developing as a pbl tutor - speech.hku.hk · viveka lyberg Åhlander, margareta lundskog, kristina...
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Developing as a PBL tutor
Viveka Lyberg Åhlander, Margareta Lundskog,
Kristina Hansson
Department of Logopedics, Phoniatrics and Audiology,
Lund University
The Third International Conference on Problem Based Learning in Speech Language Pathology and
Audiology, Hongkong, December 2-3 2011
”Then, you know, the best, that is when you sit there, just listening to a discussion and critical questioning, when it goes on so smoothly, then you feel happy and, yes, it actually feels great, because then you really understand the value of PBL”
Background
• The tutor role is a different kind of teacher role,
– Difficult to leave the traditional teacher role (Abrandt Dahlgren et al, 1988)
• ”….tutor training as an ongoing process.” (Silén, 2006)
– But: - after the introductory course there are very few chances for ongoing tutor education.
• Continuous effort to develop teacher competence is crucial for being able to develop and sustain quality of the program (Baroffio et al,
2006)
• A community of practice is important for joint development and joint learning (Wenger, 1998)
• The students’ perception/understandning of the tutor’s skills is enhanced when the tutor receives ongoing education (Baroffio et al, 2006)
PBL at the Speech Language Pathology Program in Lund
• PBL since 1989
• All teachers have attended courses about PBL/PBL tutoring
• New PBL tutors have experience from PBL as students themselves
• Monthly lunch meetings for active tutors
• Once per semester a longer meeting to discuss specific themes
Purpose
• What skills do tutors need?
• What kind(s) of support do tutors need and when?
Informants
• Five tutors, experience of being tutors at the audioloy or speech language pathology program.
• 3-20 years experience as PBL tutors
• All have gone through courses in PBL
– in Lund and/or Linköping
Method
• One independent person performed an in-depth interview with each of the tutors
• Open semi-structured questions. Around 30 minutes/interview
• Recorded on MiniDisc
• Four interviews performed in June 2009, one in August 2009
• Interviews transcribed by a second independent person
Analysis
• Performed by the three authors; independent reading and identification of relevant statements. – Phenomenon: to be a PBL tutor.
– How does the PBL tutor perceive her role and how it can be supported?
• Grouping of statements
• Labelling
Results
Traps to look out for:
• Act as a ”teacher” – Have a too strong association with the theoretical
topic (course leader, examiner)
– A supercilious attitude
• View herself as an equal member of the group
• Showing lack of interest – For group process
– For topic
Difficulties and challenges
• Malfuntioning case
• Conflicts and unequalities in the group
• Evaluation – when? level? how? content?
• Intervention? – when? how?
Expert knowledge
• Expert knowledge can have different levels
• Expertise can be obstructive
• Expertise makes you feel safe
Students’ progression The tutor perceives that with
time the students:
• get better at solving problems
• get better at being active/ take up space /leading the group
• are more focussed on the topic and less on relations
• use a more professional language and refer more directly to clinical work/reality
Students
Community of practice – Tutor group
Courses
Litterature Video Attitude Principles Scholarship Critical friends Course director
Directly: feedback Indirectly: joy Students’ readiness Students’ consciousness
Principles Litterature Attitude Scholarship
Colleagues ”getting things off one’s chest”
Input
Knowing your role/attitude
When and how to intervene
Degree of expert knowledge
Adjust to student’s progression
Orientation towards group dynamics
• Courses in PBL • Access to scholarship • Being part of a community of practise • Support from course leader regarding
content • Possibility to talk informally about
problems
”It is not enough to live on that first training you had, you need it regularly […] you need constant refill, discussion and renewal [---] The students today are different from those 20 years ago and
that is very obvious in the PBL groups.”
Balance
PBL-tutor
Transparency
Supporting
Timing
Process- orientation
Commitment
Tutor properties
The joys of being a PBL tutor the funniest is when the
students, when the students realise what you
can use PBL for [---] that is, that they really understand the whole process and that
they see the value of the method as such.
what I think is the best part is that you sit there listening to students, how they acquire knowledge during the discussion. That is, the ineractionst aspect of learning [it is really exciting to]
see the development, that is, to, how much
room they dare take up little by little and develop over the
semesters.
Thanks …
… to you for listening
… to the Medical Faculty, Lund University for financial support