Use and Perception of Peer Recommendations to Improve Study Skills in Undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology Courses

Student success data from students enrolled in an undergraduate anatomy and Physiology (A&P) course at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse indicated that student performance closely correlated with the number of prior completed university semesters. Based on this data we hypothesized that some students may have gained (or use) study skills that may have contributed to their success. Students at the end of the term were asked to provide recommendations to future A &P students on how to be successful in the course. A total of 408 recommendations from 68 students were received and underwent inductive and then deductive coding. More than 50% of respondents encouraged group studying and frequent engagement with material. The ranked and coded list of recommendations was then provided to the entering student at the start of the new term. Entering students were subsequently polled to gauge perceptions/reactions to this information. 91% of entering A&P students (n = 73) responded that they valued receiving study recommendations at the start of the term 59% of which said they preferred having that information come from former students rather than the faculty. Following the 1 st lecture examination these students completed an Ink Shedding activity in which they shared exam studying strategies with their peers. Of the 62 participants 80% both found the activity helpful and recommended it be incorporated into future semesters. Collectively this data supports the perceived value of offering study skill resources to upper division A&P students and a positive reaction to peer guidance. Student performance improved on embedded course assessments. This information has been used to further develop peer mentoring programs and resource collaboration within the A&P lecture and laboratory curriculum. This research was supported by a UWL FY2023 Course Improvement Grant and a University of Wisconsin System IDEAS Alliance Curriculum Reform Grant. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.