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