Shiraz E-Med J. 2021 November; 22(11):e111984. Published online 2021 June 15. doi: 10.5812/semj.111984. Research Article Comparison Between Peer Learning and Conventional Methods in Biostatistics Course Among Postgraduate Nursing Students’ Final Score, Statistics and Test Anxiety: A Quasi-experimental Study with a Control Group Azar Babaahmadi 1 , Elham Maraghi 2, * , Soraya Moradi 1 and Shima Younespour 3 1 Student Research Committee, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran 2 Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Health, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran 3 National institute of Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran * Corresponding author: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Health, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. Email: e.maraghi@gmail.com Received 2020 December 12; Revised 2021 February 27; Accepted 2021 March 25. Abstract Background: Biostatistics course is considered essential for nursing education. Thus, conceptual learning in biostatistics is highly critical for postgraduate nursing students. A large proportion of students identify this course as the most anxiety-inducing course. The largest part of students’ anxiety in the semester in which they take biostatistics course is manifested in the form of statistics anxiety in addition to test anxiety. Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of the peer learning method in biostatistics course among postgraduate nursing students’ final score and test and statistics anxiety. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted during the first semester of the academic year 2019 - 2020 in the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences. Students were divided into two separate classes accord- ing to their courses. In one class, biostatistics course was taught by peers, and the lecture method as the conventional method was used for teaching in the other class. Test and statistics anxiety questionnaires were completed by the students of both groups before the educational intervention and at the end of the semester. Data was analyzed by SPSS 20 using nonparametric tests. Results: The mean final score in the lecture and peer learning groups were respectively 9.9 ± 4.60 and 11.55 ± 4.76 (P = 0.245). At the end of the course, the mean scores of statistics and test anxiety decreased in the intervention group in comparison to the conventional group. Conclusions: Using the peer learning method in biostatistics course has a positive effect on reducing test and statistics anxiety and increasing final scores in postgraduate nursing students. Keywords: Educational Techniques, Peer Learning, Test Anxiety, Nursing Students, Medical Education, Academic Performance 1. Background There are two modes of teaching in educational pro- grams, including teacher-centered and student-centered (1). In the teacher-centered mode, the teacher is considered as the reference point. However, learners, their abilities, and needs are core to the student-centered mode. As a sub- set of the teacher-centered model, the lecture method is a good tool for providing basic information and transferring empirical sciences. A large amount of content can thus be presented in a short time with the lowest costs. In this model, the teacher is the student’s point of reference, and the student simply learns what is uttered by the teacher (1, 2). Although the lecture method does not provide the opportunity for reflection in learning, other factors such as time constraints, ease of use, applicability for crowded classes, and high volume of teaching materials have led to its use as a dominant teaching method in educational cen- ters (3, 4). In recent decades, there has been a growing need for the revision of traditional teaching methods and the use of new and active student-centered methods of learning in educational systems, and the application of such meth- ods in medical sciences has become commonplace. In the teaching methodology field, there are suggestions for in- creasing the quality of teaching by lecturing, including Copyright © 2021, Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits copy and redistribute the material just in noncommercial usages, provided the original work is properly cited.