Peer Coaching: a Strategy to Promote Problem Solving Skills

This research was carried out to further the theoretical and practical understanding of peer coaching and its impact on problem solving. The study group were undergraduate physiotherapy students, but the research is applicable to any professional or trade based occupational group where the development of competency is needed. In this research, two models of learning were evaluated using a standardized simulated case. The first learning model was individualistic, whereby a learner is expected to perform independently. The second model of learning was reciprocal peer coaching, whereby two learners support and coach each other throughout their performance. The outcomes of this research demonstrated that the reciprocal peer coaching model led to statistically significant improvements in performance and reasoning. There were also additional benefits to learners in the reciprocal peer coaching learning model, which were not available to learners in the individualistic model. These benefits included reduced learner anxiety and greater confidence. The peer coaching also produced specific performance benefits for both low and high achieving students.