The effect of using the peer assisted learning system from the perspective of nursing students: A quasi-experimental study

The urgent need to use high potentials of higher education students is clearly felt in the medical sciences faculties. It seems that using peer education, which is one of the most widely used methods of constructivism, can somehow alleviate shortage of clinical teachers. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of using the peer assisted learning system in clinical education from the perspective of nursing students and compare it with the conventional method.

 The present study is a quasi-experimental study in which the research population consisted of 3rd semester students as interns and nursing students in the field of Rasht Nursing and Midwifery Faculty as peer educators. Data collection tool was a questionnaire containing general and specific items. Data were analyzed by descriptive and analytical statistics (Independent T-test, Chi-square, Fisher's exact test and Pearson correlation coefficient) in SPSS21 at a significant level of P≤0.05.

 The mean score of overall and general dimension in peer education group were higher than traditional group (respectively 149.47±23.91vs.147.19±24.78; 91.5±17.23 vs. 88.66±18.45), but there was no significant difference between two groups (P=0.68; P=0.48). Also, in the specific dimension of questionnaire, there was no significant difference between students' scores in two groups (P=0.81) and the mean scores of students in traditional group were slightly higher than those of peer group (58.54±11.55 vs. 57.97±9.16, respectively).

Considering the importance of the subject and the results of the study based on the higher scores of the case group in the overall and general dimension and the higher scores of the control group in the specific dimension, it can be seen that the peer assisted learning system is effective, in such a way that use the young forces of higher levels, i.e. master's degree, who have more experience and expertise, providing training and continuous evaluation and holding workshops to further enhance their specialized dimension, can be used. It’s also recommended that studies should be conducted to evaluate the level of learning and effectiveness of this system, taking into account the above mentioned issues.