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Improving Academic Performance of Sport and Exercise Science Undergraduate Students in Gross Anatomy Using a Near-Peer Teaching Program |
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| Authors: | Ricardo Borges Viana Mário Hebling Campos Douglas de Assis Teles Santos Isabela Cristina Maioni Xavier Rodrigo Luiz Vancini Marília Santos Andrade Claudio Andre Barbosa de Lira |
| Institution: | 1. Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil
Human Movement Assessment Laboratory, Faculty of Physical Education and Dance, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil;2. Human Movement Assessment Laboratory, Faculty of Physical Education and Dance, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil;3. Human Movement Assessment Laboratory, Faculty of Physical Education and Dance, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil Collegiate of Physical Education, Bahia State University, Teixeira de Freitas, Brazil;4. Center for Physical Education and Sports, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitória, Brazil;5. Department of Physiology, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil |
| Abstract: | Peer and near-peer teaching programs are common in medical undergraduate courses. However, there are no studies that have investigated the effectiveness of a near-peer teaching program on the academic performance of undergraduate students pursuing sport and exercise science coursework. This study was conducted to analyze the effectiveness of such a program for students who participated in a course on the functional anatomy of the locomotor apparatus. A total of 39 student participants were divided into two groups: students in one group voluntarily attended at least one session of a near-peer teaching program, and students in the other group attended no sessions. The final grade (range 0–100%) was recorded and used as an indicator of academic performance. The final grade of students who attended the near-peer teaching program (69.5 ± 16.0%) was 38.7% higher (P = 0.002, d = 1.06) than those who did not (50.1 ± 20.4%). When the academic performance of the same students was evaluated in another course (exercise physiology) that did not offer a near-peer teaching program, there were no significant differences between the groups (students who attended or did not attend the near-peer teaching program). A significant positive association was found between near-peer teaching program frequency and the number of students approved and not approved in the course (P = 0.041). A significant difference (P = 0.001) was found in the attendance at regular classes between the group who participated in the near-peer teaching program (median: 62 hours; IQR interquartile ranges]: 4.0 hours) and those who did not (median: 58 hours; IQR: 4.0 hours). Gender was not a moderating factor on academic performance or near-peer teaching program attendance. These results highlight the effectiveness of a near-peer teaching program on the academic performance of students from a sport and exercise science degree program while enrolled in an anatomy course. Anat Sci Educ. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists. |
| Keywords: | gross anatomy education undergraduate education anatomy teaching sport and exercise programs near-peer teaching curriculum |