The efficacy of peer teaching for medical microbiology lectures

Abstract

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Background: A thorough understanding of infectious diseases is needed by medical professionals; therefore effective microbiological teaching is critical. Although faculty lectures are a convenient means of educating large groups of students, they may fail to engage students and convey an understanding of the subject. Therefore, we developed peer teaching methods based on game-based learning using a reality musical talent show format. Methods: A group of student representatives were trained to lecture to a class of 300 third-year medical students via a game show format over a 3-year period (2013–2015). Results: The students reported a higher level of understanding (3.6–4.2 vs 3.6–3.9 out of 5; p Conclusions: Peer teaching did improve the students’ attitude towards learning and conferred teaching skills, but the learning activity needs adjustment to reduce the out-of-class preparation time.