Technology to facilitate peer mentoring in Sport

PsychologyApplication of Learning Technologies

Jon Radcliffe j.n.radcliffe@edu.salford.ac.uk

The Project

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i230/PANTHERD/leap-of-faith.jpg

UK Professional Standards Framework

Areas of Activity

Professional values

Core Knowledge

The ALT Checklist

Students have commented that there is not the same relevance as some of the other disciplines

This has resulted in a drop in attendance through the module

The Problem

Attendance figures as percentage of enrolled 1st year students. Semester 2, 2012

Student Comments….

“More experience of practical aspects…”

“See the applications, not just the theory…”

Student EngagementLiterature Review

http://www.avnetwork.com/Default.aspx?tabid=65&EntryId=169

“Engagement is seen to comprise active and collaborative learning,

participation in challenging academic activities, formative communication with academic staff, involvement in enriching educational experiences, and

feeling legitimated and supported by university learning

communities”(Coates, 2007, p. 122)

SolutionsWhat is Engagement

Active learning◦ Performing meaningful and thought provoking

activities Collaborative learning

◦ Working together to achieve a common goal◦ focus lies with the interaction between students

rather than learning as a solitary activity Learning community

◦ A series of interactions in objectively working towards a common goal with each member sharing a common interest

1.Enhance students’ self belief 2. Enable students to work autonomously, enjoy learning

relationships with others and feel they are competent to achieve their own objectives.  

3. Recognise that teacher and teaching are central to engagement

4.Create learning that is active, collaborative, and fosters learning relationships

5. Create educational experiences for students that are challenging, enriching and extend their academic abilities

6. Ensure institutional cultures are welcoming to students from diverse backgrounds

7. Invest in a variety of support services 8. Adapt to changing student expectations 9. Enable students to become active citizens 10. Enable students to develop their social and cultural capital

Solutions10 principles (Zepke & Leach, 2010)

Pair 1st year students with 2nd year students

1st year students gain an insight into the practical 2nd year

2nd year students had a learning ‘buddy’ to recap first year theory

This will also provide benefits derived from peer mentoring

Solution

Mentoring plays an important role in the personal and academic development within a wide array of contexts.

Naturally occurring mentorships are rare (O’Neill et al., 2005).

Developed though repeated informal contact and so are easily inhibited through demographic of time constraints

Mentor programmes typically formally arrange mentorships based upon common interests and goals (O’Neill et al., 2005).

Peer Mentoring

An environment where there is peer mentoring available yet teacher input is easily and quickly provided is beneficial.

The platform must be accessible in terms of availability and literacy without the inclusion of extensive additional resources.

The students should be able to actively partake in an environment to develop confidence providing and receiving feedback.

The environment should be challenging It would be important to promote the integration of

reflection, Student discussion and feedback would be critical and

the instances of peer feedback allowing the formation of communities with common interests. 

Identifying a tool

Typical barriers to mentoring concern logistical concerns regarding the management of the mentoring with regard to time and knowledge resources.

Longstanding concerns such as optimising the match between mentors and mentees regarding gender, ambitions, or personal attributes (O’Neill et al., 2005).

Potential barriers

Many platforms exist to promote mentoring

◦ Blogs Such as EduBlogger created especially for education and not forgetting the WordPress.

◦ Content management systems◦ Social Networking sites◦ Wiki’s◦ And specialist community tools such as Tapped In.

Where to start!!!

Effective e-mentoring tool

Building and describing a mentor pool Matching mentors and mentees Provide opportunities for just in time

learning Limiting administrative overhead Limiting mentor overload

Challenges of Effective e-mentoring

E-mentoring system should consist of:• An e-mail routing account • A ‘knowledge forum’ workspace in which

mentors and mentees can work together • A definition of the range of experiences that

might be shared (O’Neill et al., 2005)

I now need to refine my search to a tool that offers:•Community space•Private discussion •Opportunity for reflection.

Both can support online mentoring as both offers the facility for discussions

Both allow for e-mail notification when a change or comment has been made.

Both offer media rich information such as videos with PBworks also allowing for Skype plug-in for synchronous collaboration

The key distinguishing factor between the two platforms appears to be the available community space.

Deciding on a PlatformBlog tool vs. Wiki tool

Tonkin (2005): A wiki falls into four main categories in education◦Single user◦Lab book◦Collaborative writing◦Creating a topical knowledge repository

for a module cohort

Wiki technology in education

Knowledge constructed through reflective abstraction

Cognitive structures facilitate the learning process

Cognitive structures are constantly developing

Methods of teaching must agree with constructivist learning

Wiki technology in educationAlignment with constructivist learning

Ease of publication Speed of publication Organisation of knowledge areas Available support from others Version management tools.

◦ Changes can be monitored and facilities exist for reviewing earlier versions.

Wiki technology Characteristics

Cole (2009) used a wiki to support engagement.

After five weeks there was zero posts.

Two thirds of the students visited the wiki but did not post.

Students were only interested in pre-set learning activities.

 

Reflection on Previous Studies

 This was due to Confidence constraints

“I don’t want to be the first to post”“I haven’t done all the readings so don’t want to

post…” Technical constraints,

“There aren’t any useful guidelines and tips that can be used”

“I tried posting but it wouldn’t let me upload it” Educational constraints

“Deadlines for coursework are on the same day”“A piece of coursework to submit every day”

  And a general lack of interest.

“I can’t see any value in it”

Reflection on Previous Studies

Attendance is typically used to measure engagement.

A crude measure as it only measures direction and not intensity of engagement

Engagement has been suggested as a measure of institutional quality (Kuh, 2001)

Need measures to evaluate the intensity of engagement rather than simplistic direction.

Evaluation

Online tools allow the storage of vast amounts of numerical data.

Beer (2010) measured engagement through correlation of average clicks to grades.

Need quantitative and qualitative methods. Use likert scale questions and open ended

questions.

Evaluation

First Year Experience Questionnaire (Krause and Coates, 2008)

Measure multidimensional components of engagement.

7 Subscales:

Transition engagement scale. Academic engagement scale Peer engagement scale Student staff engagement scale Intellectual engagement scale Online engagement scale Beyond class engagement scale

Evaluation

Provides a platform for students to engage in the course material

Allows asynchronous discussion Opportunity for formative feedback Further opportunity for meaningful

discussion and reflection Develop skills transferable to career Provides and inclusive platform

Strengths of the project

Research studies have evidenced adherence problems. Non-participation has been reported as great concern to tutors utilising e-learning programmes (Sharpe & Benfield, 2005)

Cole (2009) reported that the use of Wikis in education are ineffective

Additional time will be taken to develop the platform

Facilitator and participants must volunteer time to learn how the software works.

Differences in digital literacy.

Limitations

A1 Design and plan learning activities

A2 Teach and support learning

A3 Assess and give feedback to learners

A4 develop effective learning environments

A5 Engage in continuing professional development

K1 Subject material K2 Appropriate methods for

teaching in the subject area at the level of academic programme

K3 How students learn, generally and within the subject area

K4 The use and values of appropriate learning technologies

K5 Methods of evaluating teaching

K6 The implications of quality assurance and enhancement for academic and professional practice

UK Professional Standards Framework

Areas of Activity

Core Knowledge

Professional values

Areas of Activity

Professional values

Core Knowledge

V1 Respect individual learners and diverse learning communities

V2 Promote participation in higher education and equality of opportunity for learners

V3 Use evidence-informed approaches and the outcomes from research and CPD

V4 Acknowledge the wider context in which higher education operate with implications for professional practice.

Thank you for listening. Any questions?