-old grandson learn to use a computer, I (RMH) noted that he did not learn from the instruction manual, from his parents or from instruction at school. He learned from his 7-year-old sister. This is not surprising. Much of what we learn in day-to-day life is from friends and colleagues. It has always been a feature of how students learn at medical school. The difference today is that the value of learning in this way is appreciated and is given a more formal role in the curriculum. Students engaged in peer-to-peer (P2P) and collaborative learning tend to have a greater mastery of the expected learning outcomes with higher test scores, higher self-esteem, greater inter-personal skills and a greater understanding of the content they are studying.

Definition

A range of terms such as ‘P2P learning’, ‘collaborative learning’ and ‘cooperative learning’ have been used to describe how students can learn with and from each other in formal and informal settings. Distinctions are sometimes drawn between the terms but frequently they are used interchangeably.

P2P Learning

P2P learning has been defined by Topping (1996) as ‘people from similar social groupings who are not professional teachers helping each other to learn and learning themselves by teaching’. One student assumes the role of teacher or tutor while other students assume the role of learners or tutees. Students may switch their role from tutor to tutee. Usually, to guide students in their role as tutor, some instruction is given in teaching skills.

Collaborative learning

In collaborative learning students learn from each other without the assignment of specific roles of tutor and tutee. Students work together as members of a group or team to solve a problem, complete a task or create a product. It is through working together that students learn. There is a sharing of authority and acceptance of responsibility among group members for the group’s actions. The group may be assessed by the activity and product of the group rather than the individual’s activity or achievements within the group. The term ‘cooperative learning’ rather than ‘collaborative learning’ has been used where there is more structure and organisation given to the group activity but the terms are often used interchangeably.

Examples of P2P and collaborative learning

P2P or collaborative learning may be adopted in the medical curriculum in a range of formats (we have not distinguished between the two approaches as there is often an overlap):

• Students are given the role of tutor in slots scheduled in the curriculum.

• Students form informal partnerships to assist each other.

• Students work in groups in the context of problem- or team-based learning.

• Students work in pairs facilitating each other’s learning.

• Students collaborate in a project or in practical work such as anatomical dissection.

• Students work as members of an inter-professional group in a community-based project.

• Students work online as members of a formal discussion group with a specific task as the focus.

• Students share their experiences and information with others through a social network such as Facebook.

• Students collaborate in the development of educational resources or textbooks that they share with others.

• Students have the responsibility for assessing each other’s achievements in an area such as professionalism (peer assessment).

• Students in more senior years or junior doctors teach junior students.

Benefits to be gained by P2P and collaborative learning

The institution or medical school and the learner can benefit in a number of ways if collaborative learning is incorporated in the curriculum:

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