Impacts of peer tutoring on academic performance of first-year baccalaureate nursing students: A quasi-experimental study

Background: Peer tutoring has multiple benefits for students and the nursing program. However, little is known about the impacts of a peer tutoring on students' academic success. Objectives: This study aimed to examine the impacts of a peer tutoring program on the course failure rates and exam scores among first-year baccalaureate nursing students. Design: A quasi-experimental study was conducted at a public university in the USA. A formal peer tutoring program was offered to the Class of 2020 over their first three semesters (n = 317), and the Class of 2018 without peer tutoring served as a historical comparison group (n = 285). The peer tutoring program provided free, oneon-one assistance to any students who needed additional academic support. Results: The overall course failure rate was 3.47% for the class with peer tutoring compared to 7.02% without peer tutoring (chi(2) = 3.87; p = 0.049). For the class with peer tutoring, about one half attended the sessions. The attendees had lower first exam scores compared to the non-attendees, but the final exam scores of attendees improved by 4 points out of 100 possible (p < 0.001). For the non-attendees, the exam scores did not change significantly. Students who attended two or more sessions per semester improved their scores by about 5 points. There was a positive association between the improvements in exam scores and the frequency of tutoring sessions attended per semester (p = 0.002). Conclusions: It appears that the peer tutoring was effective in reducing course failure rates as well as improving exam scores among first-year baccalaureate-nursing students. Peer tutoring may be a useful and cost-effective strategy to help at-risk nursing students as they adjust to the challenges of academic demands in nursing programs.