Nursing students' experience of online peer tutoring based on the grow model: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND: With the drastic change in the nursing education environment due to the coronavirus pandemic, several attempts have been made in Korea to help nursing students better adapt to the new learning environment. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore nursing students' experience of online peer tutoring based on the Goal–Reality–Options–Will (GROW) model. DESIGN: A qualitative study using content analysis. SETTINGS: This study was conducted in the department of nursing at two universities in South Korea. PARTICIPANTS: The participants were 14 nursing students who participated as tutors and tutees in the online peer tutoring. METHODS: Three focus group interviews were conducted with the 14 students. Data were transcribed and analyzed using content analysis. RESULTS: Three categories and nine subcategories were extracted. Online peer tutoring allowed participants to learn using a new approach, promoted their efficiency of studying in multiple aspects, and encouraged them to persevere and advance in academics, thus proving its usefulness as an auxiliary strategy to enhance the efficiency of online learning. CONCLUSIONS: Structured online peer tutoring can be a useful tool for enhancing the effectiveness of non-face-to-face education for nursing students. This study's results can serve as meaningful basic data for planning and composing learning activities optimized for the future online nursing education environment.