Exploring the impact of student-led peer assisted learning (‘kuppi classes’) on examination performance and mental, social and emotional development of medical students of a Sri Lankan medical school

Abstract

INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVES: Peer-assisted-learning (PAL) is the acquisition of knowledge and skills through active helping and supporting among status equals or matched companions. In ‘kuppi classes’, a local term for an informal form of PAL, students of a junior batch learn from students of a senior batch in a didactic manner. The aims of this study were: to explore the educational environment and the reasons for attending kuppi classes; to determine the correlation between attendance of kuppi classes and student performance at examinations. METHODS: The study focused on kuppi classes for preclinical subjects, the student experience of the first two years, and their performance at the second-year summative examination. Two focus group discussions were carried out with 14 medical students to identify the breadth of the issues related to each objective. The transcriptions were thematically analysed and a selfadministered questionnaire was developed based on these themes. It was administered to 178 third-year medical students. RESULTS: The qualitative component revealed that the learning environment in kuppi classes were much more relaxed and acceptable compared to formal teaching sessions. According to the questionnaire, the main reason for attendance is as a backup for formal lectures. For the tutoring student it is a revision. The attendees expect kuppi classes to be more examination oriented. However, the association between kuppi attendance and subsequent examination performance was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Didactic and informal near-peer-learning sessions may provide students with the conducive social and emotional environment to learn. However, it may not have an impact on examination performance.