Poster Q14 - Measuring the Impact of Peer Learning in a Graduate Student-Led Workshop

Introduction: Hands-on laboratory courses seldom appear in biomedical engineering (BME) graduate curricula, thus limiting graduate students’ ability to acquire wet laboratory skills like cell culturing. At large, BME graduate programs rely on ad hoc training provided by senior graduate students; however, this method does not extend to new or non-BME laboratories, which generally lack senior personnel adequately trained in cell culture techniques. To address this deficit, we saw the opportunity to develop a five-session workshop series that introduces cell culture fundamentals to interested students. This workshop was tailored for participants who had little to no prior experience in cell culture and has been successfully offered to four cohorts [1]. The workshop series covered a range of cell culture techniques including aseptic technique, cell thawing, feeding, passaging, seeding, and freezing. After completing the workshop, participants reported statistically significant improvement in all cell culture and wet laboratory-related skills assessed. The workshop instruction was led by graduate students and implemented both near-peer and collaborative learning to enhance knowledge retention and overall participant satisfaction. Peer learning can be used to leverage the power of peer connections and mutual understanding to create a supportive and effective learning experience. Here, we set out to quantify the impact of peer-to-peer learning in this workshop and whether it helped participants navigate learning a novel skill.

Materials and

Methods: Each 3.5-hour long workshop session was divided into two components: a lecture and a practicum. During the lecture, graduate student instructors covered the necessary information to complete the experimental protocols and provided additional scientific background on methods. After the lecture, participants transitioned to the practicum, which is the hands-on portion of the workshop. The workshop utilized BME department resources including the biosafety level 1 undergraduate teaching laboratory that maintains: 8 biosafety cabinets, 2 incubators, 2 centrifuges, a water bath, pipet-aids, and micropipettes In addition to the instructors, the workshop teaching team also included graduate teaching assistants (TA) with prior expertise in cell culturing oversaw experiments per two biosafety cabinets. Using this ratio, the TAs were available to answer any lingering questions regarding lecture material or experimental techniques while critiquing the participant’s technique to ensure proper safety. Pre- and post-workshop surveys were administered online and contained 5-point Likert-scale questions. Likert-scale questions probed the students’ opinions on peer-to-peer learning and related concepts. It is important to note that these questions were assessed later in the workshop development and, as such, only captured one cohort out of the four that have participated in this program. Data were analyzed only for students who completed both the pre-and post-workshop surveys. All student responses were anonymous or de-identified.

Results, Conclusions, and Discussions: 14 M.S., 10 Ph.D., and 1 senior undergraduate student participated in this workshop in 2022 and completed our expanded survey that included peer-to-peer learning assessment. Following the workshop, participants reported a significant change in their perception of peer-to-peer related topics, showing change in 7 out of the 10 statements (Figure 1). Notably, students felt less embarrassed to ask their peers for help and more believed that peer learning was necessary for their careers. These results quantitatively show the impact of leveraging peer learning in an extracurricular experiential workshop series. The impact of peer learning was also expressed in post-survey short responses. When asked “Was this workshop a valuable experience for you, why/why not?”, a participant responded, “Yes, this workshop solidified lab techniques I’ve learned but wasn’t super comfortable in and it was great getting individual feedback from the TAs in a low-stress environment.” Interestingly, we noticed no significant change in survey statements related to interacting with colleagues, although a marginal increase can be observed. More data is necessary to determine this phenomenon, but it would be interesting to investigate if the duration of the workshop causes a shift in perception.

A notable outcome of this short-term workshop series was building a long-term sense of community amongst the participants. Although communications originated in topics related to cell culture, it has been observed that participants continue communicating and supporting each other outside the workshop and expand their communications to additional topics. To assess this novel learning environment, graduate student instructors employed self-reported surveys to investigate the workshop impact. Although providing insights into students’ perceptions, self-reported surveys may not reflect the skill gained. Performance assessments are needed to compare to traditional methods of faculty-led teaching to determine the peer learning impact further. Ultimately, the workshop accommodated individuals interested in advancing their research objectives and enhanced students’ perception of peer-to-peer learning, which we believe will foster collaboration, knowledge sharing, and networking outside the workshop. We encourage this workshop series as a model for other departments to consider using, as a method to support the improvement of technical skills and build community within a program.

Acknowledgements (Optional):

References: [1] Lightsey, S., Dill, M., Temples, M., Yeater, T., and Furtney, S. Leveraging Near-Peer and Collaborative Learning for a Graduate Student-Led Cell Culture Workshop. Biomed Eng Education (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43683-023-00132-4