Small Group Teaching: Tutorials, Seminars and Workshops [2 ed.] 1138590630, 9781138590632

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Small Group Teaching

This comprehensive guide for new university teachers brings together straightforward and practical advice on small group teaching alongside examples of practice across disciplines. Written in a highly accessible style, it covers topics such as the foundations of small group teaching; methods and techniques; and advice on inclusive and non-discriminatory practice. Now fully updated, this new edition also takes into account changes in technology and the expectation of students, includes examples of practice from a variety of institutions, and offers learning resources and reading suggestions throughout. Kate Exley is Senior Staff Development Officer at the University of Leeds, UK, and series editor of the Key Guides for Effective Teaching in Higher Education series. Reg Dennick is Emeritus Professor of Medical Education at the University of Nottingham, UK. Andrew Fisher is Head of the Philosophy Department at the University of Nottingham, UK.

Key Guides for Effective Teaching in Higher Education Series Edited by Kate Exley This indispensable series is aimed at new lecturers, postgraduate students who have teaching time, graduate teaching assistants, part-time tutors and demonstrators, as well as experienced teaching staff who may feel it’s time to review their skills in teaching and learning. https://www.routledge.com/Key-Guides-for-Effective-Teaching-in-HigherEducation/book-series/SE0746 Titles in this series will provide the teacher in higher education with practical, realistic guidance on the various different aspects of their teaching role, which is underpinned not only by current research in the field, but also by the extensive experience of individual authors, and with a keen eye kept on the limitations and opportunities therein. By bridging a gap between academic theory and practice, all titles will provide generic guidance on the topics covered, which is then brought to life through the use of short, illustrative examples drawn from a range of disciplines. All titles in the series will: ■ ■ ■ ■

represent up-to-date thinking and incorporate the use of computing and appropriate learning technology consider methods and approaches for teaching and learning when there is an increasing diversity in learning and a growth in student numbers encourage readers to reflect, critique and apply learning in their practice and professional context provide links and references to other work on the topic and research evidence where appropriate.

Titles in the series will prove invaluable whether they are used for self-study, as reference material when seeking teaching recognition or as part of a formal taught programme on teaching and learning in higher education (HE), and will also be of relevance to teaching staff working in further education (FE) settings. Other titles in this series: Working One-to-One With Students: Supervising, Coaching, Mentoring, and Personal Tutoring Gina Wisker, Kate Exley, Maria Antoniou and Pauline Ridley Enhancing Learning Through Formative Assessment and Feedback Alastair Irons Inclusion and Diversity: Meeting the Needs of all Students Sue Grace and Phil Gravestock Giving a Lecture: From Presenting to Teaching, 2ed Kate Exley and Reg Dennick

Using Technology to Support Learning and Teaching Andy Fisher, Kate Exley, Dragos Ciobanu Leading Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: The Key Guide to Designing and Delivering Courses Doug Parkin Small Group Teaching: Seminars, Tutorials and Workshops, 2ed Kate Exley, Reg Dennick and Andrew Fisher Developing Your Teaching: Towards Excellence, 2ed Peter Kahn and Lorraine Anderson

Small Group Teaching Tutorials, Seminars and Workshops Second Edition

Kate Exley, Reg Dennick and Andrew Fisher

Second edition published 2019 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business  2019 Kate Exley, Reg Dennick and Andrew Fisher The right of Kate Exley, Reg Dennick and Andrew Fisher to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. First edition published by Routledge in 2004 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Names: Exley, Kate, 1964- author. | Dennick, Reg, 1949- author. | Fisher, Andrew, 1976- author. Title: Small group teaching : tutorials, seminars and workshops / Kate Exley, Reg Dennick and Andrew Fisher. Description: Second edition. | New York : Routledge, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018045813| ISBN 9781138590632 (Hardback) | ISBN 9781138590656 (Paperback) | ISBN 9780429490897 (Ebook) Subjects: LCSH: College teaching. | Group work in education. | Small groups. Classification: LCC LB2331 .E937 2019 | DDC 378.1/795—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018045813 ISBN: 978-1-138-59063-2 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-59065-6 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-49089-7 (ebk) Typeset in Perpetua by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK

Contents

Series editor introduction Acknowledgements

vi ix

1 Views on small group teaching: a learner’s perspective

1

2 Educational theories that support small group teaching

11

3 The physical, psychological and social conditions for successful SGT

23

4 The skills of facilitation

42

5 Learner diversity in small group teaching

66

6 Working with learner groups: techniques and methods in the classroom 85 7 Problem-based learning (PBL)

115

8 Learners as partners: learner-led seminars, tutorless tutorials and collaborative approaches

137

9 Hands-on, practical teaching in small groups

153

10 Managing and facilitating small group projects

161

11 Blended learning and tutoring at a distance

177

References Index

188 196

v

Series editor introduction

THE SERIES The Key Guides for Effective Teaching in Higher Education were initially discussed as an idea in 2002, and the first group of four titles were published in 2004. New titles have continued to be added and the series now boasts 12 books (with new titles and further new editions of some of the older volumes in the pipeline). It has always been intended that the books would be primarily of use to new teachers in universities and colleges. It has been exciting to see them being used to support postgraduate certificate programmes in teaching and learning for new academic staff and clinical teachers, and also the skills training programmes for post- graduate students who are beginning to teach. A less anticipated, but very valued, readership has been the experienced teachers who have dipped into the books when reviewing their teaching or referenced them when making claims for teaching recognition or promotion. Authors are very grateful to these colleagues who have given constructive feedback and made further suggestions on teaching approaches and shared examples of their practice, all of which has fed-forward into later editions of titles. In the UK, the work of the Higher Education Academy (HEA), now part of Advance HE, in developing a Professional Standard Framework (UKPSF), on behalf of the sector, has also raised the importance of providing goodquality guidance and support for those beginning their teaching careers. It is therefore intended that the series would also provide a useful set of sources for those seeking to gain professional recognition for their practice against the UKPSF.

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Series editor introduction

KEY THEMES OF THE SERIES The books all attempt to combine two things: to be very practical and provide lots of examples of methods and techniques, and also to link to educational theory and underpinning research. Articles are referenced, further readings are suggested and researchers in the field are quoted. There is also much enthusiasm here to link to the wide range of teaching development activities thriving in the disciplines, supported by the small grant schemes and conferences provided by Advance HE, Society for Research in Higher Education and professional bodies, etc. The need to tailor teaching approaches to meet the demands of different subject areas and to provide new teachers with examples of practice that are easily recognizable in their fields of study is seen as being very important by all the series authors. To this end the books include many examples drawn from a wide range of academic subjects and different kinds of higher education institutions. This theme of diversity is also embraced when considering the heterogeneous groups of students we now teach and the colleagues we work alongside. Students and teachers alike include people of different age, experience, knowledge, skills, culture and language, etc., and all the books include discussion of the issues and demands this places on teachers and learners in today’s universities. In the series as a whole there is also more than half an eye trying to peer into the future – what will teaching and learning look like in 10 or 20 years’ time? How will student expectations, government policy, funding streams and new technological advances and legislation affect what happens in our learning spaces of the future? What impact will this have on the way teaching is led and managed in institutions? You will see, therefore, that many of the books do include chapters that aim to look ahead and tap into the thinking of our most innovative and creative teachers and teaching leaders in an attempt to crystal-ball gaze. So these were the original ideas underpinning the series, and my co-authors and I have tried hard to keep them in mind as we researched our topics and typed away. We really hope that you find the books to be useful and interesting, whether you are a new teacher just starting out in your teaching career, or you are an experienced teacher reflecting on your practice and reviewing what you do.

SMALL GROUP TEACHING, 2ND EDITION The first edition was published in 2004 and has proved to be very successful. It is considered to be a core text for many ‘new to teaching in HE’

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Series editor introduction

programmes in the UK and, indeed, overseas. It has been translated into Spanish, Farsi and German, and is soon to appear in Mandarin. A second edition is very timely. Much has happened in 15 years and the context and global landscape of HE looks very different today. Digital learning and technology are now embedded in teaching and learning and both legislative frameworks and pedagogic literature have all moved on. Furthermore, the expectations of learners and their learning experiences have changed in the intervening years. Yet, many of the principles and key design approaches the first edition recommends are as relevant today as they were then. The style and length of the book remains the same but there are completely new chapters and original material has been radically updated in recognition of the significant developments in teaching and learning practices observable today across the higher education sector. Kate Exley Series Editor

viii

Acknowledgements

The authors of this book, and the first edition, gratefully acknowledge the support, input and encouragement that they have received from friends, colleagues and family. Special thanks must go to colleagues who have given helpful suggestions and feedback and told us about their small group teaching strategies from a wide range of discipline areas. The list is by no means exhaustive but does include, Richard Blackwell, Liz Barnett, Liz Sockett, Catherine Moore, Shake Seigel, Wyn Morgan, Stan Taylor, Paul Chin, Peter Davies, Jordi Vaquer-Fanes, Christopher Woodard, Ian Kidd, Peter Watts and Rachel Scudamore. Appreciation and thanks to colleagues who have contributed short case examples of their work including Nuala Flood and her team at Queen’s University Belfast, Robert Hearn and Cordelia Freeman with colleagues at The University of Nottingham and Karl Dearn and the Formula Student team at The University of Birmingham. A big thank you too to the students, past and present, who shared their experiences and views of small group teaching with us, including Becky Denyer, Philip Davy, Susannah Roberts, Victoria Peopall, Daniel Chivers, Luke Sutherland, Caitlin Tyrell, Will Meades, Josh Exley, Hedley Steel, Beth Exley, Luke Martinez, Willow Mcgowan Crewe, Marieanne BondWebster, Kayleigh Hughes, Eve Loverock, Ellie Stott, Jessica Slack and others who wished to remain anonymous. Sincere thanks too to Sarah Tuckwell and Lucy Stewart at Routledge Press. Their knowledge of the process of writing and publishing and their understanding of authors’ foibles made their help and guidance invaluable. Finally, a big thank you to the eagle eye of Ting Baker who tidied and checked the final manuscript ready for publication.

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Chapter 1

Views on small group teaching A learner’s perspective

While carrying out research and reading for this second edition we came across a list of ten things learners should know about small group teaching (Mills and Alexander 2013), which gave some very sensible suggestions about the kind of things we should ensure learners understand about this mode of teaching. We began to wonder what the reality was and what our learners think and feel about SGT today. Below, you will see responses from a number of learners actually studying in a cross sample of different UK institutions and taking a variety of different degree subjects. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF SEMINAR TEACHING (SMALL GROUP TEACHING)? I enjoy the intimacy of my seminars. There is no anonymity as we all know each other and feel comfortable talking to each other. This allows ideas and opinions to be shared easily as relationships have always been built. (2nd year, female, English Literature) I thoroughly enjoy the small grouped communication that occurs within seminars. Seminars provide a chance for in-depth study and thought about the more general topics we learn about in lectures, and also provide an easier chance to ask specific questions as well as general questions. Also because you’re able to meet people from the course and get to know them better because the group is smaller, it makes the experience feel more personal. (3rd year, male, Philosophy)

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VIEWS ON SMALL GROUP TEACHING

Seminars encourage new relationships to be built. Compared to a lecturer, I feel comfortable asking my seminar teachers any queries I have. I feel more on top of seminar work compared to everything else. (2nd year, female, International Business) Seminars allow deeper engagement with course content. (1st year, male, English) Allows for personality dependent and tailored teaching, enabling a tutor to take a number of different teaching styles and enhancing a learner’s learning simultaneously. (foundation, female, Medicine) I find seminars the highlight of the course; without them, philosophy would be much less exciting. I have also enjoyed the opportunity to critique professors’ own work in seminars . . . and (along with other learners) to suggest some readings/topic areas for discussion towards the end of a course. (1st year, Philosophy, MA) I really love interactive seminars and I think they are best when it is mostly discussion based. It helps us to see different points of view and also by talking about our own views, it really helps when articulating what you think to bring certain things together in your head which you may not have thought about. (3rd year, female, English in Education) I really like small groups because I learn best in a less formal, conversational context. It is much easier to get immediate feedback and convey nuanced content which may need further explanation. I feel the greater the engagement of the learners being taught, the more they get from it. (5th year, male, Medicine) You can make friends and connections with people on your course. (1st year, female, Politics and International Relations)

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Gives direct access to a tutor’s knowledge base. Ensuring understanding of basic ideas is achieved on an individual basis that is not available in lecture based teaching. (foundation, male, Medicine) The fact that seminars are registered really encourages you to go and brings structure to my routine. Unlike lectures, they cannot be missed and so I like the fact I am never behind with seminar work. (2nd year, female, Geography) The interaction with other learners, I find it useful to hear other people’s ideas and I enjoy debating them with my peers. I also find it valuable to hear the seminar leader giving clear answers to important questions, especially questions related to essays/exams. (1st year, PPE) They’re less intimidating than lectures in terms of asking questions. (1st year, female, Economics) The opportunity to discuss ideas with others. I think there can be no better way of learning and doing philosophy and I firmly believe that philosophy was, is, and should always be a primarily discursive subject – just as Socrates talked to people in the streets of ancient Athens, so it is valuable for us to bounce ideas off one another in seminars. (1st year, Philosophy, MA) Being able to speak to the tutors and clear up any confusion from lectures in a non-embarrassing way, and actually ask questions to further increase understanding of topics. (1st year, male, Medicine) Seminars that are well structured, with versatile activities throughout the course, lecturers delivering interesting topics which are well researched and understood, giving learners confidence in their teaching and knowledge. (3rd year, female, Education) When it comes to small group teaching I found them a lot more useful than lectures. They enable learners to ask question and create a rapport with lecturers. This can make learning a lot more personal and unique to

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individuals’ needs. It is particularly useful when a topic is something you are interested in; the lecturer may be doing research on or be a specialist in the area. This can lead to getting involved in research or gaining more understanding of a topic. (2nd year, female, Psychology) I feel that seminar teaching allows more interaction between the learner and the teacher. I personally feel more comfortable in sessions like these when for example asking for help with problem sheet questions or just asking for help with aspects of the module I am struggling with. By working in smaller groups of five or six learners, you can also ask the people around you for help as well as the teacher. (2nd year, male, Electrical Engineering) Seminars at university became even more important than the lectures. When done efficiently with other learners bringing conversation to the ‘table’ it seemed interesting to hear people’s views, gain a deeper understanding of what was needed to be taken from the lecture, as well as acquiring key advice on how to incorporate it into assessments. (3rd year, female, English in Education) WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS OR DIFFICULTIES YOU FACE IN SEMINAR SMALL GROUP TEACHING SESSIONS? There is a lot of pressure to perform well in seminars and generate meaningful discussions. If you aren’t feeling on top form, there is a struggle to always contribute and be present with the discussions. (2nd year, female, English Literature) Some seminars can be very quiet when we are asked to share our thoughts and ideas. Often many learners, apart from certain individuals, will not be willing to share. Creating an uncomfortable atmosphere and a limitation on debates and on the lecturer’s lesson plan. (3rd year, female, English in Education) Some seminar teachers expect too much work to be planned in advance. The work load is often unrealistic and so for some of the discussions I don’t have the answers prepared. (2nd year, female, Geography)

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VIEWS ON SMALL GROUP TEACHING

Generally, I love seminars, but a few annoyances that spring to mind are: when most people remain silent; when people clearly haven’t done the readings; when people are late; when people rarely attend; when seminars are moved, changed or cut short without prior warning; when a learner ‘leads’ the seminar by reading a lengthy handout word for word without pausing; when the seminar leader hasn’t adequately prepared; when people get unnecessarily angry; when handouts are filled with typos or don’t make sense. (1st year, MA) I also don’t like it when the seminar tutor lectures at learners and doesn’t encourage participation of critical thinking or when the seminar tutor doesn’t get involved at all, as this doesn’t stimulate learning as the learner does not have any feedback on what they’re discussing. (2nd year, Philosophy, Religion and Ethics) There can be an uneven spread of learning opportunity, some tutors are much more skilled at engaging with learners than others. (1st year, female, History) I think this often depends on the teacher and the structure of the setting. There is more pressure on teachers in this environment to ‘hold the room’ and engage, so if they are struggling with this it becomes quite obvious and learners can switch off. If the teacher sticks too rigidly to a script and doesn’t adapt to, for example, quiet audiences or pitches content at a wrong level to very knowledgeable or conversely underprepared learners, this can also make the teaching difficult to engage with. (5th year, male, Medicine) When not enough people turn up and then you can’t have a proper discussion with your peers and the same people end up answering every question. I also don’t like it when the seminar leader just goes through the answers to tutorial questions with little interaction. (1st year, PPE) There can be a lot of pressure to speak which is stressful for learners suffering from anxiety. (1st year, male, Politics)

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VIEWS ON SMALL GROUP TEACHING

Seminars should be more focussed, I mean by this, that although I understand the need for many areas to be discussed, I wish we could go into more depth in a particular idea. (2nd year, Philosophy, Religion and Ethics) Small group teaching can lead to poor attendance, but this can be good for those who do attend as they gain more one-to-one time. (2nd year, female, Psychology) I like doing activities but I often find they can be boring and sometimes pointless, so I prefer to talk and incorporate this into really useful material that will be helpful for essays and exams. (3rd year, female, English in Education) There is always the possibility of outspoken characters who dominate teaching SGT opportunities. (foundation, male, Medicine) You cannot guarantee a completely standardised level of teaching across a year group. (foundation, male, Medicine) The seminars have a much more relaxed feel to them compared to lectures. Although the majority of seminars have been constructive in learning how to solve problems and hence gain knowledge about the module, on the rare occasion I have been distracted by my peers due to this different working environment. (2nd year, male, Electrical Engineering) For particular classes, not all, there can be a vast amount of reading for one seminar. Which can be daunting for learners when there is also other pre reading for other topics – I feel in this area less is more. Given how our course is structured, if an individual learner chooses to set their own assignment on that week’s topic then they can go further into other readings for that week, but it is not necessary for it to be compulsory for all learners, rather, optional with at least one compulsory reading to aid the seminar. (3rd year, female, English in Education)

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VIEWS ON SMALL GROUP TEACHING

Although it is a positive that speaking in front of people has got me out my comfort zone, every time I have to speak there is a huge amount of nervousness. Seminars potentially don’t suit everyone’s working styles. (2nd year, female, International Business) ADVICE TO A NEW SGT TEACHER Be prepared for learners not wanting to talk, it can be uncomfortable when tutors wait for answers people in the group don’t know. (1st year, male, English) Mainly that they should try to spur as much talk as possible which includes as many people as possible. One way to achieve this would be to structure the seminars as 10 minutes of thought and questions, then 40 minutes of making the seminar split into groups and debate each other. This allows people the opportunity to have their questions answered and it makes people get involved with the seminar. And when the debate is occurring, the leader should randomly choose people to reply or to speak if it is clear that only one or two people are dominating. (3rd year, male, Philosophy) If learners aren’t engaging with a question, try rephrasing it, often if I’m not sure exactly what is being asked due to the way the question has been phrased I find it hard to get involved in discussion. (1st year, female, History) Teaching the group to only give constructive feedback and maintaining confidentiality is key to provide a safe learning environment. (foundation, male, Medicine) Prepare questions which will stimulate discussion if people are hesitant; have strategies to get people talking if the seminar is filled with ‘tumbleweed’ silences (e.g. split into smaller groups, discuss, then report back as a group; have one or two people lead the seminar each week, or lead it yourself; ask learners to prepare answers to particular questions relating to a reading). (1st year, MA)

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VIEWS ON SMALL GROUP TEACHING

For new teachers, I would say have a few different ways of explaining the same concept. Everyone learns differently, and audiences will receive the same content with varying degrees of understanding. If you can put things from a few different angles, you should be confident that the vast majority of learners will be able to grasp the content of your session. I think the best sessions are where the tutor gives groups of learners a couple of minutes to discuss something and then feedback. (5th year, male, Medicine) Try and make the group feel comfortable enough so that everyone can contribute, encourage discussion and peers helping each other. (1st year, PPE) At the start of a course, be clear about expectations in seminars e.g. that everyone ought to speak at least once, or that it’s ok to raise issues with parts of a reading the learner didn’t understand, or whatever rules you want people to follow. I also think that the reading summaries (where learners get 10% of their total marks from summarising readings) are a great idea to combat laziness! (1st year, MA) Use different media such as YouTube videos on the topic. This helps to break up the session and improves my concentration. (1st year, male, Biology) Sometimes I find it might well be difficult for seminars to work properly when the time of the seminars are arranged before or close to the lectures. If seminars are held before the lectures then the function of the seminars will be similar to the lectures and sometimes people who attend the seminars might lack the sufficient knowledge and time to discuss and rethink the materials on the topics. Under this situation, it is common that people who attend the seminars might just sit and listen to whatever seminars leader try to say without thinking about the content. (2nd year, Philosophy) I personally find it most helpful when the teacher walks around the room to the different groups asking if learners have any problems or any questions that they would like answering. This ensures that the learners are making the most of the session. (2nd year, male, Electrical Engineering)

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VIEWS ON SMALL GROUP TEACHING

In the first instance, the seminar leader’s role should be to ask questions and invite discussion, but when a group is reticent, the seminar leader needs to be flexible enough to change tactic, e.g. by offering opinions and inviting criticisms of those opinions. Learn the names of the learners (or have name cards each week) and ask people by name for their opinions, as some people will only offer their opinions when asked directly, but once they are asked, they have a lot to offer. (1st year, MA) Encouragement to all members of groups to give input (without being forceful) is key to full group participation and subsequently achieving session objectives. (foundation, male, Medicine) To provide opportunities for everyone, instead of only listening to those who might have excellent ideas and read a lot. In fact, seminar leaders should take more concern on those who dare not to talk and share their ideas and encourage them to think deeper and further on the topics. I know it is hard, because we all like to listen to some interesting ideas from someone with brilliant thoughts but I think the purpose of the seminars is to encourage everyone to think instead of listening. (2nd year, Philosophy) I have one tutor who emails the reading links to us every week and it makes it a lot easier to find and remember everything – particularly with my course you have to do so much reading it’s very easy to forget one bit or not remember which pages are expected – so when she lays it all out it’s very appreciated. I know it’s a lot to expect from a tutor, particularly if you have multiple sessions a week, but because she puts the effort in it makes me want to actually put the effort in with my work for her. (1st year, female, History) Assign reasonable amounts of preparatory work; when you have six seminars a week and each sets 100+ pages of reading it can be overwhelming. (1st year, female, Politics and International Relations)

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VIEWS ON SMALL GROUP TEACHING

REFLECTION POINTS • Do you find any of the views captured in these learner quotes to be surprising and if so why? • What might be the benefits in asking learners to reflect on their experiences of learning in small groups? • Have you ever asked your learners for their views? If so, what do your learners think are the strengths and weaknesses of small group teaching and learning?

CLOSING REMARKS When reading the learner quotations we were reassured by how many of the benefits of SGT were clearly understood and appreciated by learners. We were also struck by the strong acknowledgement of the knowledge and skills that a tutor needs to be able achieve these learning benefits that the learners had. Some of the learners consulted were also reflecting on their own experiences of leading seminars and conducting peer tutoring and seeing the relationships between teaching and learning for themselves. Their empathy with their teachers and understanding of the challenges they face was very evident in many of comments too. The literature also gives some insight into learner perceptions that you might find useful to explore (for example, Steinert 2004; Spruijt et al. 2012). NOTE Throughout the book the authors refer to small group teachers in a number of different ways, as tutors, facilitators and educators, etc. This is in recognition of the variety of titles and responsibilities given to teachers in these roles, in different discipline areas, different institutions and different countries. The authors have not sought to draw tight distinctions or definitions around the ‘teacher titles’ in general but do seek to highlight important role distinctions in different learning contexts.

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Chapter 2

Educational theories that support small group teaching We know that we learn and have knowledge but there is no consensus on the relationship between the mechanism by which our brains learn and the optimal way in which we should be taught. In other words, there is no necessary connection between epistemology and pedagogy. Similarly, there is no overarching educational theory that explains how individuals learn and there is no single theory that explains how individuals learn in small groups. Rather, there is a patchwork of theories that can be applied to individual learners, groups of learners and different learning environments. There are, however, a number of educational theories that together provide a useful framework for understanding how individuals learn in groups and how teachers can use these theories to optimize learning. The American social psychologist Kurt Lewin famously said, ‘There is nothing so practical as a good theory’ (McCain 2015) and hence the following theories will be described and explained in the hope that individual teachers can apply some of these ideas in the classroom. The constructivist theory of learning will be described and explained first, followed by experiential learning theory and, finally, humanistic theory. For a more detailed description and analysis of these educational theories see Dennick (2008). CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORIES OF LEARNING The constructivist view of learning is concerned with how learners build or construct a cognitive model of the world. Meaning and understanding are built up in a process influenced by the existing knowledge of each individual and the learning processes they engage in. Sensations and experience

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EDUCATIONAL THEORIES THAT SUPPORT SGT

are filtered through learners’ own personal knowledge and are assimilated into their own understanding in a process that enables the individual to find meaning in the world. Put simply the ‘unknown’ is understood in terms of the ‘known’. Possibly the most well-known articulation of this concept is the famous quotation of Ausubel: ‘The most important factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows’ (Ausubel 1968, n.p.). In addition, this process involves modifying and accommodating existing mental frameworks that are no longer viable or meaningful. Crucially, it implies that real understanding cannot be simply transmitted from one brain to another without the receiver’s active engagement in the process. Philosophically constructivism can be traced to Kantian epistemology where Empiricism and Rationalism are redefined and synthesized (Kant 1983; Kelly 1986). Its psychological basis can be found in the work of Piaget (Flavell 1963; Chapman 1988) who developed the previously mentioned concepts of assimilation and accommodation. Active learning and engagement is also derived from the writings of Dewey (1938) who stressed that learners should be ‘actors’ rather than ‘spectators’. When applied to individual learning, the term ‘cognitive constructivism’ is often used but from the perspective of learning in groups possibly the most relevant strand of constructivist theory is that of ‘social constructivism’. We are social beings and we cannot ignore the power of social interactivity. Other human beings influence the way in which we construct our models giving rise to the role of the ‘teacher’ and to the various social processes of education and pedagogy. SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM The work of Vygotsky (Wertsch 1985) and the later Piaget (Richardson 1998) emphasized the importance of the interpersonal and social nature of learning. Vygotsky’s ‘zone of proximal development’ (ZPD) represents the gap between an individual’s given developmental level and their potential level, which can be closed with the help of an experienced teacher. Crucially, it can also be bridged by collaborating with more capable peers in SGT. By means of social interaction and the use of language, learners develop and elaborate their knowledge base with the help of mental ‘scaffolding’ provided by ‘more knowledgeable others’ (MKO). Both problem-based learning and collaborative learning, to be described and discussed below,

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EDUCATIONAL THEORIES THAT SUPPORT SGT

build on this theoretical foundation. Furthermore, social constructivists argue that our constructs are not necessarily located just in our own brains but are distributed across society in language and other cultural and social tools such as books, libraries and the Internet (Solomon 1994; Gergen 1995; Wertsch 1985). ACTIVE LEARNING AND LEARNER ENGAGEMENT One of the key assumptions of constructivist theory is that learning is an active process requiring the learner to interact or engage with the learning situation or environment; to be an ‘actor’ not a spectator’. In this respect, Marton and Säljö (1976) and Entwistle et al. (1992) identified two different learning strategies that can be adopted by learners. They can adopt a passive ‘surface’ approach when confronted by the didactic learning of the traditional lecture or they can adopt an active and ‘deep’ approach when involved in SGT where they can question, discuss and interact. PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES OF CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY IN SGT Ascertain and activate prior knowledge Learning is about building on existing knowledge that is readily uncovered by good questioning technique or a well-designed ‘revision’ task at the beginning of a teaching session. Activating learners’ prior knowledge at the beginning of a teaching session brings knowledge to the surface and places it on the ‘mental desktop’. However, this process may bring incorrect understanding or prejudice to the surface that might be the basis of discussion and later challenge. Ascertaining, activating and acknowledging the prior knowledge and experience of adult learners uncovers valuable resources for a group of learners that enables the facilitator to demonstrate empathy and respect, an important attribute of humanistic learning theory to be described later. Build on existing knowledge and challenge misconceptions The acquisition of new knowledge can only be mediated by existing knowledge, therefore teachers should explain new concepts using knowledge that learners possess and use analogy and metaphor to help scaffold

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EDUCATIONAL THEORIES THAT SUPPORT SGT

to new understanding. The importance, relevance and situativity of the learning should be emphasized to strengthen personal and affective connections. The most powerful learning occurs when learners are in a state of uncertainty leading to ‘cognitive dissonance’ and a desire to achieve a sense of mental equilibrium (Festinger 1957). However, uncertainty should generate curiosity and a desire to investigate and challenge erroneous conceptions by means of empirical evidence, demonstrations or alternative theories with greater explanatory power. Groups of learners can be given specifically designed problems or scenarios, as in problem-based learning (see Chapter 7), which force them to question, abandon, elaborate or refine their existing understanding. Facilitate the social construction of meanings using group work: stress the context and the ‘situation’ As outlined earlier, the social context of learning is of great importance, hence individual understanding is facilitated by interpersonal communication and learning together in groups. Learners should be encouraged to use new terminology and concepts in group situations, elaborating and refining their conceptual understanding by interacting with the views of others. Use active learning techniques The activation of prior learning, the generation of cognitive dissonance, the importance of social interaction and discussion all point in the direction of active learning techniques. Clearly, there are occasions when information might need to be given in a more formal or didactic way, but constructivist theory suggests that it should then be handled, applied and elaborated. Encourage learners to think about how they learn and give learners responsibility for their learning The construction of understanding is facilitated by reflecting on the process of learning itself, a task known as ‘metacognition’. By encouraging learners to become aware of how they construct their own learning, they can identify the environmental, social and personality factors that influence them. If effective learning involves personal construction, then learners must take responsibility for this fundamental process. It is, undoubtedly, the most important ‘metacognitive’ concept that learners need to accept and, if

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adopted, should lead to an abandonment of a passive, ‘spoon-feeding’ attitude and the adoption of a more collaborative, active approach to learning.

REFLECTION POINTS • Do you recognize the relevance of constructivist theory to your own learning? • Can you recall situations in which you recognized that a learner couldn’t understand something because they didn’t have the right foundations? • As a teacher are you conscious of working with the existing knowledge of learners? • Are you aware of common prejudices or misunderstandings of learners that frequently get in the way of learning?

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING THEORY Experiential learning theory (ELT), developed by David Kolb (1982), attempts to provide a mechanism for how experience can be transformed into knowledge, skills and attitudes. If constructivism is a general theory of learning, then ELT provides a mechanism for how learning takes place in environments where raw and unmediated experience predominates. ELT is very useful in making sense of how learning occurs in professional working environments where learners are working or shadowing and engaged in an educational programme at the same time. But it should be emphasized that a SGT group is also a source of unstructured experience (e.g. debate, problem-solving and discussion, etc.) that can form the basis of learning and understanding, if appropriately facilitated. Kolb traces the origins of ELT to a heterogeneous group of thinkers including Dewey, Lewin, Piaget, Jung, Carl Rogers, Ivan Illich, Paulo Freire and Lev Vygotsky. Lewin’s work on group dynamics, action research and organizational behaviour was based on his pioneering involvement with ‘T-groups’, in which he used small group teaching methods to confront and challenge groups of learners, to make them experience conflict and the tension between theory and practice (Lewin 1952). In many ways, it could be argued that Lewin invented SGT in the 1950s as a transformative educational method. From Piaget, Kolb incorporated the idea that intelligence is shaped by experience arising from the interaction between individuals and their environment.

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Learning starts from interactions with the immediate concrete environment, but abstract reasoning and symbol manipulation arise later. Kolb cited the work of Carl Rogers in client-centred therapy and Abraham Maslow in selfactualization psychology, to be discussed later, stressing the importance of the affective aspects of experience. Kolb was also aware of Lev Vygotsky’s ideas on the importance of social interactions in learning. For Kolb ELT was also about the challenges of social action, citing Illich’s view that education is a system of social control in an oppressive capitalist society (Illich 1972). He also advocated Paulo Freire’s conception that education should be about developing ‘critical consciousness’ (Freire 1973), which can lead to liberation and transformation, a conception taken up later by Mezirow’s ‘Transformative’ learning theory (Mezirow 1991). Figure 2.1 shows the theoretical influences that shaped Kolb’s ideas on experiential learning.

FRIERE Experiential learning is liberating, it leads to ‘critical consciousness’

MASLOW & ROGERS Self-actualisation

JUNG Psychological types

DEWEY Importance of individual experience in learning

KOLB Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created by transforming experience

VYGOTSKY Experiential learning is a social process influenced by cultural tools.

PIAGET Constructivist mechanism of learning: experience to abstraction

LEWIN How experience can be transformed into action

■■ FIGURE 2.1  Influences on Kolb’s experiential learning theory.

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The ‘classic’ cyclical interpretation of Kolb is that learning is associated with four ‘learning modes’ and is initiated with ‘concrete experience’, which is transformed into ‘abstract conceptualization’ by a process of ‘reflective observation’, or ‘What does it mean?’ and ‘active experimentation’ or ‘What shall I do?’ Kolb emphasized the connection to assimilation and accommodation in constructivist theory as well as hypothetico-deductive reasoning in scientific thinking. Although the cyclical nature of these relationships is often emphasized, implying that there is a temporal sequence involved, Kolb emphasized that all four learning modes are present to the individual simultaneously. The learner can choose to focus on the outer world of raw experience or their inner world of mental representations; they can choose to reflect or act on either of these sources of experience. Effective learning requires the integration of these four abilities; the learner must constantly move between the concrete or the abstract and between activity or reflection at any moment (please see Figure 2.2). An interesting extension to ELT can be found in the work of Bandura. He argued that learning is a function of the interaction between the individual, other people and the environment. He emphasized the importance of observing role models for learners and the opportunities for vicarious learning by observing the results of the behaviour of others (Bandura 1977). Raw experience of the outer world

What shall I do? Reflection on inner world produces conjectures, hypotheses and actions.

What does it mean? Reflection on experience builds up inner world

Abstractions, knowledge and memories in the inner world

■■ FIGURE 2.2  Kolb’s experiential learning theory.

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PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES OF ELT IN SGT Ensure learners get the experiences they need Individuals need to ensure they get the experiences they need either individually or as part of a group. Useful experiences should be authentic and challenging and should generate problems, questions and possibly cognitive dissonance that can form the basis of investigations enhanced by social interaction, activity and discussion. Some experiential learning is collaborative and participative and hence takes place through social interaction. REFLECTION IS HELPED BY WRITING AND FEEDBACK Possibly one of the most important aspects of experiential learning theory is its emphasis on reflection, in terms of ‘what does it mean?’ and ‘what should I do?’ Experience is transformed into learning by reflection, which can take place unconsciously or consciously and can be enhanced by interacting with a facilitator, expert or peer. For example, a teacher might pause live discussion to ask questions that prompt metacognition, as described earlier: ‘So what is going on here?’ Importantly, reflection can also be enhanced through writing, leading to the educational use of diaries, blogs and portfolios. Encouraging reflection leads to the development of reflective practice, which is also an important component of professionalism (Schön 1983). Reflection is fundamentally enhanced by feedback and constructive feedback from a trained mentor or supervisor is an important feature of experiential learning environments. Informal feedback is often acquired from peers when learners are working in collaborative groups and also serves as an important way for learners to enhance their experiential learning. Methods of providing feedback have been described by Pendleton et al. (2003), Silverman et al. (1996) and Chowdhury and Kalu (2006). The importance of reflection is further explored in Moon (1999), Kember (2001) and Hillier (2002). BUILD UP MENTAL MODELS, PRACTICAL SKILLS AND ATTITUDES Understanding, practical skills and attitudes are constructed through reflection and feedback. By these processes, learners are shaping the

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mental models and schema that they use to interpret the world around them, gain knowledge and learn new things. It is important to remember that the mental frameworks we construct are socially connected to the external world of recorded knowledge that we are attempting to make sense of and internalize. ALLOW LEARNERS TO ENGAGE IN HYPOTHESIS TESTING AND ACTION PLANNING Learners need opportunities to test out and question their growing body of knowledge, skills and attitudes by talking and debating with facilitators and other learners. They may need to create action plans for future experiences and may require advice and support from facilitators and mentors. REFLECTION POINTS • Do you recognize that a small group teaching session is an experiential learning environment in which learners are experiencing, reflecting and acting to build up their understanding? • As a teacher/facilitator do you have the skills to manipulate and optimize this process? Are you able to identify learners in groups who are struggling to make sense of their experiences? • Are you able to support such learners and give them appropriate feedback?

HUMANISTIC THEORIES OF LEARNING Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers developed a ‘humanistic’ or ‘person centred’ theory of the individual, which gives us a useful framework for dealing with individual learners. They suggested our ‘nature’ is whoever we are and however we have created ourselves with our own personal knowledge and values. It provides a model of the individual which is compatible with constructivist and EL theory. Maslow emphasized the concept of ‘self-actualization’: that we wish to become the best that we can possibly be (Maslow 1968). Importantly, for the facilitation of SGT sessions, Maslow suggested that in order to achieve our potential various lower level needs must be satisfied, particularly important in SGT and which will to be discussed in Chapter 3.

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Carl Rogers’ approach was to acknowledge and empathize with the patient’s own view of themselves but he went on to transform this psychotherapeutic approach into a person-centred educational framework (Rogers 1983). Like Maslow, Rogers acknowledged that individuals have a self-actualizing tendency but, in addition, he argued they have a unique self-concept, need positive self-regard and should be trusted to self-actualize. Importantly for SGT he stressed the importance of the teacher–learner relationship arguing that teachers should become ‘facilitators’ of learning rather than didactic transmitters of information. These ideas will be further elaborated when discussing the role of the facilitator in Chapter 4. PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES OF HUMANISTIC THEORY IN SGT Respect learners, acknowledge who they are and consider their prior experiences Adult learners bring their own learning resources with them in the form of their educational background and life experiences. Teachers and facilitators should acknowledge, respect and utilize this resource. Within reason learners should be allowed to explore their own interests as much as possible encouraging their curiosity. Facilitators should demonstrate empathy, trust and respect towards their learners and demonstrate genuine consideration for their learning. Consider the physical, psychological and emotional needs of learners As Maslow emphasized, learners cannot learn effectively if their physiological and psychological needs are not met. Consider that physiological needs such as thirst, hunger and warmth are satisfied and seek to ensure comfortable teaching environments. Adopt SGT approaches so that anxiety levels are reduced and that learners feel safe and secure. If feasible, try to ensure that interpersonal needs such as ‘belonging’ and being part of the group, for all participants, are met. Encourage self-esteem and selfactualization by giving positive feedback and praise. These issues will be considered in more detail in Chapter 3.

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TEACHING AND LEARNING IS A RELATIONSHIP Learning is facilitated by a relationship between the learner and the teacher/ facilitator. Teachers should aim to use learners’ names and be interested in their personal and educational development. Although learners may also have ‘personal tutors’ and/or access to learner support services, SGT tutors also have an entwined pastoral role, helping learners with their learning and more personal problems. Learners and teachers should collaborate democratically in the educational process.

REFLECTION POINTS • As an effective facilitator are you aware of the need to form a professional relationship with all members of a group? • Are you sensitive to your own views and prejudices and, if necessary, can you control them in the context of a small group discussion? • Do you have the skills to deal with challenging or passive individuals so that group coherence and direction is maintained?

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY THEORY APPLIED TO GROUPS Social psychologists suggest that group performance will potentially be optimized if members collaborate and use their collective resources effectively. However, due to poor facilitation of group activities or reduced individual motivation, optimal performance is not always achieved. These ‘process losses’ can be caused by someone influencing another’s performance, a factor termed ‘social inhibition’. This can be the result of ‘evaluation apprehension’, when a participant is concerned that their contribution will be criticized by other group members. Social inhibition can also be caused by ‘attention conflict’ when an individual’s attention is distracted by the behaviour of other group members. However, in many instances individuals will be positively influenced by the presence of others. These positive and negative influences are differentially expressed in groups depending on whether they are engaged with a simple or complex task. Other factors are ‘social loafing’, when an individual reduces their effort or ‘free-riding’, when an individual leaves the work to other group members.

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These phenomena are common in small groups dealing with them is one of the most important skills a facilitator requires and are considered further in Chapter 4.  SUGGESTED FURTHER READING Dennick, R. G. (2008). Theories of learning: Constructive experience. In D. Matheson (ed.) An introduction to the study of education, 3rd ed. London: Routledge.

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Chapter 3

The physical, psychological and social conditions for successful SGT The value of education is undeniable and, consequently, as tutors we have a responsibility to question whether what we are doing is accessible to all. Our global universities, facilitated by an increase of online platforms, offer the opportunity for a greater mix of people than ever before; that, along with a growing awareness of the influence of socio-economic factors and psychology, means that topics such as diversity and inclusion will be important for all. In this chapter we highlight some of the important issues to be considered when thinking through the psychological and physical environment and suggest ways to adapt teaching. This chapter first describes Maslow’s theoretical framework in the context of SGT (Maslow 1968), before moving on to give specific attention to the following issues: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Stereotype threat Chilly climates Implicit bias Imposter syndrome Mindset theory The physical environment.

GETTING THE CONDITIONS RIGHT: MASLOW’S HIERARCHY The goals of SGT are optimized if students are physically, psychologically and socially comfortable and are spatially and temporally organized in appropriate ways. A useful framework for thinking about these conditions is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which essentially applies to all forms of education and

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■■ TABLE 3.1  Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Hierarchy of needs

Implications for teachers / facilitators and SGT

Self-actualisation needs;

Encourage personal growth with enthusiasm, support, encouragement, positivity and optimism.

Self-esteem needs: pride, achievement, mastery

Encourage independence, praise effort and performance, welcome new ideas, treat students with dignity and respect. Be optimistic and supportive.

Social needs: acceptance, love, belonging

Show caring attitude to all, encourage group interaction and peer learning. Support group bonding through warm up activities and collaborative tasks.

Safety and shelter needs: safe from harm, security, stability, order and structure

Treat learners with respect and honesty. Provide a psychological comfort zone, seek to reduce anxiety and respect personal privacy. Treat learners fairly, provide clear structure and ‘rules’ and use accurate information.

Physical and physiological needs: food, shelter, temperature, comfort

Ensure learning environments are safe and comfortable spaces. Check size of the room, temperature and ventilation. Provide appropriate breaks for food, drinks, bathroom, etc.

human relationships but is particularly helpful when trying to understand the conditions necessary for effective SGT. See Table 3.1 above. The implication of Maslow’s hierarchy is that needs at any particular level cannot be dealt with adequately unless needs at the level below have been fulfilled. The reader will see how the following discussion fits into the different level of needs (e.g. self-esteem needs and imposter syndrome, the physical environment and the physical needs). STEREOTYPE THREAT (ST) A woman who takes a high stakes math test after seeing an advert showing a woman doing a gender typical action (e.g. washing up) is likely to perform worse than a woman who has not seen the advert. A white man involved in a sporting challenge is typically less able to reach his full potential if he is told that the challenge tests natural athletic ability. This is because there is a threat that he may be judged by the negative stereotype of the group with which he is identified; in this case, the stereotype

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that whites are not naturally athletic. Similarly, the woman fears she may be judged by the stereotype that women are poor at maths. The mere threat that one’s actions might confirm a negative stereotype is enough to impede performance. Research pioneered by Steele (2010) has showed that if there is a negative stereotype, whatever that stereotype may be, then it could potentially pose a threat and negatively affect how the learner performs, however well prepared they might be, or however quickly they may have developed relationships in the group etc. All, including the tutors themselves, may well encounter situations in which a negative stereotype might be present, whether that is a stereotype involving race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, age, disability or illness, or, a mix of these (intersectionality). Stereotypes are a genuine threat even if they are not recognized because people are often very bad at understanding how they think and feel. The outcome of this can mean that even if, for example, no learners report ST in the group it does not mean that there have been no effects from ST. That noted, ST doesn’t always occur and tends only to affects learners who care about what is going on and who realize the task at hand as challenging. Stereotypes are part of the very fabric of society having evolutionary grounding and are impossible to completely eradicate. However, it is in the power of the tutor to reduce specific threats, often very simply. SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS ■

The tutor can think through the potential stereotypes at play in the classroom between learners and between the tutor and learners. These might be obvious, such as gender or race, or less noticeably relating to age or class. Being aware of the possible stereotypes is the first step to responding to reducing stereotype threat. ■ The learner can be encouraged to think about how the potential stereotypes might relate to the content/subject discussed. For instance, between gender and STEM subjects. ■ Often, it is enough to tell learners that what is being asked – be that an answer to a group question, a performance in a test, a set of reading, a presentation, etc. – is not something affected by the stereotype. For instance, telling women that a maths task is one that measures ability irrespective of gender is typically sufficient to counter the effects of stereotype threat.

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ST impedes performance if people are reminded of the stereotype during the activity. This then emphasizes the need to monitor explicit or implicit references to the stereotype in the classroom. For example, the tutor needs to monitor any throwaway remarks, or jokes that trade on certain features of stereotypes made either by themselves or the learners. Notice the point is not that there should be no racism, sexism, etc. We take this as obvious! Rather, a comment that is relatively benign and not explicitly racist, or sexist, or ageist can still have negative effects. ■ Related to the last point non-verbal ‘cues’ can cause ST. If, for example, all the pictures of physicists on the wall in a physics department are of elderly white men, then this can cue a certain ST. It is important to reflect on images used in teaching materials – how do you pick the pictures for your handouts/slides? ■ The tutor should not simply aim to avoid negative stereotypes but rather use positive stereotypes. Do the reading lists reflect the diversity of the group? Or do they simply reaffirm a particular stereotype and hence increase the likelihood of ST? Are the first names listed on the reading list? If not, then the diversity of reading lists will be masked. ■ Remember that ST is particularly prevalent in high-stake, highpressure situations. Thus, it is important, where possible, to stay away from these particularly high stake situations. For example, in a small group rather than asking for one presentation worth 40 per cent, suggest having two smaller presentations worth 20. Obviously, there are limitations, and sometimes ‘high stakes’ are unavoidable. The simple point though is that the tutor should ask if there are good reasons why a high-stake, high-pressure situation has been created. CHILLY CLIMATES Just as a classroom has a certain climate – hot, cold, humid – a small group also has a social climate. And just as a freezing cold classroom might mean the learners want to leave, draw themselves into themselves, and keep quiet, so also can a chilly social climate have the same effect. The idea that there can be a ‘chilly’ social climate was identified and coined by Bernice Sandler. She was struck by the fact that women would often report feeling unwelcome and uncomfortable and would stop going to class, and, in general, feel unhappy. In most cases, though, there wasn’t

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one specific thing that caused these feelings; for example, there was no overt sexual harassment or bullying. Sandler wanted to find the underlying cause as to why this was such a common feeling amongst women. What Sandler’s work (and now many others) has shown is that in the classroom there are a series of constant unintended actions – what she calls micro-aggressions – which cumulatively lead to this overall feeling of being unwelcome, undervalued and a burden to the group. For learners and the tutor there might be an ongoing sustained experience of micro-aggressions that causes the social ‘temperature’ to drop leading to an environment that limits teaching and learning. Although Sandler’s work has mainly concerned women, other groups can also experience ‘chilly climates’. In this section we’ll work through a few examples of the many microaggressions that can create a chilly climate. In doing so, we’ll discuss what practical things might be done to warm up the climate. We hope that this will give the reader a sense of the issue and will provide a frame for further investigation. Further discussions and lists can be found in the resources section below. Discourse in the classroom A new teacher was recently observed. He was excellent: he had great ideas; was interactive; created some ground rules for his group; let people talk; didn’t try to deal with lots of complex material; didn’t lecture the learners (basically did the things we discuss in Chapter 4 and 6). The gender make-up of the class was noted. In this case there were 15 women and five men. A tally of how often each gender spoke and who interrupted whom was also kept. In this particular instance, the men spoke 25 times and the women five times. This was even though there were five times more women than men. Women were interrupted on ten counts whereas men were interrupted zero times. Men were asked for answers by the tutor three times more often than women. Clearly, interruption, being asked for opinions and speaking out are related, and this pattern of behaviour sends out a strong signal to women. Especially if this is a repeated pattern across modules. If every time someone speaks, they are interrupted or talked over they will experience frustration, and if the tutor does not correct this, then they will feel cut out of discussions, disenfranchised and powerless. If someone has a view they want to share but are always passed over, then they will equally feel ignored and silenced. This will undermine

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confidence and self-esteem. Sandler talks about the ‘rules’ of interruption, which is worth remembering in class. Typically, someone with more power can interrupt someone with less power; so if you have a meeting with the president then you should not interrupt them, even though they can interrupt you. But in class one learner is as powerful as another. For these sorts of cases Sandler suggests a hard but effective technique. ■

If someone is talking and is interrupted by someone who isn’t more ‘powerful’ (e.g. another learner) then they should simply keep talking and say ‘sorry, but I haven’t finished yet’. This ‘rule’ could effectively be introduced and explained as part of the ground rules for SGT.

A key point is that, typically, a tutor will be blind to these sorts of discourse patterns (and, in fact, to chilly climates in general). In fact, many of those reading this article will simply not recognize this phenomenon in their classroom. Many will think their class (perhaps unlike their colleagues) is a model of fairness and a place where everyone has an equal voice; but unfortunately this simply isn’t true. Interestingly, before any data were revealed to the new teacher, he was asked whether he thought men or women talked more; whether men or women interrupted more; whether he himself called more on women than men for comment. On reflection, he replied that he believed that on all counts it was more or less equal. There are many other key patterns of discourse which are important to note. The first is mansplaining. This happens when a man explains something to women in a patronizing and condescending manner. The second is where a woman offers a suggestion and gets no feedback or praise but when the same point is made by a man, he will get both. The tutors can play an important role in improving this situation as they are in a position of being able to offer both praise and feedback in the SGT. There are some other practical things that can be done: Randomly call on the learners. However, it is important to create a friendly atmosphere and make this truly random. Otherwise, the learners could feel put ‘on the spot’ and this will add discomfort. The app ‘Randomly’ is a good way of ensuring random allocation. Calling attention to a phenomena when it occurs – e.g. ‘it seems like you are mansplaining’. It has been shown that by simply raising the awareness of such behaviours it can very often be sufficient for classes to police their own behaviour.

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Body language and dismissive behaviour Another set of common micro-aggressions involve body language and dismissive behaviour. How much space a person takes up in the classroom can indicate how important they feel, how much power they feel they have and, consequently, what right they feel they have to be heard. Typically, men will sprawl and splay their legs occupying a lot of space, while women will pull their limbs in and make themselves small. ■

An obvious response to this would be to pay attention to how the classroom is set up so that no learner is squashed into a corner or hidden away; make sure there are no belongings on the desks in order to have clear lines of sight. Tutors need to make sure the physical environment doesn’t enshrine a particular view of who is important and who should be heard, and who shouldn’t.

Most dismissive behaviour is unconscious and unintended; such behaviour could involve rolling the eyes when a woman speaks, yawning, turning away from a speaker, smirking, laughing, or whispering to a neighbour. It has been shown, for example, that when women speak people are more likely to frown, and that women are given less feedback and less eye contact than men. In fact, one of the things that drew Sandler’s attention to ‘chilly climates’ in the first place was that she noticed that men typically would check their watches when women were speaking, whereas when men were speaking there was no such behaviour from either men or women. Learner and tutor speech is also a key contributor to micro-aggressions; for example, speaking in an arrogant, dismissive and aggressive manner; or inappropriate joke telling; or introducing inappropriate examples and topics; tutors and learners should not address others in inappropriate ways, e.g. ‘darling’, ‘love’, ‘petal’. Being mindful of this is vital to the good questioning and hence SGT facilitation (see Chapter 4). ■

A good first step for the tutors is to reflect on their own behaviour and be certain that they are not modelling bad behaviour. ■ The best way of changing the climate is to start drawing attention to the behaviour in class. ■ The ground rules can allow the tutor to draw attention to, and minimalize the effects of, micro-aggressions (e.g. the rule ‘people should be referred to by their first name and not general labels such as “love” and “darling”’).

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The tutor can use praise and feedback as a deliberate strategy to inspire confidence and illicit responses in women or minority groups. Often, women can choose to ‘amplify’ praise of another woman’s contribution as a deliberate strategy. ■ Also how the tutor asks questions can radically change the feeling of chilly climates. Women will more often be asked closed questions (e.g. ‘on which page did Plato say that?’). Whereas men will more often be asked open questions (e.g. why did Plato say that?). And, as Sandler says, it is, of course, easier to shine when asked ‘open’ rather than closed questions. For more on questioning and question types see Chapter 4. There are many documented and researched ways of warming up chilly climates and here we have only scratched the surface. For more see below. Implicit bias We can define implicit bias as: unconscious associations that can affect the way that we – tutors and learners – evaluate and interact with people. These associations are developed through the stereotypes that we have. Implicit bias has real-world impact on what tutors and learners do in the SGT. It is important to realize that we all have implicit biases. So, for example, the champion for black equality who themselves are black might have an implicit bias that treats black people in a negative way. After all, these biases are implicit and unconscious. So simply explicitly disavowing a particular stereotype isn’t enough to stop the stereotype causing biases in behaviour. This means tutors will have implicit biases that will affect how they interact with their learners and also the learners will have implicit biases that will impact how they interact with other learners and the tutor. This, though, doesn’t mean that the tutor and learners are bad people or to blame for the bias in their behaviour. There are many research papers discussing the myriad of effects of implicit bias. Importantly, this, like micro-aggressions and stereotype threats, isn’t simply some dreamt up woolly liberal idea. They have well researched academic peer-reviewed work backing up their claims. However, we can consider a few things that might be relevant in small group classes. It is supposed that how tutors interact with the learners is determined by what they expect of them; and what tutors expect of learners

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will depend on how they identify them, and this is something that is affected by implicit bias. So consider some types of expectations that a SG tutor might have. ■

There could be an expectation related to interaction – are the learners going to be confident, arrogant, quiet, etc.? ■ Expectations in terms of ability – are learners going to struggle with more complex/abstract ideas? ■ Expectations in terms of what they think learners expect – does the tutor expect that the learner is simply going to be happy with a lower set of marks? These expectations will track the identities that the tutor identifies in class, and those identities are formed by the stereotypes that tutors have. What, practically, can we do to respond to it? There are some ‘easy wins’. ■

In terms of assessment it has been shown that two identical pieces of work can be marked differently due to how ‘foreign’ the learner’s name sounds. Hence, assessing work anonymously is the best and most effective way of ruling out the effect of implicit bias in assessment. ■ Another way of proceeding relates to becoming aware of the possibility of the biases. ‘Implicit’ doesn’t mean that it can never been named, and its effects never recognized. It can, and, with practice, tutors can become better at recognizing it in themselves. ■ Honest, structured peer observation of teaching practices can also be very helpful. Just as in the case of interruption and microaggressions discussed in the last section, an external observer might see something that the tutor cannot. So tutors need to make sure peer observation happens, and does so in a productive and constructive way. ■ Another way of responding to implicit bias is by collecting learner feedback. For example, if the tutor has a certain implicit bias against (e.g. non-native English speakers) then giving non-native English speakers a voice through feedback (importantly, not simply as the very last thing done on a module) is a good way of making this visible.

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However, there is an obvious related problem here. The learners themselves will have implicit biases. These, in turn, will affect how they fill out teaching feedback, which actually potentially undermines the validity of any such feedback. So how the feedback from learners is gathered is important. For example, it might be important to have a few ‘light touch’ focus groups run by learners rather than using the relatively ‘blunt’ instrument of questionnaires.

Like stereotype threat and chilly climates, there are many other resources that can help cultivate an inclusive environment that mitigates the effects of implicit bias. IMPOSTER SYNDROME Imposter syndrome (IS) has only recently been studied in detail and, simply put, it is the feeling of being an imposter in a particular situation, or in a particular role, or within a particular community group. People with IS will live with the feeling that they are not really good enough and that, at any moment, people will realize this and they will be found out. IS is most common in marginalized groups. The tutors themselves might feel like this each time they walk into the classroom; feeling that they have no right to be teaching and that one of their learners or colleagues will ‘unmask’ them for the fraud they are. IS is accompanied by a continued sense of anxiety and stress, which can be so bad that it inhibits activity in the SGT. If a learner, say the only black woman in the group, is anxious about being ‘found out’ as an imposter, then this will typically negatively affect performance, which, in turn, might mean she is less likely to participate in the group; sadly, this will only reaffirm to her that she shouldn’t be there in the first place. Related to anxiety, is the symptom of perfectionism, which is the idea that there is a perfect way of doing something (e.g. an assignment), and that anything that falls short of this is a failure. Typically, this failure will be experienced as a failure of the person, rather than the activity. IS leading to perfectionism leads to unwillingness to share views, to try out arguments, or to show any form of vulnerability because the possibility of getting things wrong means weakness and falling short of perfection. ■

Education can counter imposter syndrome so the tutor, having understood IS, can help the learners to do the same, even if it as simply giving them information and directing them to web resources.

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Another way of countering IS is through identifying objective measures of success. As a tutor, I often encounter learners who talk as if their presence in class is a fluke and just luck. I start by reminding them they have taken exams and passed; they are at an recognized excellent university and that they have written essays that have been marked. Essentially, then, I start from objective measures with which they cannot argue. ■ Another way of countering IS starts by recognizing that most people have similar thought patterns about being an imposter and yet this is something that people with IS are not aware of. So, simply talking about IS as a shared experience is a good way to counter its effects. Mindset theory From a plethora of psychological research Carol Dweck developed what she calls ‘mindset theory’. This theory has become influential having a direct impact on such diverse things as baseball, the Middle East peace process and corporate business. It originated in education, and continues to be of great influence within schools, colleges and universities. It has been a way of thinking about social mobility, inclusion, feedback, attainment and resilience. The idea at its heart is relatively straightforward, which betrays the vast amount of highly rigorous and sophisticated scientific, peer-reviewed, research from which it has developed. The central idea is that people have been blinded to the fact that everyone’s mental abilities are malleable, which, in turn, leads to people failing to live up to their full potential because they limit themselves. In the context of education, the idea is that how learners see their own identities and abilities can make the difference between them failing or succeeding to reach their full potential. Dweck’s way of capturing this insight is to suggest that people think in a way that betrays a growth mindset or a fixed mindset, though people can exhibit different mindsets in different contexts. So, people don’t have an unqualified fixed or growth mindset. A learner has a fixed mindset when they think of their mental abilities in a fixed way. A fixed mindset can arise when learners think that a particular subject is one that requires some element of ‘natural ability’ or ‘genius’ or a ‘natural spark’. This way of thinking leads to a fatalistic approach: ‘I was always going to get a 2.2. in my essay, that is just who I am’, ‘It is no surprise that I couldn’t answer that question; this is not something that comes naturally’.

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This way of thinking is restricting, demoralizing, saps motivation and limits learning. Here is an example of fixed mindset affecting a class. I have found the hardest learners to teach are the ones who have been told they are ‘gifted and talented’. This group is less likely to say anything at all in class; they are the quickest to put their head down and scribble notes when I ask for any ‘thoughts and suggestions’. They would prefer to remain silent – or even in some cases choose to not attend at all – rather than be seen as someone who doesn’t have full understanding of the subject under discussion. This contrasts with a growth mindset, which is the idea that anyone can, with effort, become better. For example, when a learner believes that they aren’t good at statistics yet, or when they believe they need to put in more effort to do better in history. This is not the claim that everyone will become great at everything. Of course, as we have seen, part of SGT is to give the learners the space to make mistakes and try out ideas, but the simple point is that this is only ever going to be half the story. For, as the ‘gifted and talented’ learners demonstrated, the learners themselves must be willing to ‘step into’ that safe space, and those who have a fixed mindset are not. This, in turn, leads to lack of challenge, lack of development and the learners failing to reach their full potential.

REFLECTION POINTS • Although higher education learners aren’t labelled ‘gifted and talented’ or ‘stupid’, what other ways might we label learners in such a way to encourage a ‘fixed mindset’? • What ways might they label themselves? • Is there any way of talking about your discipline, or the stories that support your discipline, which encourages the view that success is about something ‘natural’ or ‘effortless’? For example, when discussing the pioneers of your subject, how much do people talk about the hours they worked and the times they failed?

If it is so important to encourage a growth mindset and discourage a fixed mindset then what practical things might we do as tutors? There are, very many helpful resources and some are listed at the end of this chapter. However, here are a few common suggestions:

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PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS FOR SGT ■

As tutors examine your own thinking about your learners. Do you sort your learners into those who can do it, and those who just can’t? If a learner repeatedly fails to give the right answer in your class do you deep down think there is no hope? Or do you think they simply need different opportunities to develop? Obviously, the former betrays that you think in terms of ‘fixed mindset’ and this, in turn, will likely be manifest in how you talk and behave in SGT. ■ The language of feedback in SGT is very important. For instance, Dweck talks about the power of the word ‘yet’. She has shown that simply adding ‘yet’ onto feedback can encourage a growth mindset. For example, rather than, ‘you aren’t working at a first-class level’, say ‘you aren’t working at a first-class level, yet’. The general point is the importance of building the potential to improve and change into the language used in class. ■ Spend five minutes in your first SGT explaining mindset theory. Being aware of the basics can completely change how the learner thinks and talks in class. Further, if they are aware of Dweck’s ideas, they will also help you monitor your own language and interactions in class. ■ Model a growth mindset for the learner in the teaching. In practice, this would amount to honesty about the effort and struggles, and failures, you experienced in getting to your current position. This links with the enabling condition of authenticity discussed in Chapter 4. I remember a liberating moment when, as a learner, the person I saw as the ‘smartest’ professor told the class that he had got a 2.1. degree and that he always redrafted his work countless times. ■ If it is important to talk positively about failure, then it is important to create opportunities to fail and for the learners to be challenged. So, this suggests the importance of setting tasks that are too complex for the learners to give easy answers. The use of group work is good in this context as the learners will naturally talk through ‘failure’ and their experiences with their peers. However, this area needs to be very carefully managed. For, as noted, if the learner has a fixed mindset, then you could be setting them up to fail and therefore without the right support and guidance, it will be demotivating and lead to disengagement. ■ Related to the last point, set tasks where there are multiple approaches that can be equally effective; seeing that there are different ways to approach problems can develop a growth mindset.

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Stressing the importance of ‘effort’, of ‘failure’ and staying away from the idea that some people just are ‘talented’ will help your learners develop a growth mindset. Believing that mental ability is malleable will help you run the SGT so as to encourage this way of thinking in your learner. This will mean that your learners are better placed to succeed. THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT The research and development of learning spaces is increasing; so much so that there is a peer reviewed Journal of Learning Space. This is in no small part due to the increase of the use of technology in the teaching classroom; for example, the increase of Active Learning Classrooms in Minnesota, and the TILE work in the University of Iowa and the LaTTE at the University of Wolverhampton. There are some obvious things relating to the physical environment of the SGT that we pick up on below. There are impediments to the teaching, such as bad lighting, bad heating and bad acoustics; it needs to be a safe space in good repair; there has to be access for all. It doesn’t take much to realize that there are many factors that adversely affect learner engagement. Just consider how much our moods can be affected by something as simple as posters peeling off the wall. What we want to do first is draw your attention to how the physical environment can lead to different approaches to SGT. It can lead to different levels of attainment, and different forms of engagement with abstract concepts. We have to realize that the structure and layout of the space can facilitate or impede learning. We need to realize that there is no such thing as a neutral classroom and that every learning space communicates what is of value and what is important to the learner. Rather than neutral learning space, it is best to think of such learning spaces as typical. If you are aiming to facilitate group discussion but are using a fixed seated, tiered lecture theatre, then this is not going to be very helpful – see below. Or if you want to demonstrate a technique such as drawing blood from a cat, then a flat lecture theatre with no visualizer is going to be a problem. Notice as highlighted in this last point, technology can be used to breakdown some of the physical barriers; for example, learner collaboration through mind maps can be done virtually; meaning that sometimes the lack of tables and physical space need not be a problem. We know of one lecturer who trialled SGT in the virtual world Second Life, which clearly would circumvent some of the physical space/timetable issues.

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Generally speaking, research shows that the physical restrictions felt by the learner are echoed in how learners feel about the potential to learn. Being crammed into a room means they will feel restricted and ‘claustrophobic’ in their learning. Learners will feel less inclined to share their ideas or to try out new approaches to problems. The same is also true where learners are forced to face the front. In this situation the learners will default to the ‘authority’ at the front and are less likely to be active critical listeners and will be less likely to ask questions – something that will make facilitation incredibly hard. Having old, worn out chairs, tables and lab equipment sends the message to the learners that their learning isn’t important enough to warrant proper investment and upkeep. With all that said, here are some more specific suggestions related to the physical conditions. PHYSICAL CONDITIONS If one of the goals of SGT is to get people to talk, clearly the number of potential conversationalists involved will influence the degree to which this can be achieved for any particular individual. Two people can clearly have a fairly equitable discussion but what they talk about will be limited to their own knowledge and experience. Increasing the numbers involved will inject greater variety into the debate and may expose individuals to a variety of alternative viewpoints that they had not previously considered. But if group numbers are increased above a certain level individual contributions will be minimized, and some people may find themselves inhibited from talking for reasons that will be discussed later. Therefore there must be a small group size that both optimizes the variety of knowledge, experience and viewpoints available and the opportunity for individual oral contributions. Evidence suggests this number is roughly from six to eight people, although with appropriate facilitation, and with an experienced group, it can be extended upwards (Jaques, 2000). SGT can be part of a larger teaching environment so that large groups can be broken up into small groups and back again during, for example, a workshop. Group arrangements The physical arrangement of participants will influence how they interact and hence achieve the aims of the SGT session. Participants may be allowed to enter the room and sit where they like. However, unless they are experienced in SGT it is unlikely they will arrange themselves in the best configuration.

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Of course, once seated, they can be re-arranged by appropriate and sensitive facilitation but it best to avoid this by arranging the seating in the room beforehand. The way the seats are arranged in teaching sessions sends a powerful message to learners. The traditional lecture theatre or seminar room has the teacher at the front of rows of parallel seats and all teachers are familiar with the student dynamics leading from this arrangement. Students tend to fill up the rows from the back (to avoid teacher interaction or surveillance?) with the front seats deliberately occupied by the ‘keenest’ students, or reluctantly by late-comers. This frontal and linear arrangement sends the message that teaching and learning is a ‘transmission’ process. In SGT the number of rows is potentially much smaller, but the same dynamic can apply. Since, according to the goals of small group teaching, non-participation is not an option, allowing students to sit at the back to avoid interacting with the group or the teacher becomes something the facilitator must avoid. Hence the best arrangement that prevents this situation happening right from the start is a circular or semi-circular arrangement of seats (Jaques 2000; Quinn 2000; Elwyn et al. 2001). This also has the added advantage of ensuring that all participants can see and maintain eye contact with each other each other and the facilitator. (If SGT is taking place in a larger room with rows then alternative arrangements can be made (e.g. two rows of four facing each other) that achieve roughly the same aim.) In addition, it is best if the facilitator is present when students arrive so that they can be shepherded into their seats and inhibited from rearranging the furniture. In larger groups, arranging chairs so that students sit in mini-groupings can help syndicate work. FACILITATOR POSITION In a circular or semi-circular arrangement of students where should the facilitator sit? We will say more about the skills and attitudes of the facilitator in the next chapter but just like the configuration of the group the position of the facilitator with respect to the group sends important educational messages once again. If the facilitator stands up at the front or adopts a mainly frontal position, the proceedings may be dominated by the facilitator’s presence and the SGT session may descend into transmission mode. On the other hand, if the facilitator sits with the group, as part of the circle, occasionally getting up to use a flip-chart or black-board, or even getting one of the students to do any writing, then they are more likely to generate

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the type of group dynamics that will encourage discussion and interpersonal interactions between group members. So whenever possible join the circle. ROOM SIZE Clearly the room should be large enough for a small group to fit in with space for books, writing surfaces, flip charts and the use of any other equipment that is necessary. If a choice is available, small rooms are more suitable for small groups but sometimes it is necessary for multiple SGT sessions to take place in a larger room or even a tiered lecture theatre. The advantage of a circular grouping becomes apparent in such situations since group members form an inward-facing coherent unit that can concentrate on their task without too much outside interference. In this way sometimes hundreds of students can be split into tens of small groups that can quite readily achieve most of the aims of SGT with appropriate facilitation and organization. REFLECTION POINTS • • • •

Ideally, what do you want your learners to do in your class? What do you think your learners want to do in your class? What environmental factors might help/impede this? What does the structure of your current teaching space tell the learner about what is important, and what is of less importance in your pedagogy?

CONCLUDING REMARKS After reading this chapter the SGT tutors might feel like their job is impossible. Not only do they have to teach material, they also must be aware of a whole host of unconscious psychological phenomena and factors about the physical environment. This seems as if it would require an unachievable superhuman effort! We agree that it is impossible to be aware of everything all the time. Just the sheer amount of data, and the fact that some things are simply too deep-rooted and complex, see to that. However, this doesn’t mean this material is therefore unimportant and that it isn’t worth trying to hone our tutoring skills to incorporate new ideas. The three overriding messages of this chapter are that (1) these phenomena exist, (2) they will directly affect what happens in the SGT, and (3) that there are relatively simple things that can be done to start to counter their effects.

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In relation to (3), the simplest and most effective response is through education. Once learners and tutors know about chilly climates, stereotype threat, implicit bias, class structure/physical environment and imposter syndrome, then they can start to do something about them. REFLECTION POINTS • How will learners and SGT tutors learn about these issues? • Are people you work with talking about these issues? • Is there a space for learners and tutors to discuss these things outside the SGT? • Are there professional networks that exist that are well advertised so that minorities have easy access for advice and support? • Do you engineer the physical environment (e.g. where students sit) in order to maximize the chances of student interaction? If not, why not?

 SUGGESTED FURTHER READING Nigatu, Heben, 21 racial microaggressions you hear on a daily basis, Buzzfeed.com, www.buzzfeed.com/hnigatu/racial-microagressions-you-hear-on-a-dailybasis?utm_term=.huXkkyGOEd#.etoyyG5bmA Yeager, David Scott, and Dweck, Carol S. (2012). Mindsets that promote resilience: When students believe that personal characteristics can be developed. Educational Psychologist 47(4): 302–314.

Stereotype threat http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/resources/inclusive-teaching-learning/reducingstereotype-threat/ (accessed July 2018) https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/library/blog/499 (accessed July 2018)

Chilly climates Sandler, Bernice, The chilly climate, https://sun.iwu.edu/~mgardner/Articles/ chillyclimate.pdf Sandler, Bernice, Eight ways to warm up the chilly climate: Recommendations for faculty members, www.whoi.edu/images/gepac/18_ways_to_warm_up.pdf Sandler, Bernice, The chilly climate: Subtle ways in which women are often treated differently at work and in classrooms, www.napequity.org/napecontent/uploads/R1l-The-Chilly-Climate.pdf

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Implicit bias www.ecu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/unconscious-bias-and-highereducation.pdf www.sheffield.ac.uk/philosophy/research/implicit-bias-jennifer-saul-tacklinggender-bias-academia (access July 2018) Equality Challenge Unit, Literature review of Implicit Bias in HE. www.ecu.ac.uk/ wp-content/uploads/2014/07/unconscious-bias-and-higher-education.pdf

Imposter syndrome www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/19/fraud-impostor-syndromeconfidence-self-esteem (accessed July 2018) https://qz.com/606727/is-imposter-syndrome-a-sign-of-greatness/ (accessed July 2018) Parkman, Anna. (2016). The imposter phenomenon in higher education: Incidence and impact. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice 16(1), 51. (www.m.www.na-businesspress.com/JHETP/ParkmanA_Web16_1_.pdf) www.cs.stir.ac.uk/sciencegrrl/impostor/ (Accessed July 2018)

Mindset theory www.tes.com/news/listen-carol-dweck-growth-mindset-theory-her-critics-andhow-she-just-getting-started (Accessed July 2018) www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2018/jan/04/research-every-teachershould-know-growth-mindset (Accessed July 2018) http://inclusiveclassrooms.org/inquiries/mindset-theory (Accessed July 2018)

Physical learning space https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1152622.pdf https://dschool.stanford.edu/resources/a-virtual-crash-course-in-design-thinking www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/20-things-educators-need-toknow-about-learning-spaces/ (July 2018) www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF9oWbR4HPo For an excellent list on creating inclusive classrooms see The University of Michigan’s Creating Inclusive College Classrooms pages available at www.crlt. umich.edu/gsis/p3_1

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Chapter 4

The skills of facilitation

Lecturers who teach well think carefully about their students’ understanding of the subject matter and their learners’ reactions to how it is taught. They are able to apply this knowledge through a variety of strategies. They put student learning first and their teaching and assessment methods second. The methods that good teachers use depend on the problems of learning that they have to solve. (Ramsden 2003, 233, emphasis added)

In this chapter we will be answering a series of questions. First, ‘what is facilitation?’ Second, ‘why is facilitation hard?’, and third ‘how best to facilitate SGT’. WHAT IS FACILITATION? REFLECTION POINTS • Consider your experiences of SGT as a learner. What was your favourite? Why? • What was your least favourite? Why? • Consider your next SGT. What do you expect to happen? • Consider your next SGT. What would you like happen? • How might your answers to the first affect the second? • Given your experience, and talking to others, are your expectations reasonable?

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In this chapter we talk about the tutor as ‘facilitator’ and this enshrines the single most important thing in bringing about learner participation. It raises the question: what is facilitation? It is particularly hard to give a positive answer to this and therefore it would seem easier to approach this question by starting with what facilitation is not. If tutors are facilitators then they are neither trainers, nor presenters nor lecturers. To facilitate is to abandon what Freire ([1973] 2018) helpfully describes as a ‘banking’ model of education. On this model it is the tutor who has the knowledge, and it is their job to ‘deposit’ this knowledge into the ‘meek’ learner. The learner is an empty container or a blank slate and therefore the learner’s context is of little or no importance. If the learner is an empty vessel, then their culture, gender and their previous experience of education is irrelevant. This, of course, is a caricature but in one form or another it is the foundation of ‘traditional’ didactic approaches to teaching. In order to develop the skills to facilitate SGT, the tutor has to reject this approach. The facilitator’s job is to recognize the fact that learners have different levels of knowledge, different expectations, different backgrounds and that this is pertinent to how well they learn. The SGT is a place where the learners come to construct knowledge from their own contexts (see Chapter 2 for a discussion of constructivism). Consider another difference. Where the ‘banking’ approach requires the tutor to be seen and heard – after all, it is the tutor who will be depositing the knowledge, the tutor as facilitator strives to be as least visible as possible; their job is to help ‘draw out’ and encourage learner participation. Notice that in describing facilitation we haven’t talked about particular techniques. This is because the techniques (some of which we will discuss below and in other chapters in the book) arise from this learner-focused conception of teaching. As Ramsden says above, to facilitate is to ‘put learner learning first’ and the ‘teaching and assessment methods second’. It should be noted that none of these ideas are new. For example, American philosopher of education John Dewey (1916) argued that the educational process must start with and build upon the interests of the learner; that it must involve both thinking and activity, that the teacher should be a guide and co-worker rather than someone who prescribes rigid learning tasks and that the goal of education should be the growth of the individual. We have then given some sense of what facilitation is, and given some reasons why facilitation might be important, including being sensitive to the context of the learner. It is also clear from research that facilitation rather

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than ‘banking’ or ‘transmitting’ encourages deep approaches to learning – rather than surface approaches. Deep approaches make learning more enjoyable, give better outcomes and ultimately higher grades. We don’t need to go into any more detail here – more discussion of theories can be found in Chapter 2. WHY DO TUTORS FIND IT HARD TO FACILITATE? From our experience, we have found that, despite its importance, facilitation is not used enough. This is because it is a very difficult skill to learn; there are many psychological, pedagogical and cultural reasons why. We will just look at a few so that tutors become aware of the barriers they need to overcome. One reason is that it is very unlikely that tutors themselves learnt in this way. Consequently, if they personally have not experienced facilitation, they are less likely to change to this method, but rather just repeat historic practice. Another reason is that it is hard to see in action and therefore a tutor may well feel that nothing is actually happening, and that it probably is not worth having anyone in the room at all. The natural instinct for anyone in a teaching role is to be very outgoing and be seen to be working hard. Facilitating, however, is not like this, which makes the tutor invisible, therefore running SGT as a facilitator means that the tutor may begin to think she doesn’t deserve the job; notice this also ties in with the discussion about imposter syndrome in Chapter 3. The reasoning here is clearly faulty as it relies on the claim that to ‘facilitate’ is to not do anything. But it is! It will be evident in this and other chapters that done well, facilitating is incredibly demanding of the tutor both in terms of cognitive and emotional investment; for example, it involves certain high-level cognitive skills. While it might be true that as a facilitator the tutor won’t be heard as much or won’t be as visible in the classroom, it certainly doesn’t mean they aren’t doing anything. The final reason worth mentioning is that to be a facilitator requires an openness and vulnerability, and a security in letting go of control. This more learner-centred or learner-centred approach means no longer being at the centre of knowledge and having the personal power that comes with it. The tutor is no longer seen as the gatekeeper to knowledge and the generous depositor of knowledge to the learner. If this is where the tutor gets their security and comfort from, then clearly giving up this approach

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is going to be hard. Notice then that a symptom of the traditional ‘banking’ approach is the attribution of any failure in learning to the learner. If they have been given the correct information and they fail to learn that, then it is their problem. In contrast, if the tutor is a facilitator then a failure of a learner to learn isn’t just the learner’s fault but is a ‘joint responsibility’; this idea can be quite worrying for the tutor. SKILLS OF FACILITATION Because there are many different types of SGT the facilitator can adopt a variety of approaches. There is a spectrum of intervention and a multitude of accompanying skills. For successful SGT facilitation, the facilitators must be able to position themselves at an appropriate point on this spectrum compatible with the membership of the group and the overall aims of the session. In addition, they must be flexible enough to move along this spectrum depending on the evolving aims and dynamics of particular groups; it is precisely this ability to ‘monitor’ and be ‘flexible’ in approach that makes facilitation so active and demanding and hard. As we have discussed in the last chapter, the expectations and attitudes towards teaching and learning have a direct effect on how the SGT turns out, and, in particular, how inclusive the SGT is. If we have implicit bias towards a minority, or talk as if our learners have a ‘fixed mindset’, or have attitudes towards women that creates chilly climates then this will dramatically change the SGT. We have dealt with some of these points. However, our aim in this section is to think more generally. That is not to deny that the issues raised in the last chapter aren’t still going to be important – they clearly are. Rather, think of this section like this. If we have done all we can to be mindful of the psychological and physical environment, then what can we do as tutors to get the most out of our SGT? The personhood and personality of the tutor Although we talk below and in other chapters about individual skills of facilitation, doing these things is not enough. Just as playing the right notes in the right order doesn’t make you a musician, simply doing any of these things won’t be sufficient for good facilitation. There are enabling conditions that a facilitator should be mindful of from the start and they relate to the personhood and personality of the tutor.

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The first is the rather nebulous notion of the facilitator’s ‘presence’. Of course, in some sense for the tutor to be present is easy, they just turn up! But in another sense, it isn’t, and arises only through an active choice. We can take Rogers and Raider-Roth (2006, 265) definition of presence: Presence is defined as a state of alert awareness, receptivity, and connectedness to the mental, emotional, and physical workings of both the individual and the group in the context of their learning environments, and the ability to respond with a considered and compassionate best next step. When the tutor is present, then the skills of facilitation flow from what they do in the SGT. The second is humbleness. The facilitators who genuinely believe that they should not be revered in the class, and who are committed to change things where they are wrong, are in a much better place to put the learners at ease and develop key skills of facilitation. The third, is showing genuine pleasure for the subject. As Kenneth Eble says, cited in Ramsden (2003, 233), ‘If there is no place for pleasure in teaching, surely our learning has failed us altogether’. The joyless tutor can seamlessly run through all the facilitation skills but simply leave their learners cold, unengaged and unmotivated. The fourth point, and something that follows from the features above, is a genuine curiosity in the subject being taught; create curiosity in the learners and this will motivate their learning. Finally, is the need for authenticity from the tutor. Learners can easily differentiate the empty performer from the good teacher. The inauthentic tutor leads to a general distrust that will undermine the aims of the SGT. To summarize the enabling conditions needed for the skills of facilitation: ■ Presence ■ Humbleness ■

Pleasure in the subject Curiosity for the subject ■ Authenticity. ■

Given this, what then are the skills that will help facilitation in the classroom?

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REFLECTION POINTS • • • •

Do you find any of these suggestions surprising? Do you think there is anything missing from the list above? How might you develop these features in your own teaching? How might you encourage these features in other teachers?

DIFFERENTIATION IN SGT After teaching for 15 years, there is a common complaint that we hear again and again. ‘Learner’s don’t prepare for SGTs. They don’t do the reading, they don’t have anything to say. They just don’t get involved.’ On reflection doesn’t it seem strange that tutors repeat the same practice again and again, year on year, and expect different results from the learner? Rather, as tutors we ought to reflect on the skills we might use, and the techniques we might develop in order to change things. In this section we deal with one key skill – differentiation – which will help the tutor become a better facilitator. The literature on differentiation is vast. Tomlinson defines differentiation as an approach to teaching in which teachers proactively modify curricula, teaching methods, resources, learning activities, and learner products to address the diverse needs of individual learners and small groups of learners to maximize the learning opportunity for each learner in a classroom. (Tomlinson et al. 2003, 121, emphasis added) The idea is simple. Consider an example. Imagine a tutor who sets learners three chapters of reading each week, but when they meet, they have read nothing, and never engage in discussion. In terms of differentiation, there are some obvious things that can be done. One is to ask them to read one chapter as ‘essential’, one as ‘desirable’ and the last as ‘further/optional’; another is to guide reading and thinking by having structured and focused questions; another is for the tutor to draw out the key arguments from the chapters, summarize them and ask the learners to read the summaries, and then if they feel able, read the arguments as they actually appear in the chapters. This is not – we repeat not – the same as saying all the learner needs to do is the minimal amount. To think differentiation is ‘dumbing down’

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is fundamentally to misunderstand what differentiation is. Rather, it is recognizing that learners come from complex lives with complex educational backgrounds and that they will engage at different levels and at different speeds. Recognizing this is a key skill for a good facilitator. Differentiation is a way of providing all learners an ‘in’, while also providing a way of stretching the more advanced learners. In the rest of this section we discuss some other ways to differentiate. The first practical way to approach differentiation is nicely highlighted in the following account from a tutor in the humanities. I forgot that my learners were doing other modules apart from mine. That they probably wouldn’t become academics and didn’t always have the passion for the subject I did. They often had part-time jobs, were members of societies, were carers, and parents. Once I remembered this I stopped getting angry at them for not participating and I asked myself what I could do to engage everyone? I asked myself what they all invariably brought to the seminar? The answer was easy, their own experiences. For each seminar I then started by applying the key ideas/arguments/concepts of the seminar to their own lives. My principle was, anyone should be able to walk in off the street and start to engage in my seminar. So, for example, when thinking about theories of motivation, the first task for everyone was to ‘name one thing you were motivated to do this week.’ The results were amazing! Everyone had something to say, which meant everyone spoke, which meant more people engaged. What was odd was that starting from their own experiences also mean that the stronger learners felt much more able and willing to share their advanced ideas as the seminar progressed. I think it was because they weren’t – for a change – the sole voice in the room. In fact, they often helped me teach the learners who weren’t so far advanced. The idea nicely highlighted here is a good way to differentiate is to start an SGT with a question that you know without doubt everyone can answer; and what better way to do that than to ask the learners about themselves? A second key thing is to find out the level of your learners. You should assume nothing simply because they are at university or college and find themselves in your SGT. Just imagine how odd it would be for a doctor to prescribe a medicine without first doing a diagnosis! So why do we teach without finding out where our learners are coming from? A pre-assessment is then an invaluable way to start the series of tutorials.

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Socrative (www.socrative.com) or Kahoot (https://kahoot.it/) are a fun, potentially anonymous, and quick way of doing this. A third way to make differentiation effective is by telling the learners that as tutors we know and understand that they come to the SGT with mixed knowledge and ability means that they are more willing to admit either to boredom or to feeling out of their depth. Often, learners will confess to being bamboozled into silence by another learner’s seeming knowledge of a topic – where from the tutor’s position they also don’t really understand. Carefully making this point to the tutorial group can be liberating for all learners. Fourth, putting learners in groups means that questions they would normally be hesitant to ask are often answered by their peer group. It is easier to say to peers ‘I know that we are meant to be doing this advanced set of calculations, but to be honest I don’t really get the simple stuff we did last week!’ than it is to tell the tutor. Furthermore, group work gives the learners who understand the topic better chance to share their knowledge and teach others in the group, and subsequently check their own understanding. Fifth, in setting work do not provide a large list of undifferentiated tasks, e.g. don’t simply list five books and ten articles to read. Again, technology (e.g. Talis Aspire (https://talis.com/reading-lists/ )) makes it easier to differentiate tasks. Furthermore if, as a learner, I don’t quite understand a topic and have been set 20 questions to answer before the SGT, then I am more likely not to attend. Whereas if I read that there are three questions I must do, five that it would be good to answer, leaving 12 that were optional, I am more likely to engage with all the questions. Thus, one good tip is to split the questions into essential, desirable and additional. All-in-all differentiation is a key skill in facilitation. REFLECTION POINTS • Write down the differences that may be present in your learners, e.g. grades, background. • Considering the response to your last task. How might that change how and what you teach? • How might you find out what your students understand before you start your teaching? • How might your answer to the last question change how and what you teach?

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COMMUNICATION AND FEEDBACK SKILLS To answer before listening – that is folly and shame. (Proverbs 18 vs 13) If you are to develop as a facilitator then the ability to listen, respond, explain and question effectively are essential. Questioning is of such importance that it will be dealt with in more detail in the next section. ACTIVE LISTENING Listening is more than just having a fully functional auditory system that picks up speech. In the same way that merely seeing can be augmented by deliberate, focused, observation – just ask any artist – hearing the utterances of others can be raised to higher levels by ‘active’ processes ensuring that all messages are received and that the speaker knows that their message has got through. Essential to this is the idea of meta-cognition. The tutor must be aware of their own cognitive states when listening and be responsive to how they are responding. In general, there are number of techniques that SGT facilitators should be aware of. For example, keeping eye contact with a speaker and acknowledging what they say by appropriate body language, such as nodding, smiling, and verbal agreement, is essential for active listening. It is not acceptable to ask a question and then let your attention wander and appear uninterested when someone answers. As mentioned in the last chapter, such behaviour can also be a micro-aggression and can lead to a chilly climate for certain groups of learners (see Chapter 3). A further way for the facilitator to indicate that they have been actively listening is to summarize or paraphrase what has just been said: ‘So what you’re saying is . . .’. This is sometimes termed ‘reflecting back’. This active feedback in the SGT is key to engaging and encouraging learner interaction. Using the learner’s name, and referring to their answer in further discussion is also powerful for signalling to the group that you are actively listening. ‘As Rosie mentioned a few minutes ago . . . this might make us ask . . .’ Also recall from Chapter 3 that feedback can be essential in creating an inclusive environment. There is common phenomena where a woman offers a suggestion and gets no feedback or praise but when the same point is made by a man, he will get both. The tutors can play an important role in

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improving this situation as they are in a position of being able to offer both praise and feedback in the SGT. QUESTIONING The questions a teacher asks can make the difference between an antiquated wasteland and an exciting learning environment. (Carin and Sund 1971, 23) Questioning skills are the simplest skill to facilitation. There is much research on questioning, virtues, curiosity and how technology can help learners ask questions in the classroom. THE FUNCTION OF QUESTIONS IN SGT Questions and questioning methods serve a wide variety of functions in SGT and are involved in the following processes, which are further explained below. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Arousing interest Activating prior learning Diagnosing strengths, weaknesses Checking progress and understanding Controlling group dynamics by encouraging participation and discussion Encouraging deep-level thinking and active learning Assessing achievement Reviewing and summarizing.

AROUSING INTEREST Questions at the beginning of an SGT session can arouse interest and motivation. Big questions like ‘Can you guess what proportion of the NHS budget is spent on the treatment of diabetes and its complications?’ can act as a trigger to generate a whole discussion. After a little thinking time and a few responses, the jaw-dropping correct answer (10 per cent) can act as an extremely powerful stimulus for the relevance and importance of what follows. Each discipline should be able to come up with its own set of ‘trigger’ questions.

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ACTIVATING PRIOR LEARNING As mentioned above, questions should be used at the beginning of an SGT session to evaluate background knowledge and attitudes and to activate and acknowledge prior learning. This can be part of differentiating the teaching. DIAGNOSING STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES AND CHECKING PROGRESS AND UNDERSTANDING AND ASSESSING ACHIEVEMENT The responses obtained from individuals after activating prior learning and evaluating background knowledge can be used to diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of the group with respect to the content to be dealt with. The facilitator might then have to briefly review and summarize key points seen as essential for the following discussion or activity if a lack of knowledge is detected. Alternatively, if the group appears knowledgeable, the cognitive level of the work to be carried out could be raised appropriately. Clearly, further questioning during the session ought to be used to work out how well the group is operating and to check understanding. Finally, questioning towards the end of the session can be used to assess how well the group has achieved its learning objectives. Controlling group dynamics by encouraging participation and discussion One of the most important questioning techniques in SGT is aimed at controlling group dynamics by encouraging participation and discussion. Remember that the initial objective of SGT is to encourage group members to talk and without achieving this none of the other objectives will be achieved. However, badly picked and formed questions can have the opposite effect. They may seem intimidating to participants, which would result in them not answering; so there needs to be careful consideration of the types of questions asked and the manner in which they are presented. At the start of the SGT simple questions are ideal, initially the simpler the better. After introductions and ice-breaking has taken place, asking questions that learners will know the answer to is more likely to encourage them to answer; then, by gradually introducing more demanding questions later, learners will be more likely to keep participating.

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ENCOURAGING DEEP-LEVEL THINKING AND ACTIVE LEARNING The facilitator should be aware of the various cognitive levels of questions and use them appropriately to encourage deep level thinking. Questions should be aimed at the higher levels, such as analysis or critical evaluation. REVIEWING AND SUMMARIZING Although the facilitator can always review progress and summarize the key learning objectives, a useful technique is to question the group on what they feel they have achieved. Ask individuals in the group what they feel they have learned or achieved provides an active and participatory closure to the group’s activities. Or, if pressed for time, or unsure you’ll get an honest response run an ‘Exit Ticket’ on Scorative.com. Or asking them to leave an anonymous comment on a post-it note, or to post on a discussion forum is ideal. CATEGORIES OF QUESTIONS Questions and questioning techniques can be categorized in a number of ways: ■

Closed and open Questions aimed at different levels of the learning hierarchy ■ Probing questions. ■

These categories are further examined below. Closed questions Closed questions are also known as convergent questions as the question is concerned with an item of factual information and converges on the specific answer. Closed questioning may ask learners to name or identify an object or concept, to define or state a definition of a principle or rule or to compare or contrast two or more processes or systems. The answer to these questions is clearly right or wrong and, in fact, many closed questions merely involve learners stating yes or no. Closed questions require the lowest level of engagement and involve simple recall and comprehension. The type of thinking and verbal response

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elicited involves memory, description, explanation, comparison and illustration. Learners at this level may be asked to explain or illustrate the meaning of key concepts as a way of demonstrating comprehension. Notice that often the learner’s expectation of the SGT is that it will all be about closed questions. This is in part due to the type of education they will have had up to that point, and partly because of how we run SGT. I know of one professor who ran their SGT by asking learners comprehension questions of the articles he has set. For example, ‘What does Jones say about x on page 2?’ This sort of closed question makes facilitation almost impossible. It allows one or two learners to shine, and shuts down the potential for other learners to get involved. Remember, you are a facilitator and not a quiz master! Examples of closed questions: ■

What is the name of that bone? Define the second law of thermodynamics. ■ Is Plato a moral realist? ■ Explain how a . . . ■ Compare the two main methods of . . .. ■

Open questions Open or divergent questions have several possible responses or no fixed response. They may ask learners to defend or justify a particular course of action or moral position. They might involve learners having to apply their knowledge in new problem solving or creative situations. They might ask learners to make judgments requiring the use of evidence. They require more elaborate and thoughtful answers and usually cannot be answered by the simple recall of factual information. They elicit and require deep-level thinking involving the higher levels of the cognitive hierarchy. They can involve, for example, application and problem-solving in novel situations, analysis of complex concepts, creative speculation, planning and the making of decisions based on the critical evaluation of evidence. Open questions expose lack of knowledge, and encourage learners to take risks and become more vulnerable. So, for them to be effective learners, they need to feel safe and confident that they will be heard, tutors need to be seen to be active listeners, and learners need to be respected (to understand how to create safe spaces see Chapter 3).

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EXAMPLES OF OPEN QUESTIONS ■

If taking a bribe for a building project was culturally expected, ought you to take the bribe to get your building project through? ■ Do you think that robots used in war should be allowed to decide who and when to kill? ■ What do you think a university is? ■ How would you allocate limited funds for traffic safety projects? In general terms, open questions are aimed at higher levels of engagement; however, the responses obtained from learners are influenced by their degree of competence and experience. In some cases, experienced or knowledgeable learners will treat an open ended question as if it were closed. Asking someone in this situation to make a complex judgment or to evaluate evidence may result in the learner simply recalling a predetermined response based on prior knowledge and experience. It is part of the skill and the demandingness of the facilitator to actively listen and to ‘read’ the learner. This is one of the payoffs of being ‘present’ as discussed above. A helpful way of weeding out this sort of response is to simply ask, ‘Is that what you really believe? Or do you think that is the answer you think you should give?’ If the environment is right, then this sort of feedback from the tutor can disarm and elicit more honest responses from some learners. Pressing for genuine responses to open questions engenders a more authentic learner answer and allows the tutor to expose imitation in even it most sophisticated forms. Schools teach you to imitate. If you don’t imitate what the teacher wants you get a bad grade. Here, in college, it was more sophisticated, of course; you were supposed to imitate the teacher in such a way as to convince the teacher you were not imitating. (Pirsig 1999, 180) REFLECTION POINTS • Are you aware when you are using different types of questions? • If you are not, does that matter?

(continued)

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(continued) • Write down some examples of closed questions you could use in your next SGT. • Write down some examples of open questions you could use in your next SGT. • Write down a basic structure of how you’ll used different questions types in your next SGT.

QUESTIONS AIMED AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF LEARNING All SGT facilitators need to be aware of the importance of pushing learners to their cognitive limits and to do this, an awareness of questioning levels is very useful. Probing questions Although SGT facilitators may plan to use specific types of question at specific points in the session there will always be situations where additional questions are required to encourage learners to clarify or elaborate their initial responses; these probing questions and questioning sequences can occur in response to open or closed questions or questions directed at different levels of the cognitive hierarchy. They enable the facilitator to ensure that deep level understanding is taking place or to diagnose misunderstandings and take appropriate action. Such a sequence of questions might take place after an individual learner has not responded, or responded correctly, incompletely or incorrectly. Probing questions can be classified into the following types: ■ Prompting ■ Clarifying ■ Justifying ■ Extending ■ Redirecting.

Prompting A prompting question is used when a learner does not respond to a question or else gives an incorrect or incomplete answer. The question might

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contain suggestions or clues, a ‘prompt’, to the correct answer, hopefully triggering the learner to make the necessary connections. For example: ■

Can’t think of anything? Remember last session when we talked about the causes of the First World War . . . ■ No, pulmonary oedema is associated with the left side of the heart, what about problems with the right side? ■ That’s almost right but what about the social costs? Justification Justification questions can be used when a learner has provided a correct answer without necessarily explaining why they have chosen it. Asking for justification can push the learner to the limits of their understanding and is a useful means of diagnosing the learner’s strengths and weaknesses. For example: ■

OK, but which particular category of antibiotic would you use? Yes but what’s the evidence for that? ■ But why is it so important to do it that way? ■

Clarification It is useful to ask for clarification if a learner has given a poorly articulated or incomplete answer. The learner can be asked to re-phrase or elaborate their answer until the facilitator is satisfied that they have answered the question satisfactorily. For example: ■

So explain what that means in practice? Can you be more specific? ■ Can you re-phrase that in non-technical language? ■

Extension Superficial understanding is often context dependent whereas deep-level understanding is demonstrated when learners can apply their knowledge to different or new situations. By asking learners to extend and elaborate their thinking to new situations by using extension questions, they are encouraged

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to think more deeply, and their responses give clues to the depth of their understanding. For example: ‘How would you modify that treatment if the baby was premature? or ‘Can you give me some examples from the work of Joyce?’ or ‘If your tax revenue was reduced by one third what would your priorities be then?’ Redirection Redirection questions merely ask the same open ended questions to different learners to generate a variety of responses and to increase participation. THE QUESTIONING PROCESS Humiliation and mental oppression by ignorant and selfish teachers wreak havoc in the youthful mind that can never be undone and often exert a baleful influence in later life. (Albert Einstein, cited in Calaprice 2000, 69) As well as having a good working knowledge of questioning types, it is important that the facilitator is also aware of the effects of the questioning process on learner behaviour. It has already been mentioned that different types of questions are more likely to elicit a response at different points in an SGT session and can be used to get the learner thinking. Facilitators should generate an atmosphere of trust and co-operation where learners feel comfortable with asking and responding to questions and where they can feel confident of exposing their lack of knowledge without ridicule or sarcastic comments. This atmosphere is crucially the responsibility of the facilitator who should warm up the group, set the ground rules and monitor participation and progress. These conditions are discussed in detail in Chapter 6, but facilitators should be aware of the anxieties and barriers that learners might have when placed in situations where they will be asked questions. They need to be seen to quickly punishing those breaking the rules. The way in which questions are asked can have a significant impact on whether responses are elicited and their quality. The facilitator should try to ensure that their questions are clear and unambiguous. Questions should not be too long nor should they contain too many sub-questions or condition. They are not a chance for the tutor to show everyone how much they know and should focus on one fact, idea, concept or problem at a time. Learners should be given plenty of ‘think time’ (at least five seconds

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and preferably more) to respond before either re-phrasing the question or maybe using a prompting question. It is useful to tell learners that they are going to have plenty of time to think about their answers. There is evidence (Carin and Sund 1971) that if facilitators leave a long silence after asking a question then learners are more likely to respond and even give longer and more elaborate answers. How the facilitator responds to an answer is not only extremely important to the learner answering the question but also sends messages to the rest of the group about how they will be treated if they answer a question. The facilitator should apply active listening skills while listening to the response (see above) and should wait until the complete answer has been given. Then, depending on the answer, an appropriate response should be given. If the answer is correct this should be acknowledged, and positive and supportive feedback given. However, if the answer is incorrect or incomplete, some of the probing questioning techniques previously discussed should be used. On no account should the facilitator use negative, sarcastic or personally demeaning language. This does nothing to improve self-esteem or self-confidence and will inhibit participation from the rest of the group. SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS FOR QUESTIONING IN SGT SESSIONS ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Use appropriate ice-breaking and warming up questions to ensure that all learners feel comfortable in a questioning environment. Closed questions can be useful at the beginning of a session to activate and monitor prior learning and to warm up the group. Where possible then use open questions aimed at higher levels of thinking. Allow plenty of thinking time before intervening with more questions. Respond to silence or incorrect responses by using prompting questions. Do not use sarcastic or hostile responses with learners. Either in words or actions. Respond to correct answers by positive and supportive feedback.

STRUCTURING AND ORGANIZING SGT EXPERIENCES As a SGT facilitator you should have the skills of structuring and organizing a SGT session. You should be aware of the importance of ice-breaking,

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warming up and contextualization. You should be skilled in identifying appropriate content and organizing activities, time management and closure. In particular, you should have a good knowledge of SGT methods and techniques. Many of these skills can only be learned via practice and be developed over time but training programmes should/be available to all HE teachers to enable them to learn about and then implement these very important skills. MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL The facilitator has a responsibility to manage and control the work of an SGT group effectively despite the often open-ended and potentially unstructured nature of its work. The facilitator should make clear from the outset, during the introduction or the setting of ground rules, that the session has aims and objectives, a focus on particular activities and a specific structure and that it has to finish at a particular time. It is a good idea to get suggestions about ground rules from the group to encourage ownership. SOME SUGGESTED GROUND RULES ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Respect one another in words and actions. It is perfectly OK to not know. It is perfectly OK to change one’s mind. Do not introduce controversial examples without warning. If someone is talking and is interrupted by someone who isn’t more ‘powerful’ (e.g. another learner) then they should simply keep talking and say ‘sorry, but I haven’t finished yet’. Be mindful of your actions (e.g. smirking, yawning) when someone else is talking. Do not use demeaning language (e.g. ‘petal’). Do not use racist/sexist language. Where possible, use people’s first names. If people forget people’s names it is perfectly OK to ask (more than once) people for their name. Use preferred pronouns. Even if you have something to say, if you have already contributed, it is OK for the tutor to ask other members of the group.

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REFLECTION POINTS • Do you think this is a good set of ground rules? • Would you add new/remove any of these ground rules? • How might you encourage ownership and use of the ground rules?

As indicated by these suggestions, this is a good place to introduce some of the issues discussed in Chapter 3 (stereotype threat, mindset theory, imposter syndrome, etc.). The group should be made aware that they need to talk, discuss, argue and carry out tasks but that these activities are time-limited, and the facilitator has the right to truncate discussions and activities in order to progress the work of the group and achieve its objectives. In many ways, the facilitator performs a balancing act between being autocratic and hierarchical and allowing autonomy and a laissez-faire attitude; they are a benign dictator in charge of the group’s freedom. However, sometimes there are problems that arise, and the SGT becomes dysfunctional. In what follows we discuss why this might be, and suggest some ways a facilitator could respond. THE PROBLEM OR DYSFUNCTIONAL GROUP Small groups can become dysfunctional for a variety of reasons, either from poor facilitation and organization or by the actions of individual group members. In all cases, prevention is better than cure and the best way for a facilitator to deal with the problem of a dysfunctional group is not to let it become dysfunctional in the first place by paying attention to preparation, outcomes, warm up and the monitoring of group dynamics and progress. Below are some examples of dysfunctional groups and some suggestions on how to avoid them. DYSFUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION Groups can become dysfunctional if the facilitator does not pay attention to setting up, organization and monitoring. The members of a group that have not been ‘formed’ correctly, because of inadequate introductions or ice-breaking, might feel anxious and apprehensive. Members could then be reluctant to talk or participate in activities and, in addition, they might

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feel hostile towards a facilitator who has pitched them into an uncomfortable situation. Giving the group ill-defined, inappropriate, irrelevant or unachievable tasks will also cause problems. Activities should be appropriate to the level of the group, should be clearly explained and should be capable of completion during the session. The facilitator should check beforehand that activities are not too complex to be feasibly completed within the time available or, alternatively, that they are not too trivial to be completed with excessive and unplanned time to spare. However, even with good facilitation problems can still arise within groups as discussed below. DEALING WITH GROUP CONFLICT In many ways, conflict is an essential feature of many SGT sessions, although different people will have different views on what ‘conflict’ means in this context. Much of SGT is about encouraging people to expose their views and opinions to others and to engage in debate and argument. This will inevitably lead some group members to challenge the assumptions and beliefs of others, which can be a painful experience leading to outright conflict and even hostility. However, this can often be precisely the level of debate required since one of the goals of SGT must be to encourage participants to go below the surface and examine the reasons why they believe what they do. ‘Cognitive dissonance’ is the term used to describe the state in which someone is confronted by a perception, an idea or a fact that does not fit into their cognitive framework (Festinger 1957). It can be painful and anxiety-provoking but at the same time it is one of the most powerful learning experiences there is, enabling the student, once the conflict has been resolved, to construct even deeper understanding (Kolb 1984). If the facilitator makes it clear during the introductory phase that disagreement and conflict might arise but that participants should work through it as it will lead to a deeper understanding, then a positive outcome can be achieved. Emphasizing ground rules that remind participants that it is better to attack people’s arguments not their personalities can further ensure that hostilities are avoided. The facilitator needs to monitor the degree to which conflict has been raised and different facilitators will have different thresholds for dealing with this. The facilitator needs to be aware of how the conflict has been caused; is it a difference of perception, opinion, fact or belief, is it serious or trivial? Can the presentation of information help to resolve it? Can the facilitator re-phrase the conflicting problem so that participants can see how it is caused by, for example, assumptions that they were not

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aware of? Is it due to different personality types or learning styles? By sensitively monitoring SGT debates, facilitators should be able to prevent ‘normal’ argument and debate turning into open hostility and a breakdown of collaborative learning. DEALING WITH DOMINANT GROUP MEMBERS One of the most common questions asked by novice facilitators is ‘how can I deal with one member of the group who dominates the discussion and prevents others from fully participating?’ As mentioned earlier, the best approach is to try and avoid this situation in the first place through adequate introductions, warm-up and ground-rule acceptance. Nevertheless, despite a facilitator’s best endeavours it will still arise and strategies need to be adopted to deal with it. Reminding the group of the ground rules on participation might work plus a gentle ‘John you’ve made quite a lot of interesting points, can we hear from someone else?’ or ‘Jane, thank you for your contribution so far but I think it’s important that everyone has a say so can you just put yourself on hold for a while please and let’s see what John thinks about this issue’. Using names can be very useful in this situation as you can specifically ask individuals to come in and join the debate. An alternative strategy is to go round the group in turn asking each participant to make a contribution. Breaking the group up into smaller groupings or pairs to allow individuals to talk to each other will also prevent domination by one individual and allow other individuals the opportunity to discuss. Depending on the circumstances, a quiet word in the ear at an appropriate moment in a group activity might suffice. If you have identified more than one dominant member try putting them all in the same sub-group; at least one of them will have to learn how to keep quiet! If dominant behaviour still continues and threatens to disrupt the goals of the group, then stronger methods are called for. The facilitator should try to convince the group to agree that it finds the contribution of the individual excessive and that they should remain quiet for a while. This use of peer pressure can often be more effective than requests from the facilitator. Beyond this, the facilitator has the responsibility of the ‘greatest good of the greatest number’ and might be forced to ask the problem participant to leave the group. However, this should be a last resort and quickly followed up by arranging to counsel the ‘leaving participant’ to explain the importance of group collaboration and sticking to ground rules to achieve group outcomes.

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DEALING WITH PASSIVE GROUP MEMBERS Another common problem encountered by facilitators is the very quiet group whose members are reluctant to participate. Here, the most important thing to do is to warm the group up and perform ice-breakers that will get members feeling comfortable with each other. However, the problem might also be caused by a boring, trivial or overwhelmingly complex aim so it is important to ensure the activity the group are engaging in is relevant and important and that the group are aware of this. DEALING WITH A NON-PARTICIPATING INDIVIDUAL It might take a while for a facilitator to spot non-participation, but they should be watching out for it right from the start. Since one of the goals of SGT is the development of interpersonal communication skills, non-participation is not an option and should be made clear to participants when discussing ground rules. At the beginning of a session and at any time during it merely getting group members to talk in pairs about an issue can act as a catalyst for further open discussion. However, a non-participating individual might be very shy, they might be filled with anxiety or they might be feeling ill. It is the facilitator’s role to attempt to sensitively diagnose the situation while keeping the group going at the same time. Simply asking the individual by name: ‘James what’s your view on this?’ followed by some more clarification questions to bring him more into the discussion might work. DEALING WITH CYNICAL GROUP MEMBERS Some participants, particularly those with a strong predilection for passive learning, find SGT a problem. They see SGT with its ‘touchy-feely’ and discussion orientated emphasis as a waste of time. They are dominated by the idea of content and surface learning and they want to be told the answers. What they lack is an understanding of the importance of process in learning, of the interpersonal, and teamwork skills they will develop as a result of talking, collaborating and asking questions and the possibility of deep learning. Dealing with this issue, which can cause disruption to SGT sessions, is really a problem of orientating students towards ‘metacognition’ and developing appropriate ways of learning and could be part of an induction programme for new students. On the other hand, facilitators should be able to emphasize the importance of engaging in process during the introductory phase of SGT sessions. Rewarding ‘cynical’ participants with positive feedback on their

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contributions and specifically trying to emphasize the importance of their knowledge to the rest of the group can also help to bring down the barriers these students might have when dealing with SGT episodes. Here remembering the method of ‘differentiation’ (see above) might be particularly helpful. CLOSURE An important feature of all teaching is closure, where a summary of achieved outcomes can be provided, where conclusions can be emphasized and where learners can be given a sense of accomplishment. This is particularly important in SGT. There should always be time for closure and facilitators should have the time management and control skills to ensure that it takes place. There are a number of ways that closure can be carried out in SGT. Technology can be particularly helpful. Classrooms often have smartboards where the tutor’s comments and learners’ responses can be saved and emailed to the tutor group. Alternatively, a member of the group can be tasked with summarizing the tutorial and this responsibility being rotated round the group. A useful technique is to ask the group itself to summarize what they think are the key points learned. This can be done as a specific group activity at the end of the session using a variety of SGT techniques or alternatively it can be a facilitated discussion ensuring all group members have an opportunity to participate.   SUGGESTED FURTHER READING Elwyn, Glyn, Greenhalgh, Trisha and Macfarlane, Fraser. (2001). Groups: A guide to small group work in healthcare, management, education and research. London: Radcliffe Medical Press. Gagné, Robert M. (1979). Principles of instructional design. Edited by Leslie J. Briggs. 2nd ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Jaques, David (2000). Learning in groups: A handbook for improving group work. London: Kogan Page. Tomlinson, Carol (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms [electronic resource]. 2nd ed. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Westberg, Jane and Jason, H. (1996). Fostering learning in small groups, a practical guide. New York: Springer. Good practice for asking questions and chairing: http://bpa.ac.uk/uploads/Good% 20Practice%20Scheme/Seminar%20chairing.pdf (Accessed July 2018).

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Chapter 5

Learner diversity in small group teaching

INTRODUCTION As discussed in the last two chapters, the tutor is responsible for making the mode of study appropriate and applicable to all the learners in the class. This includes both the physical and psychological/social environment (Chapter 3), as well as being sensitive to how different methods of facilitation might be appropriate for different groups (Chapter 4). The points raised in these chapters are going to be directly relevant to all aspects of this chapter. For example, mature learners are prone to imposter syndrome, mixed cultural groups are more likely to see implicit bias and stereotype threat change behaviour. However, given the extent of these issues, we won’t make them explicit in the chapter. Rather, the chapter gives specific practical attention to the needs of the following groups of learners in SGT: ■

Multi-disciplinary and mixed ability groups International learners and learners for whom English is not a first language ■ Mature learners ■ ‘New learners’ entering further education and higher education through access routes and foundation degree programmes ■ Disabled learners who have impairment such as dyslexia, a hearing or a sight loss. ■

REFLECTION POINTS • List as many ways learners can be ‘different’. • Which differences will be pertinent to SGT?

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• List the different types of learners you are likely to encounter in your tutor group. • List the different qualifications that learners might have in your tutor group. • How might your SGT benefit from international learners? • How might your SGT benefit from mature/returning learners? • How might technology help you when faced with teaching diverse groups?

SUPPORTING LEARNERS WORKING IN MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND MIXED-ABILITY GROUPS For many small group tutors, the reality of their experience is that the groups they tutor are very mixed in terms of their abilities and subject specialisms. All small groups are mixed, but some are more mixed than others. This may be a specific feature of course design. For example, in Engineering, multidisciplinary team projects are organized to provide learners with the experience of working across Engineering disciplinary boundaries in preparation for the likely reality of their post-graduation employment. For Physiotherapy learners, part of their course may be run jointly with the Medical or Social Work programmes, again to mimic the working environment that they are preparing to enter. Or it might be because of course regulations, where some learners must study credits outside their home degree. A tutor running an SGT on Greek Poetry might find they are faced with students studying Chemistry or Psychology. In other courses, the variations in pre-course entry requirements are a contributory factor in creating diversity. In the Arts and Humanities, a number of the degree choices are not widely available at A level and hence aren’t part of the entry requirement. Someone teaching History of Art might be faced with a room where only one or two learners have studied the subject to some depth. In a Business Studies degree, some first year learners may have studied Economics at A level while others may not have studied this subject before. For physicists, the mathematical background of first year learners can be very variable and the language skills of modern language learners can vary from a low A level pass to absolute fluency. Whether the diversity is planned for or a result of local circumstances, the impact on the tutor is very real. In a group of learners where some have

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more knowledge and more confidence it can be very difficult to create an environment where all learners feel comfortable to share. Thus, the tutor needs to be aware and sensitive to the diverse needs of the group members and attempt to acknowledge and support the range of contributions that different learners can make. Here, we suggest some practical ways in which the tutor may seek to achieve this balance. The reader will also benefit from reading about differentiation in the last chapter. BENEFIT FROM THE DIFFERENCES The following discussion relies on the tutor establishing the level at which the learner is working. This is going to be absolutely essential for some disciplines (e.g. a language class wouldn’t think of starting a course without first assessing the language competency of the learner). Basic information can be gathered by simple quizzes (e.g. using Socrative), polls (e.g. using Poll Everywhere); however, some areas (English language teaching) will have very specific tailored methods for collecting this information. In discussion or problem-solving classes it can sometimes be helpful to mix the class so that learners who have a more advanced level understanding and/or greater experience share their knowledge and work with learners who are less knowledgeable. In this way a tutor can explicitly encourage peer support. However, this does need to be handled with care and consideration and viewed from the perspective of both groups of learners. If the more able learner (acting as a ‘learner tutor’) is not to feel ‘used’, the benefits of trying to explain things to a colleague and of testing their own understanding, may need to be emphasized by the tutor. If the ‘peer tutored’ learner isn’t to feel undermined and patronized, their contributions need to be given time and attention elsewhere in the class and, if possible, the roles reversed for different topics. All these issues are magnified given tuition fees. Why, the learner might ask, am I paying to be taught by my peers? The tutor needs to pre-empt such worries. There may also be perceived differences in ‘status’ and very real differences in confidence between group members. This is reported by tutors of multidisciplinary SGT sessions for medical and nursing learners. The tutor can specifically ask nursing learners and medical learners to work together on clinical case studies to better appreciate their corresponding roles in patient care. However, it may be beneficial to manage closely such exchanges and perhaps specifically invite feedback from both the nursing and medical learners to avoid any one voice dominating. Of course, particular issues relating

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to the psychological and social environment (see Chapter 3), will be directly relevant here. PROGRESSIVE TASKS In both quantitative and qualitative SGT classes it can be very useful to develop learning tasks and activities that have in-built progression. In maths, problems can be set at a novice, intermediate and advanced level and learners asked to work through the questions getting as far as they can in the allocated time. Alternatively, learners can select their own starting point (i.e. allow more able or experienced learners to begin working at a higher level from the outset). The harmonizing of groups in this way encourages participants in the less experienced group to be very much more relaxed and able to ask questions and raise concerns. Those in the experienced groups are also able to work at an appropriate pace and level that better suits their needs. Supporting international learners The classrooms of today’s universities and colleges are truly global, and tutors need to work to accommodate, support and benefit from the diverse and multi-cultural nature of SGT sessions. This is particularly important with the increase in distant learning and online courses where location is not a barrier (for more on online/distance/blended learning see Chapter 11). This means universities and colleges will have specialist teams, technology, workshops to support tutors and learners. Working in English can mean some international learners face an extra level of complexity when they try to take a full and active role in SGT sessions. There is often a difference in the level of proficiency between a learner’s reading, writing and speech and therefore it is important for the tutor to realize that just because a learner speaks English relatively well, it does not necessarily mean that they will be able to write and read to the same level. There are also many cultural differences that can affect how international learners interact in SGT. There are three general points that we need to take on board as tutors. First, no action is neutral and therefore it will have specific cultural meaning; for example, red signifies mourning in South Africa but romance and love in other contexts and a negative in a financial balance sheet. Second, tutors shouldn’t assume that just because a learner is from a particular culture they are equipped to speak on behalf of that whole

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culture (e.g. ‘you’re from Japan, what do Japanese people think about climate change?’). Just think of such a question aimed at you, could you speak for your whole community/country/nationality etc.? Third, tutors should not ask questions about the learner’s cultural experience (e.g. ‘why not tell the class how different your culture is’); not only does this single out the learner but it might well be that the learner is not clear what the ‘home culture’ actually is and hence would find it hard to draw a comparison. With the caveats about generalization in mind, consider the following regarding international learners. The following tips are based on the work by the University of Buffalo Centre for Education Innovation (www.youtube. com/watch?v=Vt4r0w_WDDs). Learners, in particular Asian learners, might: ■

Think of themselves collectively rather than individualistically. This means that, for them, making a mistake will not just be seen as letting themselves down but worse, letting down the whole community/ culture/country. ■ Have as a guiding principle the idea of ‘saving face’. This is about the importance of how others see you. It is better to stay silent in discussion in order to ‘save face’, rather than risk revealing your ignorance to others ■ Show a deference to the tutor. One conclusion of these points is that for some international learners, participation by asking questions, and, in particular, interrupting the tutor or other learners (basically those techniques we highlighted in the last chapter!), is often incredibly hard as it is thought to be disrespectful. As tutors then, we must remember that if learners are silent it does not necessarily mean a lack of understanding. International learners might expect an approach of ‘turn-taking’ in the classroom, which stems from the aforementioned collectivism. Everyone has equal right to talk and everyone should be respected and encouraged to have a chance to talk. One learner from Korea reports to having prepared answers to questions for the seminar each week but never actually giving those answers because they were never asked to speak, and didn’t want to volunteer to answer. Of course, as tutors if we know this, then we can build in, for example, turn-taking into how we run our SGT.

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However, the reverse may be true for some international learners. Learners who have experience of educational cultures that make extensive use of the oral tradition and who have been strongly encouraged to debate and argue points with their teachers, may appear very confident and even a little abrasive or dominating when compared with other learners. For example, learners from the USA often appear very confident in class. WHAT CAN THE TUTOR DO? As with SGT with learners from mixed ability and backgrounds, SGT made up of international learners is incredibly rewarding and beneficial to all. However, to make the most of this there are a few general things that a tutor can do; one good example is that the tutor should learn and use the learners’ names and, in particular, how to pronounce them. For more specifics we draw on advice and guidance provided by Neil McLean, from the Language Centre at LSE and upon additional comments provided by Jordi Vaquer-Fanes, from the International Relations Department, also at LSE. They both pick up on the themes above and give some more practice guidance. For the tutor there are four potentially problematic issues to be considered in planning SGT sessions attended by international learners and non-native speakers of English. THE TUTOR BEING AS CLEAR AS POSSIBLE WITH SPEECH AND CONTENT To be as clear as possible, it would be prudent for the tutor to speak louder, slower and in shorter sentences than they may otherwise do. Care also needs to be taken in the choice of language and terminology chosen; trying to avoid colloquial terms, acronyms or jargon probably benefits all learners but particularly non-native speakers. Tutors should organize and structure their explanations and should keep to the point in question and not veer off at a tangent with unnecessary anecdotes and stories. When the teacher refers to a particular person or an important source it is helpful to write clearly the names or details up on the board or flipchart. Ideally, if the tutor is aware what topics will be discussed, it would be very helpful to produce a handout of key terms and ideas. There is an important point here related to technology. Some tutors might introduce a blanket ban on technology in their SGT. Of course, there

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might be times when this is appropriate; however, restricting learner access to a resource that would aid understanding of terms, ideas, acronyms etc. in class can be counterproductive. A learner who can quickly google ‘enlightenment’ on their phone will more likely understand the discussion of the group, rather than spending time trying to piece together its meaning. Also, they often follow set texts on phones or tablets rather than from the book. The teaching strategies discussed (e.g. Chapter 4) that aim to give learners ‘comfortable’ thinking and preparation time before asking them to speak in front of the whole group, are particularly helpful for non-native speakers. For example, the use of pair work and preparatory writing tasks can be very helpful. CHECKING THAT THE LEARNERS HAVE UNDERSTOOD THE TUTOR Checking that learners understand the tutor and understand each other is one of the most important things that the tutor can do. Probably the best way of checking that the learners have followed and understood the tutor is to design and set follow-up tasks or exercises that require the learners to apply their new understanding; if this is not appropriate then, as an alternative, pair work can be used. The tutor could explain something and then ask learners to re-present the explanation to a partner or interview their partner about the implications or consequences of the points explained. The tutor could sensitively ask questions of the class, by giving pairs or mini-groups of learners a short quiz or problem set to work through and thus test their own understanding. Some tutors ask the learners to help them in writing up a summary on the board towards the end of the class and use this to check that the learners have understood the key issues. As noted elsewhere, technology can be invaluable in doing this (e.g. Lino It). ENCOURAGING LEARNERS TO PARTICIPATE AND COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY Being sensitive to the potential barriers and insecurities felt by international learners and trying to provide a class environment where it is ‘OK’ to get it wrong will particularly help the less confident speakers in the group. The need to give learners thinking and planning time before asking them to speak should be planned for by the tutor in the design and implementation

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of class exercises. In this respect, the use of online discussion forum or virtual group work such as Padlet or RealtimeBoard is invaluable. Complex tasks should be written in a handout. It may also be especially helpful to provide additional feedback in class and on written assignments. It is not suggested that SGT tutors should become language teachers but that they can direct their learners to specific sources of help (e.g. study skills information websites, language support and the assessment criteria) and reinforce the need to develop language skills within the academic discipline. CHECKING THAT LEARNERS HAVE UNDERSTOOD EACH OTHER The lessons from above are going to apply to how learners communicate with one another. In a class of home learners, regional accents, terminology and cultural references are going to be varied. This will be magnified in a multi-cultural classroom where English is spoken in a variety of ways and with a diverse range of accents. Tutors may fear that their learners do not always follow and understand the contributions made by their classmates. Encouraging learners to talk loudly enough for all to hear properly and to manage group discussions so that only one person talks at a time are perhaps obvious, but important, points. Again, writing difficult words, names, references on the board for the learner can help the class. When supporting a struggling speaker, it is important to be patient and resist the urge to finish their sentences. If a contribution is very unclear, the tutor may ask for clarification (sensitively) or check their own understanding by paraphrasing the points presented back to the learner in the form of a question (e.g. ‘so if I understood you correctly, you are saying that. . .’). This approach is more likely to expose difficulties and help further learning than asking a learner directly whether they have understood, and makes the tutor the focus rather than the learner. The thoughtfulness of the tutor when trying to accommodate the diverse needs of International learners and non-native speakers is likely to benefit all the learners in the SGT session. SUPPORTING MATURE STUDENTS A commonly accepted definition of a ‘Mature learner’ is a person who enters university or college education over the age of 21. Given the expansion of higher education and the increase of online teaching, the number of mature

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learners is increasing. Many mature learners have a great diversity of relevant work experience and are attracted to courses, such as social work programmes; however, some of these learners may well not have had any previous experience of HE or had that experience some time ago. In what ways might mature learners differ from other learners? Mature learners, as a group, are as varied in their concerns and approaches to study as other groups of learners. Although we focus on some potential differences, it is vital to remember, and worth stressing, that both mature and typical learners are experiencing that particular University setting for the first time. However, an SGT tutor may wish to pay attention to particular traits that older learners may show. For example, Roberts (1994) described a number of tutee behaviours that may hinder collaborative learning. One particular behaviour, over-enthusiasm, is particularly associated with mature learners and describes learners who have very high expectations and who have very wide interests but who feel time pressures and put high demands on themselves; these learners may also have longer-range goals and be less pre-occupied with immediate tasks. This last point can be very relevant to mature learners who have opted to return to studying after a period away from formal education and therefore have considered and thought through motivations and goals connected with their university course. Many mature learners will hold positions of responsibility and have high status in other spheres of their lives (Falchikov 2001). They may be mothers or fathers and run a home and household, they may have varied experience of employment, past and present, and hold positions of authority within their communities. Then in an SGT session the tutor may ask them to undertake a learner role that could involve them in, for example, role-playing, presenting or learning from a fellow learner – activities that demonstrate a very different set of hierarchies and power relationships. Some mature learners may find it difficult to cope well with the status inconsistencies that this presents. Mature learners with families may become stressed by all the conflicting demands on them. They may feel envious of younger learners, who only have themselves to worry about, and they may feel that academic staff are oblivious to their other commitments. Relationships with partners, family and friends can come under strain because of their new life, associates and interests. Some mature learners return to education with some bad memories of their previous educational experiences, and they may be doubting their academic abilities.

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Those who come into HE from access courses, where they received a lot of support, may find University courses unnervingly formal and staff a bit distant. (University of Huddersfield counselling service, www.hud.ac.uk/stu_svc/counselling/dif_learners.htm) WAYS TO SUPPORT MATURE STUDENTS Although SGT tutors may be younger and, in many ways, less experienced than the mature learners in their classes, they have particular expert knowledge and professional skills that the mature learner needs in order to study and learn. Returning students typically have excellent skills in some areas such as time management, working under pressure and meeting deadlines. However, although they may have particular strengths in parts of the curriculum due to their greater work and life experience, it may be a long time since they have had to write an essay or present an academic argument in a class debate. Therefore, a tutor should not be surprised if a mature learner initially shows a very mixed level of performance; for example, when working with a mature learner, a tutor may need to provide advice and guidance on basic study skills and essay writing technique, yet, later, with the same learner, may be asked to answer very complex and carefully considered questions. Technology can be particularly useful here. If the tutor produces short videos on basic study skills (using Echo360 Personal Capture or APowersoft), or signposts to useful YouTube videos (e.g. Khan Academy, Code Academy) self-assessment quizzes testing basic knowledge (BookWidgets), or working through basic quantitative problem solving (Explain Everything), then learners will feel able to get the help they might need without being identified in the SGT. Most universities have workshops and support groups for any learner who want help with a whole host of things, from ‘how to take notes’, ‘active reading and listening’ to dealing with thing such as perfectionism. Thus, it is a good idea for the tutor to familiarize themselves with what is available within their institution and act as a signpost to these. To benefit fully from the presence of mature learners in the class, new tutors should: ■

Have confidence in their own knowledge, skills and abilities Recognise and value the experience of mature learners ■ Be aware and sensitive to the external pressures faced by some mature learners (in allocating work partners for example) ■

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Acknowledge the long-term goals and motivations of mature learners but reinforce the need to meet immediate deadlines and achieve short-term assignments.

Many tutors, who have a number of mature learners in their classes, comment on the ‘richness’ that these learners can bring to discussions and debates. Their additional ‘life experience’ is a valuable resource for the whole group and sensitive tutors seek to harness this. By recognizing and drawing upon the prior learning and experience of mature learners, their presence can very much add to the value of small group teaching. SUPPORTING ‘NEW LEARNERS’ There is crossover within different learner groups. However, it is worth highlighting ‘new learners’ as a particular group. As a result of initiatives such as the foundation degree, widening participation targets, and longer standing access programmes, more non-traditional learners are now entering higher education. They may well be the first people from their families who have gone to university and are breaking moulds of expectations in so doing. They may have performed poorly in earlier school exams and be very unsure about their abilities and potential. There is research showing that ‘new learners’ are less likely to complete their degrees and that the teaching and learning environment is a significant factor for retention (Laing and Robinson 2003). Many of the things mentioned in the last section are going to be directly relevant to this group. However, a mature learner might already have a degree and therefore may at least have some sense of what university might involve. In contrast, new learners, by definition, won’t. There are a couple of other things that are worth noting. New learners often come from a lower socio-economic bracket that means that the tutor needs to mindful of the language and references made in teaching. One learner told me of her annoyance that the tutor’s examples were about his skiing holidays around the world. Neither she nor her family had ever travelled abroad. Mann (2001) does a nice job of explaining the learner experience of alienation, which can be thought of much like being a ‘stranger in a foreign land’. The tutor then should be mindful of the assumptions made about the SGT group, the examples given, and – as with mature learners – be flexible with timings and allocation of work partners. With the centrality of flexibility, and having space to ‘acclimatise’, research has

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shown that blended learning and the accompanying use of technology is an incredibly helpful and appreciated approach by new learners and mature learners alike (see Chapter 11). Consider these comments from the head of a foundation arts degree. The first week of term is an important time for all new students. It is easy to forget just how stressful an environment our classrooms – with which we ourselves are so familiar – can be. This is (usually) not so much because of the rooms themselves, but because of the unfamiliar people in them. Talking to a number of students coming to university from non-traditional backgrounds, I’ve been struck by how much emphasis can be placed on the significance of quickly identifying and relating to other students who share the same background and perspective. I’ve also been concerned by the fast spiral of disengagement that can occur when this does not happen. In light of this, I consider it is important to work hard in the first few weeks of term to ‘shuffle the classroom’ frequently for discussion-based tasks so that students engage with as many of their peers as possible in mini groups of, say, four or five. This is not to undermine the importance of students identifying and developing relationships with those whom they feel a natural affinity (and this is why the first mini group should not be a ‘shuffled’ one); but that process is more likely to take place outside the classroom – perhaps literally. Instead, the purpose of shuffling the smaller group tasks is to foster constructive critical debate in a way that students i) grow in confidence in bringing their variety of perspectives and knowledge into the classroom and ii) recognise the value that diversity brings for developing understanding. One particular way in which I facilitate this is by first modelling this approach in whole class discussion. This involves facilitating a variety of student voices in contributing to the debate and introducing anecdotal and provisional elements into my own contribution (e.g. ‘I remember when I first encountered this idea  .  .  .’, ‘I’m pretty sure that . . .’) in order to demonstrate the idea of being able to contribute without having some sort of all-encompassing ‘infallible’ answer. Of course, this also involves choosing suitable questions for discussion in the first place. This also points to the importance of teachers as role models. I can’t possibly be relatable in the same way to every student within my classroom – especially in my role as teacher. Therefore I try to invite other teachers into my sessions on a regular basis and encourage

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them – where possible – to talk about their own journeys into, and experiences of, Higher Education. I feel this is particularly valuable in the case of postgraduate teaching affiliates given that they are closer to the current undergraduate student experience. SUPPORTING DISABLED LEARNERS IN SGT The educational disadvantage and exclusion faced by many disabled people is not an inevitable result of their impairments or health conditions, but arises from social, attitudinal and environmental barriers. Both the design and implementation of learning and teaching strategies and related activities, as well as the learning environment, recognise the entitlement of disabled learners to participate in all activities provided as part of their programme of study. (Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education 1999, Code of Practice, emphasis added) THE LEGAL POSITION Each tutor has a responsibility to familiarize themselves with their legal obligations within their country. For example, in the UK the Disability Discrimination Act makes it unlawful for providers of education and related services to discriminate against disabled people. The 2010 Disability Act (UK) defines a learner as having a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on their ability to do normal daily activities. Where ‘substantial’ is more than minor or trivial (e.g. it takes much longer than it usually would to complete a daily task like getting dressed) and ‘long-term’ means 12 months or more (e.g. a breathing condition that develops as a result of a lung infection) (www. gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010). The definition of ‘disability’ can include learners with: ■

Physical or mobility impairments Visual and hearing impairments ■ Dyslexia and dyspraxia ■ Medical conditions, and ■ Mental health difficulties. ■

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There are two ways that a tutor could discriminate against a disabled learner: ■ ■

Treating them ‘less favourably’ than other people, or Failing to make a ‘reasonable adjustment’ when, because of their disability, they are placed at a ‘substantial disadvantage’ when compared to other learners.

The responsibility of universities and colleges applies to all the activities and facilities they provide wholly or mainly for learners, including, for example: ■

All aspects of teaching and learning, including, SGT, lectures, lab work, practicals, field trips, etc. ■ E-learning, distance learning and teaching resources ■ Examinations and assessments ■ Learning resources, including libraries, computer facilities, etc. From the SGT tutor’s point of view the main focus of legislation (at least in the UK) is the clear need to make anticipatory reasonable adjustments to the teaching, learning and assessment approaches used in order to make the learning experience accessible to all learners. Exactly what might constitute a reasonable adjustment will depend on the needs of the learners, the requirements and academic standards of the course, the resources of the institution and the practicality of the adjustment (including its impact on other learners). In general terms, a reasonable adjustment might be any action that helps to alleviate a substantial disadvantage, for example: ■

Changing institutional procedures Adapting the curriculum, electronic or other materials, or modifying the delivery of teaching ■ Providing additional services, such as a sign language interpreter or materials in large font or Braille ■ Raising the awareness and training staff to work with disabled people ■ Making modifications to the physical environment. ■

‘Anticipatory’ adjustments means that universities (and teachers) should consider what adjustments future disabled learners may need, and make them

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in advance. The QAA Code of Practice for learners with disabilities recommends a series of adaptations outlined below.

REFLECTION POINTS • In the country in which you are teaching, what is the legal position on inclusivity and diversity? • What kinds of adjustments are typically made in your institution? • Do they provide a ‘level playing field’? • Do they create fairness and parity?

TUTORS: MAKING REASONABLE ADAPTATIONS Individual needs If you are aware that any learners in your class have a disability, arrange to speak with them discussing their needs at the earliest opportunity. Try not to make global assumptions about their disability as the learner will be the expert on their own condition and situation. Discuss their needs with them in order to better understand their position and ask for their advice on how you can support their learning and help them to fully participate in your class. If you would like to find out more about a particular kind of disability or better understand a particular disabling condition, there is a list of information web-sites, which you may find useful, as the end of this chapter. Furthermore, there will be a disability support at your institution that would be more than happy to talk with you. Anticipatory adjustments Tutors can help to ensure disabled learners are not substantially disadvantaged by some very simple adaptations to their teaching practice in seminars, problems classes and seminars. ■

Are teaching rooms allocated and timetabled with the needs of disabled learners in mind? (Physical access, lighting and acoustics may be relevant issues to consider.)

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■ ■

Do tutors face the front when they speak, especially when they are using PowerPoint presentations or writing on a board? Do teachers provide handouts in advance and online? Do tutors allow recording of classes where this would assist learners? Do tutors use a microphone whenever possible? For example, learners might be on the T-loop but not want to disclose this. Do teachers read out material presented visually to support those unable to see? Are learners with communication difficulties, or those who may find seminar presentations difficult for other reasons, supported when preparing their talks? Do tutors work to ensure that only one person speaks at a time during debates and discussions? Do tutors use, where possible, technology to help disabled learners?

Adaptations for group working Some adjustments may be necessary to ensure that disabled learners can fully contribute to, and benefit from, group based learning. ■

Are learners supported to ensure that all group members can fully participate and be involved in the group? ■ Do tutors talk through with groups any practical difficulties that might arise from having a diverse group, and make sure any appropriate adjustments can be made? ■ Where group work is assessed, are adjustments made to ensure that every learner’s contribution can be measured? Even if learning outcomes need to be measured and assessed differently. Teaching resources and online tutorials Access to learning resources is essential for all learners and so the design and distribution of materials and learning facilities needs to be undertaken with inclusivity in mind. ■

Are videos and other audio materials provided with subtitles, interpretation or transcripts? ■ Are descriptions completed for online materials so as to maximize the effectiveness of screen readers?

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■

Are paper-based materials provided in advance for reading or presented in Braille, large print or online? Are booklists provided sufficiently in advance for a learner to obtain texts on tape or in Braille? Are electronic materials fully accessible? Can those using supportive technology (such as screen reading software) access them? Is the layout and structure of virtual learning environments suitable for learners with dyslexia or with partial sight? Do sound clips have text alternatives or sub-titles? Does the software allow learners to go at their own speed or take rest breaks? (Adapted from guidance provided by the disability rights commission, www.drc-gb.org)

It is worth noting that some disabilities the tutor may encounter will not be visible, such as mental ill health; it could be useful in this situation if the tutor could, if needed, act as an effective signpost to professional services. The first of the three key points to remember in the context of ‘hidden’ disabilities is to make sure what you do is as a matter of course accessible and inclusive. You will then be helping all learners even if you don’t know it. Second, be respectful of individuals in the class, creating clear guidelines for interaction and clear expectations, avoiding stereotypes. Third, be flexible. Rather than make assumptions about a learner’s commitment, or intentions just by assessing their level of engagement in class, be aware of other possible explanations.

REFLECTION POINTS • • • •

What reasonable adaptations have you made in your teaching? What other adaptations might you adopt so as to help all students? What ‘hidden’ disabilities might you encounter in your class? In what ways, if any, might those disabilities manifest themselves in class? • What ways could you help students with hidden disabilities in your classes? • In the country in which you are teaching, what is the legal position on inclusivity and diversity?

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CONCLUDING REMARKS The diversity of the learner population is often seen as a problem and much that is written is posed in terms of ‘difficulties’ and ‘problems’ to be overcome and as we have seen in this chapter, there are additional issues to think about in conducting a small group teaching session for a varied mix of learners. However, just as important, is the fact that such diversity in the group also provides a richness in discussion. Having people take part in debates who have very different life experiences, backgrounds, beliefs and expectations can broaden and deepen debate and very much enrich the learning experience of all who take part, including the teacher. The challenge for all teachers is to make more of the benefits than the difficulties and to provide a welcoming and stimulating environment for all the learners who come to class.   SUGGESTED FURTHER READING AchievAbility is committed to promoting policy and delivering practice for successful educational, employment and training opportunities for people who are neurodivergent and dyslexic: www.achieveability.org.uk/main/ resources/utube-resource-films-on-dyslexia (accessed July 2018). Code of Practice for the Assurance of Academic Quality and Standards in Higher Education: Learners with disabilities: https://nadp-uk.org/wp-content/ uploads/2015/02/2010-Code-of-practice-for-academic-qual-standards.pdf Disabilities Rights Commission: For general information on disabilities and disabilities legislation – www.drc.org.uk/ (accessed July 2018). Equality and Challenge Unit’s Widening Participation guidance: ww.ecu.ac.uk/ publications/access-retention-success-wp-and-equality/ (Accessed July 2018). Grace, Sue, and Gravestock, Phil. (2008). Inclusion and diversity: Meeting the needs of all students. London: Routledge. National Bureau for Students with Disabilities: www.skill.org.uk/about/index.htm (accessed July 2018). NIACE’s (National Institute for Adult Continuing Education) website provides information, policy discussions and links to other organizations concerned with adult learning and supporting older learners. www.learningandwork. org.uk/about-us/ (accessed July 2018). Synthesis of research on learner retention and widening participation: www2. le.ac.uk/offices/ssds/projects/learner-retention-project/dissemination/ resources/wp-retention-synthesis.doc/view (accessed July 2018)

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The Department for Education and Skill, Foundation degree website: www.foundation degree.org.uk/ University of Plymouth, Disability ASSIST Services: For advice on making the curriculum accessible to disabled learners – www.plymouth.ac.uk/disability (Accessed July 2018). Useful resource on designing accessible learning material: http://app1.its.bbk.ac.uk/ xerte2/play.php?template_id=468#page1section3 (accessed July 2018). Waterfield, J. and West, B. (2002) SENDA compliance in higher education SouthWest Academic Network for Disability Support (SWANDS). For some fascinating research surrounding academics and mental health see: www. learnerminds.org.uk/uploads/3/7/8/4/3784584/180129_learner_ mental_health__the_role_and_experience_of_academics__learner_minds_ pdf.pdf (Accessed July 2018).

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Chapter 6

Working with learner groups Techniques and methods in the classroom

INTRODUCTION In this chapter we will present and evaluate the effectiveness of a range of group management and facilitation methods. This chapter is intended to give you choice in how you work with a group of learners. You will need to make judgements about the appropriateness of various teaching techniques depending upon your own preferred style, the context of the SGT, the specific aims and learning outcomes for the session and the culture of your discipline. When introducing a new teaching method, do be aware of the expectations of your learners and your colleagues. If you are asking your learners to work in a new way you may well need to provide them with a rationale and justification for the change. If you are using a teaching method that is unusual in your department or school, you may need to be prepared to defend your choice with your colleagues. It is therefore very sensible to have teaching intentions that are clearly linked with the learning outcomes and assessments of the course and to have thought through your reasons for selecting particular teaching and learning methods. In other words, have a convincing argument for your choices. It is also important to consider the learners you will have in your small group. Are you aware of any potential barriers for your learners that may inhibit or prevent their participation in the class? In all SGT sessions you will have learners from different backgrounds; they may come from different countries and with very different expectations (see also Chapter 5). They may be working in a second or a third language and some learners will have sensory, physical or learning disabilities or be experiencing mental health or personal difficulties. The methods you choose to employ should also take into account the individual and group needs of your learners.

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REFLECTION POINTS • Have you thought about your rationale for choosing the method(s) you might use? • Considering the groups of students you teach, how might your chosen methods playout? • What issues may arise, e.g. benefits for teacher and learners, challenges for both?

BEGINNINGS In Chapter 3, we discussed the reasons for and ways of establishing a ‘safe’ and comfortable learning environment and spending time in helping a new group get to know each other. Introductions and breaking the ice can be facilitated in several different ways. You can invite each learner to introduce themselves to the whole group in turn, in a ‘round’. You can ask them for specific information (e.g. ‘Please could you tell us your name and your degree programme and one reason why you choice this module?’). Some learners will find this nerve racking while others will seem to hog the limelight and give you a life history (this is negative not just because of your time, see Chapter 3 on chilly climates). You may like to indicate your expectations by introducing yourself in the style that you have asked the learners to use and so model the level and depth of information you are hoping to get from them. This can take between 30 seconds and a minute per person and so you can calculate the time your introductory round will take. If time is short and the group is large you may wish to introduce yourself and then invite the learners to introduce themselves to two other people in the room. If you sense your learners may be shy talking about themselves, you can ask them to find out about the person sitting next to them and introduce their ‘partner’ to the group. A tip would be to always check with the introduced person to see if they would like to add or correct anything that was said about them. Round introductions are a very common way of beginning and as such may become a boring way to begin, especially at the beginning of the new teaching year. Indeed, you may wish to include an introductory round but perhaps not start the session this way – you may wish to engage the

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learners straight away in a small task, but then use a round to do two jobs (e.g. ‘So can each person share one suggestion and please do introduce yourself as you do this too’). WARM-UP AND ICE-BREAKING EXERCISES You may wish to do more to help the group members get to know each other and establish rapport by organizing an activity specifically designed to encourage interaction and to help break down the barriers of embarrassment or anxiety in a new group. Warming participants up and ‘breaking the ice’ between them is of great importance if open discussion is to take place quickly. When groups of people who are strangers come together for the first time there is inevitably a certain level of uncertainty and even anxiety. Some people may have had bad experiences of warm up or ice-breaking exercises that have been perceived as having a high ‘cringe factor’. It is the facilitator’s responsibility to minimize these problems by using an appropriate activity for the group in hand and by introducing the activity in a non-threatening or embarrassment provoking way. The tutor also needs to take into account the time an icebreaking activity will take in session planning. Some people differentiate between warm-up exercises and ice-breakers, although there is considerable overlap and they can be thought of as a spectrum of activities ranging from simple introductions at one end to elaborate games and simulations at the other. They are normally used at the beginning of a session when the group forms, but they can also be used just after breaks to re-focus the group on a new objective or at any time as a way of varying the stimulus and keeping the group active. They can be used to encourage speaking and communication, but they can also be used to help group member’s work together more easily on problem orientated or creative tasks. Malseed (1994) suggests they fulfil a variety of functions: ■

Help ‘break the ice’ in new groups, by allowing people to learn each other’s names and something about each other ■ Prepare groups for mixing and working together by encouraging, and presenting ways for group members to interact and participate ■ Wake people up, both physically and mentally, which sharpens their concentration and helps them engage and work more effectively

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Help focus groups, both new and established, as preparation for activities to follow, and/ or collaborative work ■ Provide information for facilitators about, for instance, levels of ability and group dynamics, which can valuably inform subsequent planning ■ Help people have fun and enjoy learning. A few examples of warm-up exercises and icebreakers are given below. Further examples can be found in Elwyn et al. (2001) whereas Malseed (1994) lists 48 activities that have been interestingly categorised into ‘low risk’, ‘medium risk’ and high risk’ in terms of their ‘degree of personal challenge’ to participants. LOW RISK ■

Group members, arranged in a circle, introduce themselves by saying who they are and what name they wish to be called, what they do for a living or what course they’re on, and say something briefly about themselves such as a hobby or interest. The facilitator may prime this process by suggesting that people do not reveal any information about themselves that they don’t feel comfortable with the group knowing. ■ Group members, arranged in a circle, are asked to form pairs. In pairs, and taking no more than two minutes each, they take turns explaining whom they are to their partner giving a brief biography and, for example, ending with something unusual or humorous they have done. Each member of the pair then presents their partner to the group until all have been presented. The facilitator can be included in this process if there is an odd number. Comment: although this technique is listed here as ‘low risk’ it is not risk free; in fact, any level of risk is going to be completely dependent on the different dynamics in your group. In a recent seminar, a transgender learner was mis-gendered by her peer when being introduced to the group, which caused some discomfort and embarrassment. It is then a good idea to ask the group to give their preferred pronouns. Or an orthodox practising Muslim women might find talking with a man problematic.

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MEDIUM RISK ■

Group members, arranged in a circle, are given a ball. Going round the circle first, each group member gives their name when they have the ball. Then a person with the ball throws it to someone and shouts the target’s name. That person thanks the thrower by name and then throws it to someone else saying their name. If a thrower states a name incorrectly the receiver states their name and throws it back and lets them repeat the correct name. The process continues until everyone has learned everyone else’s name. ■ Group members, sitting in a circle, are asked to imagine that the space in front of them represents a map with appropriate directions of North, South, East and West. Depending on the background of the group the map could represent the Earth, one continent or one country. Participants are then asked to position themselves approximately at the location of their birth on the imagined map. The exercise can be repeated by asking learners where they went to school, studied or worked previously. ■ If the small group is larger, invite people to stand and when you give the signal, they are asked to join a group of three and they must find out three things they have in common as quickly as they can. After a minute or two, the signal to change groups is given and people must find another group of three and find three new things in common (that have not been used in any of their previous groups!). Repeat so most people have been in a group with most other people. HIGHER RISK ■

Group members are issued with a list of, for example, ten facts about a person with a space next to each one for a name to be written. The list might include facts such as, ‘Is an only child’, ‘Is an eldest child’, ‘Has visited the USA’, ‘Is a Manchester United supporter’, ‘Hates opera’, ‘Has done a parachute jump’, etc. Group members now mingle and ask each other questions until as many of the spaces as possible are filled up. In this process everyone talks to everyone else and finds out their name. Rather than a list, you can also provide the learners with ‘Bingo’-styled cards with similar facts and the first person to fill all the spaces shouts ‘House’.

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Group members are given a Post-it note and invited to write three things about themselves, only one is a lie! Sticking the Post-it note on their forehead, the group stand up and find a partner. Can you guess the lie? After a minute or two swap partners and repeat.

FINDING OUT MORE ABOUT THE LEARNERS With a new group you may wish to find out more about your learners at the start of the class. The diversity in the class can be used very beneficially to broaden and deepen discussion and enhance peer learning. You can simply ask your learners about their prior learning in the topic or discipline and that is likely to give you a quick overview of their experience and what they have studied in the past. However, such an approach may tell you less about the abilities of the class. You can also use a quiz or set of short questions or problems to help you find out more. Although the use of a ‘pre-test’ can provide much useful information for the tutor, it does need to be used sensitively (see Chapter 3). Some learners will feel very anxious if your test feels like an exam and as Chapter 3 suggests, high-pressure environments can increase the risk of stereotype threat. Therefore, you need to think carefully about how you introduce the test or quiz and how you handle the results. If you use the quiz to structure your first discussion you can avoid much of the anxiety. For example, give ten short questions to the group that ask them about the topics that you will be studying together – as noted above, technology can be used to great effect here (e.g. www.socrtive.com). Try and mix your questions so that you can find out what they are already familiar with and how far they are able to use (e.g. analyse, interpret etc.) their knowledge. Then go through the responses to each question in class asking the group for their answers and reactions. Alternatively, you could read out the answers and ask them to mark their own and then, with a neighbour, come up with three questions that they would like to ask about the test. In both scenarios you will indirectly be able to find out more about the current level of knowledge and the particular abilities of your class. You will be able to achieve this without creating greater anxiety for your new learners and avoiding the extra work that would arise if you took in answer sheets to mark yourself. Many first year learners may come to university having not experienced a tutorial or seminar before. The question, ‘how are we going to work together?’ may never have been asked of them before. So, it may be very worthwhile to use some of your first meeting with a new group of learners

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to find out about their expectations and clarify the working relationship between ‘tutor and learners’ and ‘learners and learners’. The development and use of ‘ground rules’ or ‘seminar agreements’ was discussed in Chapter 4; they can provide a useful vehicle for negotiating and agreeing roles, responsibilities and how the class will operate. A colleague in Economics begins each tutorial with a new group of learners by writing on the board two questions, ‘How do you think we will work together in the tutorial?’ and ‘What should the tutor do?’ He then makes some excuse to leave the room for a couple of minutes and then (usually) re-joins a lively discussion back in the classroom. At this point, he can ask what the group thinks and he can add his own views and put right any misconceptions that he finds.

REFLECTION POINTS • How do you find out about your learners? • How do you set the learning environment and help your learners to feel safe and ready to work? • Have you used any of the approaches discussed above, if so, what were their strengths and weaknesses in your context?

GOAL SETTING Planned and structured small group sessions will be designed to meet specific purposes and to align with the module aims, learning outcomes and assessments. It is beneficial to clarify these goals and set the agenda at the beginning of the class ensuring a common purpose is understood by all. There may be an opportunity for learners to influence or add to the learning goals for the class. For example, you could introduce the topic or the theme and ask the learners what they would like to achieve by the end of the class. Quick reminder: the aims of the class can be thought of as the general purposes for including it in the module and the learning outcomes are the specific things that you would expect the learners to be able to do or know about by the end of the class. (Butcher, Davies and Highton 2006). Both aspects are useful to share and discuss with the learners. It can be useful to return to these towards the end of the session to help you and the learners evaluate the effectiveness of the class and the impact on their learning.

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TRADITIONAL SGT FORMATS – E.G. IN SEMINARS AND TUTORIALS Small group teaching sessions are fundamentally defined by the intention to enable learners to participate actively in the class and there are a number of class formats that tutors will recognize (probably from their own experiences as learners). Examples of class formats: ■

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One or two learners give short presentations, based on their preparatory reading and research – followed by a whole class discussion led by the tutor or learners. Preparatory readings or tasks are set for all learners ahead of the class, which consists of a whole class discussion on relevant topic issues. Learners are expected to work in mini-groups of three or four to discuss a question or analyse a source. Mini-groups might all look at the same or different questions. They report back to a whole group discussion. The tutor begins by giving short presentation or demonstration on a topic or source material. S/he then sets the class questions that require the learners, working in mini-groups, to further analyse the issue or source. In quantitative subjects learners tackle a problem sheet at home and bring their answers to class. The tutor works through solutions to each question on the board and helps learners understand how to solve any they struggled with either in one-to-one conversations or via whole class discussions. Structured discussion with one or more learners acting as rapporteurs for different viewpoints or sections of the discussion.

These standard seminar formats have many learning benefits, particularly when led for motivated and engaged learners, but they are also demanding in terms of the facilitation and group management skills of the tutor. Encouraging and supporting full learner participation isn’t always easy. Below are a set of approaches that can supplement a tutor’s options when leading a SGT session. Furthermore, these approaches can be enhanced by the use of technology (see Chapter 11).

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ACTIVE SGT METHODS, TASKS AND TECHNIQUES At the heart of SGT is the active involvement in tasks and activities that lead to greater understanding, learning and the development of skills. Here are some ways in which you can structure and manage discussions and activities in the classroom. ROUNDS As with the introductory round described earlier, here the learners are asked to respond in turn and all are involved and contributing. Rounds work best when the seating arrangements allow participants to see each other when they are talking and when the number of learners in the group is less than 16. Above this number the round can become too time-consuming and laboured. Rounds can be used at the start of a session to provide a realistic focus or to check current levels of understanding, e.g. please complete the following sentence in turn, ‘A good teacher tries to’ or let’s produce a joint list of ‘Things that help me learn’. During a session a round can be used to collect examples or to provide learners with an opportunity to ask questions, e.g. ‘In a round let us collect examples of people who are leaders’, or, alternatively, ‘One thing I am not sure about is’. At the end of a SGT you can use a round to help bring a session to a close and relate the learning outcomes back to the learner through an active summary or action plan, e.g. ‘One thing I learnt today is’ or ‘What I will do next is’. PASS THE PEN This is a modification of the ‘round’ technique that asks to learners to jointly compile a list of contributions and write up their point before passing the pen to the next person in line or a person of their choice. Some international learners for whom English is not their first language or very shy learners may find this form of written communication easier to enter than the usual verbal forms. CHOOSE AN ITEM A further adaptation of the ‘round’ is to provide several items and ask the learners to choose one and talk about it for a minute or to present the pros and cons of using it, or to place in priority order, etc.

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The items might be archaeological specimens or pieces of medical equipment or poems, whatever makes sense for the discipline. The learners may feel some items are easier to talk about than others and there might be a rush to choose first and get the best items. Alternatively, you can manage the choice so that your learners take it in turns or get the opportunity to choose when they have completed another task. I recently observed a seminar in which the tutor began the session by inviting each learner to choose a postcard from her collection as they entered the room. She then invited them to introduce themselves by simply stating their name and why they had selected the card they had chosen. I saw how quickly the simple task enabled the learners to relax and begin to share with each other. BRAINSTORMING Brainstorming is a very useful and popular SGT activity. Not only can it achieve specific content or topic-orientated goals, it can also be used as a warm-up exercise and icebreaker. A brainstorm has two distinct parts. During part one the focus should be on quantity rather than quality and the aim is to generate lots of ideas and encourage lateral thinking. The tutor, or one of the learners, should collect and write down the ideas and comments as they are put forward by the learners. During this ‘creative’ phase you should not stop the flow of new ideas by discussing or questioning any of the contributions. Then in part two of the brainstorm you move to analyse and evaluate the list of suggestions that has been produced. So rather than critiquing an individual’s contribution, you view the list as a product to be collectively studied further. During part two, the group uses your guidance and directions to begin to rule-out and rule-in contributions, to group items and to consider their inter-relationship and relative importance. For example, you may suggest that the learners view the list in terms of ‘urgent’ and ‘important’ or ‘immediate, short-term and long-term strategies’. Separating the two phases has the impact of freeing discussion and enabling the learners to make more original and unguarded points. It is therefore an excellent approach to adopt when problem solving or designing. The class dynamics are also worth commenting on. The high energy of a brainstorm can be used to ‘waken-up’ tired learners or open up a new topic in the middle of a SGT session. This can be an excellent way of including variety in a session to change pace and process.

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MIND MAPS AND CONCEPT-MAPS Also used as writing techniques to help overcome ‘writers’ block’, mind mapping can be used to good effect by a group to solve problems, work creatively and explore new topics in a SGT session. Originated in the late 1960s by Tony Buzan, mind maps are a visual method of generating and seeing relationships between ideas, concepts and things (Buzan 1993). Mind maps enable participants to see the key relationships between concepts in a specific subject area, helping them to gain an overview that is helpful in organizing their learning. Hence, this approach can be particularly useful for more abstract subjects that use precise and specific language such as Philosophy, Theology or Law. They can help to break down the relationships between ideas and expose their underlying assumptions, they help to create new relationships between ideas and they can help learners explore how they construct their own mental models. The process involves writing up the topic to be addressed in the middle of the blackboard (or whiteboard, or flipchart) and then inviting the group members to think of points that come to mind when considering the topic. The contributions are written up on the board using a series of interconnecting lines to indicate the relationships between points. For example, contributions may be grouped together in a sub-set of related points or consumed within a major topic and represented by sub-branching lines moving outwards from the main topic. As with the brainstorm described above, you may wish to divide the process into two clear parts: first, generate lots of ideas, second, analyse the mind map and further critique the contributions. The advantages of such an approach are that all the learners can take part and the end product of their collaboration can then be used by all to help structure the further study of the topic. You may use the same technique in smaller sub-groups or suggest that your learners could use the same technique to help them get started on their individual writing assignments. This technique of creating a map or diagram of related concepts can be adapted and different structures or frameworks could be suggested to help arrange and organizeideas. For example, a timeline, a priority list, a matrix, a pros/cons grid, a continuum between two opposites, etc. This approach, as with others, can be enhanced by technology. For example, the mind-mapping app, iThought HD, or on Android SchematicMind or Mindomo.

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SWOT ANALYSIS SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It is an analysis technique that can be used within a group to review their own progress on a joint project. For example, a learner team preparing to work on a multi-disciplinary project in engineering could use a SWOT analysis to help them identify and address the issues facing the group. The analysis can highlight the ‘What do we need to do to work together effectively?’ questions, as differences in approach can become a problem for the group (and the tutor). A SWOT can also be used by the learners in a tutorial when they are evaluating case studies, e.g. In Business Studies learners could be asked to consider the current state of a particular company using a SWOT analysis and make recommendations on the next steps that company should take. Asking pairs or mini-groups to discuss and note down their thoughts on one or more of the SWOT headings and then feeding back their analysis to the whole class is a method that can involve all the learners actively in a process. BUZZ GROUPS AND PYRAMIDS A buzz group, so called because of the level of noise that explodes in the room, is when two or three learners are asked to discuss a question or topic for a few moments. The level and pitch of the question is important. It should be about something that all the learners can sensibly discuss either from their own experience or from their learning on the course. In setting questions it may help to precede the buzz group by giving the learners a few seconds to write down their own response before being asked to discuss it with a colleague. More of the learners will take part in this preparation phase if you attach a quantitative goal, for example, ‘Please write down five reasons to give a lecture’, or ‘In priority order, list three causes of chest pain’. This would then be followed by instructions such as, ‘Please compare your list with two people sat next to you’, or ‘Look over at your neighbour’s list and see if you agree’. The main reasons for asking learners to work in this way is to encourage them to think about the topic for themselves and to get all the learners actively engaged. A secondary reason may be to collect the views or answers from the learners and incorporate their responses in the whole class discussions. If this is an aim, then you will need to take feedback from the learners.

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Please see the section on ‘Reporting back / getting feedback from the learners’ below for some suggestions on how to do this. However, it is worth mentioning here that you are much more likely to get feedback from the learners if you have asked them to discuss their ideas with another learner first. Learners who have spoken and had the chance to ‘rehearse’ their views in private are then much more likely to speak out in front of the whole class. During a buzz group they have also had the opportunity to get their points of view reinforced (or challenged) so that it is no longer just their idea, but a peer has supported it. Again this is encouragement to ‘risk’ bringing their point forward into the class discussion. Learners who have discussed a question in pairs can then be asked to join with another pair and extend their conversations and deepen their exploration of the topic. This group of four could then be invited to join with another four and combine their thinking and negotiate a group response. This is sometimes called ‘pyramiding’ or ‘snowballing’ and can be a structured way of forming larger groups or syndicate groups in which you can be sure that everybody has had the opportunity to express their thoughts even if they would normally be inhibited in a group of eight people. One drawback of this technique is that participants may find themselves repeating points initially made in the pair, in the four and then again in the eight. For this reason we do not recommend that this technique is used frequently as it may lead to some learners feeling frustrated and bored. CROSS-OVER AND MIXED GROUPS A class can be divided into groups of four learners to work together on a problem or discussion topic. Rather than reporting their findings back to plenary the tutor can ask, for example, two learners from one group to swap places with two learners from another group and so ‘cross-over’. Here, the intention is that ideas generated in one group can be added to those produced in another group and so ‘grow’ the topic and broaden the debate. One way for the tutor to manage a cross-over activity is described below. Initially, each member is given a code number that represents their membership of the first group and their membership of the second group. For example if there are to be initially four groups of three then participants can be labelled as either ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ or ‘D’. Participants would then be asked to form three groups ensuring that there was an ‘A’, a ‘B’, a ‘C’ and a ‘D’ in each one. They would then engage in some appropriate activity for a specific

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■■ FIGURE 6.1  Illustrating the technique of crossover grouping

amount of time. Groups would be crossed over by asking four new groups to form such that all the ‘As’ were together, all the ‘Bs’ and so on. The new groups would then carry out the next part of the activity. Cross grouping is very useful for facilitating small groups working together on different tasks, the results of which can finally be reported in the whole group. This process means that participants initially collaborate to achieve the first outcome and thus developing a certain expertise and then, after the cross over, they have to present and share this expertise with members of another group who may question them to clarify points. A large amount of content can be covered in this process with all participants learning by collaboration, by presenting, by listening and questioning. Cross grouping can be time-managed in a single SGT session, but the first phase could also be an extensive piece of collaborative work involving additional self-directed learning and presentation preparation. However, as with the pyramid approach discussed previously, there is a danger that some learners may feel that the technique in practice causes them to repeat or hear again previously discussed ideas. A slight adaptation of the basic technique can help to avoid this situation if the problem or topic is divided into two or more stages and the ‘cross-over’ occurs as the learners move from one level to the next. The focus of the discussion is moving on and repetition is avoided while still gaining some of the benefits of having a re-mixed group. For example, the first stage of a task may be to generate lots of ideas or possible strategies and then the second stage might be to select one approach to work on in detail. By ‘crossing-over’ the groups between these two stages the learners can draw upon a wider set of ideas, generated by both groups.

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A variation on this approach can be used in quantitative problem classes when learners are asked to solve mathematical or statistical problems. The tutor can take one group of learners through a solution to check their understanding and the accuracy of their working-out and final answer. These learners can then join other groups and act as learner tutors for that problem – thus cascading their expertise. The tutor can then check the solution for a second problem with a second group of learners who will then act as learner tutors for this second problem and help their peers. There is growing evidence that such peer tutoring is not only helpful for the learners who get help but is also helpful for the learner tutor who gains a greater depth of understanding through the process of teaching (Lander 2016; Nestojko et al. 2014). CUT UPS, CARDS AND POST-ITS It is possible to encourage group discussion and deep-level thinking by utilizing paper-based resources in sequencing, assembling, categorizing and prioritizing activities. These techniques can be inserted into any SGT session to vary the stimulus and encourage further interactivity. They can also be fun! Cut-ups involve cutting up lists of, for example, ideas, concepts, processes, definitions, statements, names, dates, etc., placing them in an envelope and giving them to a small group of two to three learners. The learners are then given instructions on how they are to process what they have been given, ranging from specific to open-ended. For example, they might be given no instructions at all and have to decide what to do from the context of the SGT session. Alternatively, they may be asked to categorize them in a particular way, placing them in related groups. Or they might have to put them into a prioritized list or a logical sequence. For example, the tutor provides envelopes containing cuts-ups on different coloured paper where the task is to match or relate the contents of one envelope with another, e.g. a problem and possible solutions, a disease and treatments, a chemical and its mode of synthesis, etc. The technique is limited only by the imagination of the facilitator! Sets of cards containing information printed on sticky labels are also a useful resource for SGT. Again, they can contain ideas, concepts, processes, definitions, statements, names and dates – any information that is relevant to the task in hand. Learners can use the cards in a variety of ways: as stimuli for discussion; as partial lists that need to be completed; as steps in a process.

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Coloured Post-its are a flexible resource, which enable learners to move ideas around and to examine relationships between them. Learners can write on them, stick them on a flipchart or whiteboard and then rearrange them according to the activity being undertaken. Post-its are a very useful for getting learners to create ‘mind maps’ (see above). When learners engage in these activities, they immediately start talking to each other, discussing their reasons and choices for categorization or sequencing and arguing to support particular outcomes. Depending on the nature of the task, this can lead to deep-level thinking and a critical evaluation of concepts and relationships. Afterwards, in the larger group, by encouraging participants to reflect on how they came to their decisions, further elaboration of ideas and meta-cognition can be achieved. SYNDICATE GROUPS Most of the common difficulties faced when facilitating SGT sessions, e.g. quiet groups or shy learners, over–talkative individuals and mixed abilities, can be minimized if the small group is made smaller. Using small working groups or syndicate groups to research or discuss issues or work through problem sheets together is a common approach that can be very effective in a wide range of situations. The syndicate group method can be used within a small or a large group class or be used to support independent study and homework assignments that may follow-on from the class. If facilities are available syndicate SGT can begin with the class meeting together to be given the work tasks and then quickly dividing off into different rooms for the majority of the class time. The tutor should move between the groups to answer questions or prompt further discussion and understanding. The tutor may also be monitoring and checking that the learners are doing what they are supposed to be doing. The class would come back together for the last ten minutes of the session to report back and hear from the tutor who may, depending on the learning outcomes and discipline, summarize the key points, indicate common mistakes or distribute answer sheets and further reading lists. CROWD SOURCING The learners are invited to contribute to a class list of ‘all they collectively know about X’, which is written up on the board by the tutor

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or the learners. Example might be, ‘What do we know about Europe, Advertising, Lenin, Natural Selection, Culture, etc.?’ Learners offer anything they can think off and these are written up. This can be done on Post-it notes too or digitally using apps such as Padlet or RealTimeBoard. The learners are then asked to analyse and organize and the ‘list’ to identify themes. The tutor can conclude the task by commenting on the contributions to highlight key connections and important points to note and also correcting any misunderstandings or identify important gaps in knowledge. GOOGLE JOCKEYING One or more learners are asked to search out Internet resources or information on behalf of the class and to share this either in group discussion or by a more formal presentation. There are a growing number of search engine tools, e.g. instaGrok.com, that can be used to support this approach by combining search engines with other tools such as mind-mapping features. This approach can be very effective when coupled with the drive to relate the seminar with a current hot topic or current affairs issue such as a scientific advancement or a controversial political decision, etc. A CIRCLE OF VOICES This discussion method was developed by Brookfield and Preskill (1999) and aims to give everybody the same chance to speak. The tutor gives the class three minutes of quiet time to prepare what they want to say on a defined topic. Each learner, in turn, is given up to three minutes of uninterrupted time to speak. When everyone has spoken the discussion then opens into a more free-form discussion, but learners are only allowed to talk about contributions that others have made, i.e. their reactions to others’ ideas rather than expand on their own. The only exception being if another learner asks you directly about your own contribution in the circle of voices. VARYING THE STIMULI The disciplinary context for your SGT session will clearly influence the types of triggers that you feel are appropriate to stimulate discussion or learning tasks. That said, sometimes challenging pre-conceived limitations

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in this regard can be very rewarding. There are many options available to us and some types of triggers are listed below: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

An extract from a written source, essay, poem, biography A picture, photograph or diagram A Vine video, Facebook or Instagram post, a WhatsApp story or Twitter feed A piece of music, song lyric or rhythm A quotation, a portrait A cartoon, illustration or joke A crafted scenario, a true story, a vignette A personal anecdote A case study, an example, an illustration, a clinical case A news story, newspaper article, headline A journal article A radio play or recorded interview A plan or design drawing A film clip, video, TED talk etc. A business report A spreadsheet or table of data.

RESOURCE-BASED LEARNING TASKS A development of the stimuli or trigger starting point for a discussion or in-class task provides a range of related resources that the learners use to tackle a problem or research an issue. For example, a resource pack might include a product description and image, a set of focus group data, production costs and sales figures and marketing learners could be asked to suggest ideas to increase sales. JIGSAWING The stimuli for discussion or problem solving can be made uniquely challenging by jigsawing the topics and themes to be considered by different mini-groups in the class. The tutor provides the learners with two sets of cards that give two sets of alternative variables. Each group selects one card from each set giving a unique set of circumstances to be discussed. For example, one set of cards might give names of different historical figures and the second

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set a number of political issues – the learners would have to discuss and/or present on the connections between the person and the issue. Alternatively, one set of cards could include different kinds of people (a baby, a pregnant woman, an 80-year-old man, etc.) and the second set might include different sets of blood test results. The learners would consider the diagnosis and management plans for their different ‘patients’. QUIZ CHOICES Short quizzes or mini-tests can provide very useful feedback to tutor and learners about learning gains and knowledge gaps. Quizzes can serve many different learning purposes depending on where in the session they are planned: ■

At the start of the session – encourage prompt arrival, check and refresh prior learning (knowledge and understanding), set the scene for what is to come, etc. ■ During the session – support peer learning, compare views, apply concepts, prompt critique, invite debate and dialogue, motivate on-going interest, etc. ■ Towards the end of the session – recap key ideas, evaluate learning, identify gaps for future study, teaser questions for a future class, etc. (Katrine Kaas provides a useful taxonomy of writing intellectual questions at https://obl.ku.dk/ theme/how-to-formulate-good-questions/ Quizzes can be designed and managed in a variety of ways. A quiz might be taken by individual learners, teams or worked through by the whole class together. Questions might be true/false, right or wrong or illicit more complex and debated answers. They may provide a short change in activity taking perhaps ten minutes in total or run through the whole seminar with learners working through a sequenced set of quiz questions to guide their progression study of a topic. There are many web tools that tutors can use to create online quizzes and polls in addition to traditional paper-based pencil and paper quizzes. (Please see the suggested resources at the end of this chapter for some useful websites that give detailed information about a wide range of digital quiz building tools.)

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PROMPTED PEER QUESTIONING Following a lecture or brief in-class presentation, the learners are provided with a set of prompt questions that are open and generic in style. The learners individually prepare a number of specific questions on the presented topic using the prompts before moving to work in a small group where they take turns to ask their questions. The method supports a form of targeted peer learning and enables a circulating tutor to identify the conceptual challenges the learners are facing. A set of example prompt questions are given below and see more in Chapter 4.

PROMPT QUESTIONS EXAMPLES Which is the best – and why? How does – relate to –? How does – apply to practice? Where else have we seen this – concept? Explain how – works? What could improve – in the future? What would be another example of –? Why does – happen when – changes? So how would we solve –? What are the strengths and weaknesses of –?

MORE ADVENTUROUS TECHNIQUES The techniques considered here require advanced planning and the development of appropriate learning resources. While the use of role-play and simulations is common place in some academic disciplines, their adoption is by no means universal. Tutors should be sensitive to the local culture of their teaching environment and aim to lessen anxiety if teaching approaches go beyond the normal experience of learners. For example, a tutor may wish to introduce a role-play as a ‘chance to practice’ or a simulation as a ‘worked case study’ if the words ‘role play’ and ‘simulation’ are likely to cause undue trepidation in themselves.

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FISH BOWLING OR ‘THE INNER CIRCLE’ Fish bowling, as the name implies, involves having one group observe a smaller group working within it. For example, it could involve a large group observing a smaller group of seven or eight engaging in solving a problem or a guided discussion. Alternatively, it could involve a group observing a role-play of an interview or a simulated consultation. However, fish bowling is more than just observation. The tutor may stop the activity of the smaller group for several minutes and invite comments or suggestions from the larger group. The facilitator might encourage or specifically direct the larger group to observe the interpersonal dynamics, the strategies used, or the questioning approaches occurring within the smaller group and may encourage discussion on these areas. The smaller group more or less ignores the comments from the larger group and its members do not participate in the larger group discussion. At a signal from the facilitator, the smaller group continues its activity. This starting and stopping process can occur several times during the session. ROLE-PLAY Role-play is an extremely powerful way of encouraging small group participants to explore their own behaviour and the behaviour of others in simulated situations. Properly used it enables participants to analyse their attitudes and behaviour, to obtain feedback on their behaviour and try out different behaviours (Holsbrick-Engels 1994). For group members whose objectives are concerned with the development of interpersonal relationships and communications skills, role-play is a very powerful learning experience. However, because of its power it is a potentially dangerous technique that can be emotionally distressing for un-prepared participants. Facilitators should use it with care and with proper preparation and monitoring. Basically, role-play involves asking someone to be someone else, to pretend to be another person in an imagined situation; it is acting or improvising without a script. Usually, this takes place in front of the rest of the group during a fish bowl activity (see above). Clearly, very powerful experiential learning can occur for the role-play participants but it can be an equally powerful learning experience for the observers, which can be reinforced if appropriate questioning and de-briefing is undertaken by the facilitator.

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Many types of role-play revolve around the interaction between two people and hence two participants are required for such situations. For example: ■ Doctor–patient ■ Lawyer–defendant ■ Mother/father–son/daughter ■ Parent–teacher ■ Researcher–supervisor/industrialist ■

Social worker–client

■ Teacher–learner ■ Trainer–trainee ■ Manager–employee ■ Tutor–tutee ■ Designer–client ■ Reviewer–reviewee.

More elaborate situations can involve more people, leading to simulations of quite complex interpersonal interactions. Elwyn et al. (2001) claim that the benefits of role-play derive from its immediacy and its ability to bring learning to life in a safe environment. They suggest that role-play helps participants: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Express hidden feelings and discuss sensitive problems Understand how others feel and react in different situation Observe how some people handle complex, difficult social situations Become completely engaged with and captivated by an issue or idea Receive immediate and diverse feedback about their performance Close the gap between ‘theory’ and ‘practice’ and consolidate skill development Change their attitudes.

Nerves or anxieties about participating in role-plays can be reduced by making the purpose really clear, providing clear guidance or instruction and a safe space to ‘have a go’. Indeed, preparation and priming is all if role-play is to work successfully. For example a role-play should fit within the overall outcomes of a SGT session. Participants should be

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fully informed of what to expect and, if necessary, appropriate volunteers should be recruited. Role players should be briefed on what their roles are by giving them pre-printed role descriptions or by providing a written scenario describing the situation they are supposed to be in. The role-play should be timed and monitored giving participants the time to ‘take off’ the role and express themselves as themselves. The standard technique for using a role-play would be for it to be introduced, carried out and then discussed by the group. However, Morry Van Ments has described a number of variations that can be introduced into the process (Van Ments 1999). ■

■

■

■

■

Role reversal: Participants can swap roles. For example, a trainer can become a trainee. This is particularly useful for allowing participants to explore how they feel. Role rotation: The main role (for example a manager) is rotated through the participants so that everyone has an experience of the role. Alter ego: A participant stands behind the main role player and acts as their ‘alter ego’ or alternative self, voicing their imagined thoughts or feelings in the first person such as ‘I was hurt by that remark’. They may also act to move the role-play on if the role players get stuck and can’t think of anything to say. Replay: Used by the facilitator to allow the role players to ‘re-wind’ and act out a specific sequence again. The facilitator may also pause proceedings to allow the observers to make comments on what they see happening (see above in ‘fish bowling’) Fast-forward: If the facilitator feels that time is running out or that a particular issue has now been dealt with, they can ‘fast-forward’ to a later situation in the role play.

Once a role-play has been completed, it is traditional for the role players to formally close down their roles and re-establish their own identities by stating who they are. This may require a few moments if the situation has been an emotional one or learners have been asked to embody viewpoints with which they fundamentally disagree. The next phase is to engage the whole group in a de-brief where the role- play is analysed, discussed, dissected and the learning points extracted.

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SIMULATIONS AND GAMES Simulations and games can be designed to provide learners with opportunities to explore some aspect of the real world in the safety and relative simplicity of a SGT environment. There are a great variety of simulations and games available right across the higher education curriculum (see SAGSET website: The Society for the Advancement of Games and Simulations in Education and Training (www.simulations.co.uk/sagset/ sagset2.htm). Simulations may be introduced into the curriculum to try to provide learners with a learning experience that may otherwise be denied them because of the cost, feasibility, safety, etc. Simulations may also be used to give the learners additional opportunities for preparation, practice or review if providing lots of the ‘real thing’ is extremely difficult or impossible. For example, different mini-groups could be asked to take the stance of different countries in strategic negotiation, prepare cases and then take part in a simulated negotiation. Games involve participants by using active, highly motivating and memorable methods of learning. Calling learning an activity, a game, reduces the personal cost for many learners but may also reduce the appreciation of the learning taking place so the tutor’s role is often to reinforce and underline the points that emerge from the experience.

DEBATES A tutor or learner groups can stage a debate between two or more opposing positions. Time to prepare arguments and collect supportive evidence may be allocated before or during the session. The ‘rules’ of the debate need to be made clear, who will chair the discussion, how should time be shared between speakers, how much time should be allocated to questioning and challenging and how will the debate be decided. Will the non-debating learners vote, will the key arguments be summarised by the tutor, will it lead to an individual assignment after the class? Debates are sometimes referred to as ‘structured academic controversies’ in the literature (e.g. Smith, 2000) and a goal is that the learners gain an understanding of all sides of an issue and are able to see how arguments can be made, supported and rebutted in discussion but also perhaps in their written assignments.

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REPORTING BACK / GETTING FEEDBACK FROM THE LEARNERS If learners have been asked to work in mini-groups or syndicate groups during part of the class, there is often a need to bring the class back together in plenary to share learning and outcomes. This is often referred to as ‘taking feedback’ or ‘reporting back’ and there are several ways that this can be managed. The choice of approach clearly depends upon the initial learning outcomes for the class but may also depend on the amount of time available. If time is short the tutor may simply want to sample learners’ work to get an impression of their conversations by quickly inviting groups to give one point from their discussions (‘The most important, anything you didn’t agree on, the point you spend the longest discussing’ etc.). However, in many cases the tutor will want to give time and space for fuller report backs. Asking individual learners to respond If you ‘pick on’ learners and put them on the spot to answer a question you may be lucky and ask a confident learner who has a helpful response at the ready and all may go well. However, you run the risk of getting embarrassed silence, a muddled and unfocussed response or, at worst, a very upset and discouraged learner. Why take this risk, after all it is the tutor who then has to rescue the situation and re-build the atmosphere in the classroom? I do believe this approach can work well for some tutors, but it can also be a sign that we haven’t properly prepared and fully thought through how we would like to get learner feedback and I have observed this tactic going uncomfortably wrong. Instant posters Asking learners to work together to list their responses on a sheet of flipchart paper can be a helpful way to give a clear focus to their group’s discussions or problem solving. As the group is working it also gives the tutor a visible means of monitoring progress and the direction the discussion has taken. Once the work is completed the poster can be the sole means of feedback if time is short. It can be very interesting to put up the posters on the wall and ask small groups to read each other’s feedback. Or indeed, pass on posters and rotate round the other groups for comment or additional points.

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Alternatively, you could invite a group spokesperson to pick out two key points from their poster and continue in this way for each group to gain further insight into the detail of their internal discussions. Or you could ask for a full verbal report back to accompany the poster from one group and then ask for additional comments or questions from the other groups. Using cards and Post-it notes While instant posters can work very well for a group feedback situation the smaller scale offered by self-adhesive Post-it notes or note cards than can be viewed on a visualiser can better provide an appropriate medium for collecting a range of individual (or pairs’) responses. For example, a tutor may say to a class towards the end of the third SGT session with them: Please could you give me some feedback on how you think these classes or going and how could we improve them for you? Take a couple of Post-it notes and on one please write One thing I really value in the class is . . . and on the second please write One thing I would like to change in the class is . . . Using the visualiser for feedback can provide an opportunity to show a range of learner views together. Provide note cards and ask each group to list the three words that best describe ‘X’ for them, or their estimated cost of ‘X’, or the main symptoms or ‘X’ (or some other appropriate short feedback response). The tutor can then display up to four responses together and draw comparisons between them in a summarizing discussion. This feedback technique also has the advantage that the tutor gets to see all of the learners’ responses before they are displayed to the whole group. The tutor can therefore choose to show similar responses or juxtapose learner views. The tutor can also begin to formulate a reaction to the learner ‘voice’ and to, if necessary, provide a final summary to include any absent key points and to correct any errors in understanding made by the learners. Inviting learners to feedback from mini-group discussion by writing points on individual Post-it notes and sticking them to a board or wall, will enable responses to be grouped and collated. Enabling the learners to see themes and their findings to emerge in this kinaesthetic and visual way can provide a memorable focus for class.

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Nominated spokesperson When mini-groups have completed tasks, they may be invited to report back to the whole class through a group spokesperson. It is helpful if the tutor can give very clear instructions about how you would like the spokesperson to do this, for example: ‘Please nominate a spokesperson to feed two ideas you came up with in your group’ or ‘Please prepare a two minute report back summarizing your discussions using an instant poster’. Learner presentations Learners can be asked to prepare a more formal ‘report-back’ presentation on their work either individually, in pairs or in a mini-group. Asking learners to talk to the whole class can be a very daunting prospect for many and this should be handled with care and consideration. In Chapter 8 we will look in more detail at the approaches used in ‘learner-led’ seminars and how to help your learners develop their presentation and facilitation skills. Here, it is enough to say that you should try to see presenting to the group as part of a continuum in which the learners can first be asked to express themselves to a partner, then to a mini-group, then briefly to the whole group, etc., rather than throwing your learners in at the deep end and asking them, straight away, to give a formal, ten-minute presentation to the whole class. Work up to this and your learners will gain in skill but, more importantly they will gain in confidence. EXAMPLES FROM THE DISCIPLINES Here are some selected examples of class plans that indicate the timings and methods chosen from a range of different subjects. Law In my classes, I divide the learners into two groups that usually consist of six learners per group. I prepare two essay questions, one giving a particular standpoint and the other with the opposite standpoint. The idea behind the two questions is that each group must defend their particular standpoint. I ask all the learners to prepare four or five points that will illustrate their argument individually. At the beginning of each class I leave the learners for about 10–15 minutes to discuss the question they have been allocated and to come up with four or five points collectively to support their standpoint. I have found that this works much better if I leave the room, as they are less inhibited and

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more inclined to talk. This also works well because even if a particular learner has not prepared, he or she can then get some ideas from the other learners. I have also found that the other learners will force the learner who does not prepare to do some work as the rest will tire of someone who consistently does not do their share. We then spend about 20–30 minutes debating both questions as a whole group and summarize at the end with a vote on which of the questions they most agreed with. I sometimes also summarizethe main points in the discussion. Statistics In my problems class the course leader provides a list of problems to the learners at the end of their lecture the week before. We then have 50 minutes to go through them together. The learners are told to work through them before they come to class and some of them have but some of them haven’t. I have found that there are too many questions to go through in the time available, so I ask the learners at the beginning if they have any questions and which of the problems they have struggled with. We draw up a list of questions together and this takes about five to ten minutes. I then begin to go through a question writing up the solution line by line on the whiteboard. I stop frequently to ask the group questions; they know I don’t mind if they get it wrong and so are quite willing to shout out answers. This can take about 10–15 minutes as I try to draw out pointers that will help them with some of the other questions. Having gone through one question in this way I then ask the learners to work in pairs to look at the next question(s) together and I work around the pairs helping them when they get stuck. They do really help each other, and I find that lots of the ‘little’ questions get sorted out before I get to them. If I find that several people are having difficulty with a particular question, I may ask one or two of the learners, who I know have got it right, to show the rest of the class their worked solutions on the board. This is especially interesting if they have tackled the problem in different ways and we can discuss the pros and cons of different methods. I finish the class with a final ‘any questions’ round but usually by then we have sorted out most of the concerns. Economic history Two of the learners are asked to prepare the answer to a question based on their readings of three or four articles or chapters. They formally present this to the class – I ask them to spend about ten minutes

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presenting their argument. While they are doing this. I come up with a suitable question that arises from their presentation. It may be about something that they have not fully explained or an assumption that they have pushed too far, etc. I then divide the class up into work groups of about four learners and ask them to tackle the question together for about 20 minutes. I leave them on their own for about ten minutes, to avoid leading or directing them too much at the start, then I join the groups one by one. I then try and guide them in their consideration of the question and prompt them to be more rigorous with their treatment of models and data. We then come back together as the whole class (about 16) and I will ask a couple of the groups to respond to the question and ask the other learners to ask them questions and comment on each other’s answers. If necessary, I finish the class with a quick round-up of key issues or main points but often this is not needed as the learners have identified them during discussion. Astronomy and Physics: role-playing exercises In these exercises, I divided my class into small teams typically of three learners. Each team is then given a briefing paper, describing some facet of a particular astronomical mystery. The teams have to wander around the classroom, exchanging information with other groups, until they can piece together a complete solution to the astronomical mystery. They can then present their solution and win a prize. The exercises have been run successfully in classes as large as 150 learners, and as small as 12 learners. I see no reason why they should not work equally well in larger classes still. They have been run with learners as young as Year 10, and as old as grad learners. To find out more see the electronic paper by Francis, P.J. and Byrne, A. P. at www.atnf.csiro.au/pasa/16_2/francis/paper/  SUGGESTED FURTHER READING AND USEFUL SOURCES Davies, Peter. (2017). 70 Activities for tutor groups. London: Routledge. Mills, David and Alexander, Patrick (2013). Small group teaching: A toolkit for learning. York: Higher Education Academy. Jaques, David and Salmon, Gilly (2007). Learning in groups: A handbook for face-to-face and online environments. London: Kogan Page.

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Stanford, Teaching Commons. Sample small group exercises: https://teaching commons.stanford.edu/resources/teaching/small-groups-and-discussions/ sample-small-group-exercises

 HELPFUL WEBSITES: DIGITAL TOOLS FOR BUILDING AND RUNNING QUIZZES (ACCESSED 1/2/18) ■

35 Digital tools to create simple quizzes and collect feedback from learners. (2018). Teachthought, www.teachthought.com/technology/35-digital-toolscreate-simple-quizzes-collect-feedback-learners/

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10 Useful web tools for creating online quizzes and polls (2014) Educational Technology and Mobile Learning, www.educatorstechnology. com/2014/02/10-useful-web-tools-for-creating-online.html

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Dyer, K. (2018), The ultimate list – 65 digital tools and apps to support formative assessment practices, Teach. Learn. Grow. The Education blog, NWEA. www.nwea.org/blog/2018/the-ultimate-list-65-digital-tools-andapps-to-support-formative-assessment-practices/

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Chapter 7

Problem-based learning (PBL)

INTRODUCTION Problem-based learning (PBL) is a SGT technique used in a variety of subject areas in higher education worldwide. In this chapter we begin by examining what PBL is and how it us used including the facilitator skills required to run a PBL session. We will also look at some of the evidence for its effectiveness as an educational tool and at some examples of PBL. PBL is widely used in medical education and much of the descriptions, studies and examples cited in the following pages are taken from medicine. But there is nothing in PBL that means it can’t be applied to other disciplines and we give some examples of this. WHAT IS PBL? Problem-based learning (PBL) is essentially a SGT method that has been developed and expanded into a major way for learners to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes of a significant proportion of a course or curriculum. However, it should be remembered that the term PBL has been used in a variety of ways in the literature and more recently the term ‘enquiry-based learning’ has also been used. In a review of the field, Vernon and Blake (1993) showed that it has been used to refer to a general teaching philosophy, a particular use of learning objectives and goals or an overall view of educational attitudes and values. Walton and Matthews (1989) describe three characteristics of PBL that help to differentiate it from more traditional teaching approaches. First, the curriculum organization revolves around problems rather than disciplines and there is emphasis on integrated learning and the overt development

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of cognitive skills as well as understanding. Second, it is dominated by active SGT methods and independent learning. Third, one of its aims is the development of life-long learning attitudes. In this chapter we will describe a common and generic type of PBL. The reader can use the references to find out more information about different variants on the basic theme. As Barrows and Tamblyn (1980) state, PBL is ‘the learning which results from the process of working towards the understanding of, or resolution of, a problem’. As will be discussed later, there are many different variants of PBL but what PBL is not is merely teaching using problems as examples or giving learners problems to solve. Problem solving in the latter context is concerned with learning problem-solving techniques or finding the answers to a problem. Although these are laudable educational goals, they do not match up to the much more elaborate outcomes of PBL. PBL is concerned with working and learning in collaborative and highly motivated groups where communication and interpersonal skills are developed, personal and group learning objectives are generated, self-directed learning is carried out and problem-solving and critical evaluation skills are developed. Problems, often known as ‘scenarios’, are there not as things to be solved as such, but as triggers for group discussion and the production of tasks and learning objectives. Problems generate questions and it is the group’s production of questions triggered by the scenario that activates the deep learning processes of PBL. In many ways, PBL might more accurately be termed ‘question-based learning’. Fundamentally, and perhaps paradoxically, PBL is about a group of learners collaboratively finding out what they don’t know about a problem, which they might one day encounter professionally, and then, on the basis of their ignorance, seeking knowledge and understanding. PBL is an educational method that can be integrated with other learning modalities such as lecturing, practical work and work experience, and can then contribute towards a major proportion of the learning on a module or degree course. PBL is ideally suited to degrees where there is a strong vocational element and a set of well-defined outcomes, often deriving from the prescriptions and standards required of professional bodies. Medicine was one of the first disciplines to develop PBL at Case Western Reserve University in the USA in the 1950s and McMaster University in Canada in the late 1960s, and its use in medical education is a model for many other areas that have adopted its method, such as Dentistry, Nursing, Engineering, Law, Architecture, Social Work, Management and Economics.

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HOW DOES A PBL CURRICULUM WORK? Groups of about eight learners meet with a facilitator two or three times a week to deal with a scenario. The scenario could be a short description of a situation that the participants might encounter when they are professionally qualified. It could include a short piece of video. It will have been carefully worded by a curriculum team in such a way that at the first meeting, which normally lasts about an hour and a half, group members will be encouraged to ask questions leading to the generation of appropriate and relevant learning objectives. After the first session the group members next engage in about two or three days of work during which they have learning experiences where they are exposed to material relevant to achieving the group’s learning objectives. This might involve focused lectures, practical work or independent study. At the next one-hour session the information learned is presented and discussed by the group. An optional third session might be included where any final problems or questions generated in the preceding tutorial are resolved and where the group reflects on and evaluates, by metacognition, its own working practices and progress. A typical weekly timetable for a PBL course is shown in Table 7.1 Modules, courses or even whole degrees can be built up from a series of weekly scenarios designed to achieve the learning outcomes of the curriculum. The learning objectives generated by the scenarios are designed to fit together to form an integrated and coherent learning structure that builds up knowledge, skills and attitudes in a graded and progressive way. In addition, scenarios may be grouped together to form integrated sequences dealing with connected curriculum areas. In many forms of PBL there are specific themes running through the scenarios. For example, in medical education each scenario could have a basic medical and clinical science theme, a community and population theme, a patient and doctor theme and a personal and professional development (PPD) theme. As will be outlined later, learners are aware of these themes when dealing with the scenarios and conduct their analyses and formulate their questions with them in mind. Note that the PBL sessions can be embedded in a structured week of timetabled sessions, which might include a small number of core lectures, practical classes and work experience designed to complement the main themes of that week’s scenario. It is in the provision of these additional learning sessions that considerable variation exists

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Afternoon

Morning

Independent learning

(Introduce new scenario)

1. PBL tutorial

(Optional review of previous work)

Independent learning

Independent Learning Free time

■■Practical

■■Practical

Independent learning

Independent learning

work

■■Demonstrations

work

■■Workshops

■■Demonstrations

■■Lectures

■■Workshops

Work experience

Thursday ■■Seminars

■■Lectures

3. PBL tutorial

Wednesday

■■Seminars

Tuesday

Monday

■■ TABLE 7.1  A typical weekly PBL timetable in an undergraduate medical curriculum

work Independent learning

■■Practical

■■Demonstrations

■■Workshops

■■Seminars

■■Lectures

(Presentation and discussions)

2. PBL tutorial

Personal and professional development

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between different PBL programmes. The ‘purest’ form of PBL has just PBL tutorials and independent learning whereas other forms of PBL have increasing amounts of formal teaching including conventional lecturing. ‘Pure’ PBL is fairly rare and most courses include some formal teaching. THE ROLE OF LECTURES IN PBL When PBL was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s it operated in a ‘pure’ form without lectures. PBL was seen as an antidote to learners sitting in hours of didactic lectures absorbing large quantities of factual information passively without any opportunity to interact or question. By comparison, PBL was thus seen as ‘active’ learning with all of its associated educational advantages. Consequently, to many people, the introduction of lectures into a PBL-based curriculum was seen as heresy undermining the educational rationale of PBL. However, the context of ‘PBL lectures’ and the approach that the learner makes to them is all-important in preserving the activelearning ethos. A learner attending a traditional lecture has little context to work with and simply listens to and watches what the lecturer presents. A learner attending a ‘PBL lecture’ designed to complement a corresponding problem, and occurring after the PBL session, should be primed with questions and will approach the lecture in an entirely different way. If the lecture is delivered by an expert and if it involves opportunities for interactivity and questioning it can fulfil an ‘active’ learning role. THE PBL TUTORIAL The tutorial lies at the heart of PBL and exemplifies some of the most important aspects of SGT previously discussed in earlier chapters, for example the structure and organization of the session itself, the manipulation and monitoring of group dynamics and the skills of facilitation. The optimal group size for PBL is considered to be eight learners and a facilitator. The learners need to be trained to use PBL as does the facilitator (see later). The group meets in a suitably sized room provided with flipcharts, whiteboards and other appropriate resources, which might also include computers providing the scenarios and online learning materials. Over the years a specific sequence of events has crystallized as being the best way to deal with the scenario, although there are a number of variations. The Seven Step PBL process, described by Schmidt (1983) is shown below. Approximate timings are given for each section, although these timings are variable depending on the group’s stage and level of interest.

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THE SEVEN STEP PBL PROCESS First phase (1.5 hrs) Step 1: Clarify terms and concepts Step 2: Define the problems Step 3: Analyse the problems: question, explain, hypothesize Step 4: Make a systematic list of the analysis Step 5: Formulate learning objectives Second phase (days) Step 6: Independent learning focussed on learning objectives Third phase (1.5 hrs) Step 7: Synthesize and present new information One of the learners is the chairperson, who has the responsibility for guiding the group through the steps and another learner acts as a scribe as there is frequently lots of information to be recorded and processed. The role of the facilitator will be described in more detail later, but they take a back seat as far as possible and intervene only to ensure that the group are on the right track and moving in the right direction. We will now go through the process and describe each step in turn assuming a one and a half hour PBL tutorial session.

Step 1: Clarify terms and concepts An example of a PBL scenario is given below. Ranjit Singh, 46, has just returned from the Indian sub-continent where he visited his brother and family for a period of one month. He lives with his wife, their four children and his parents in a three-bedroom terraced house in the Peartree district of Derby. Recently, he has started coughing a lot, has little energy, is losing weight and has developed a fever. He visited his GP after he coughed up some blood and developed chest pains.

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The key question here is ‘does everyone understand the scenario?’ Are there any new technical terms that group members are not familiar with or phrases that are perhaps ambiguous and need clarification? Before continuing, it is essential that the group knows precisely what the scenario means. This involves breaking down the scenario almost into its component words and phrases (and writing them on a flipchart) so that nothing is overlooked or taken for granted. This section may only take a few minutes to complete.

Step 2: Define the problems Here, the scenario has to be broken down into its component problems. Depending on the scenario, there may be multiple problems embedded in the situation described. In addition, the group may have to apply a thematic analysis to the problem. For example, in medicine themes might include basic medical science problems, clinical problems, community problems and personal and professional development problems. In the case of the scenario given above, some of the problems that might be produced by the group are: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Incidence of TB on the Indian sub-continent People living in overcrowded conditions The pathophysiology and microbiology of TB Catching TB Diagnosis of TB Treatment of TB Effects of TB on family and community Dealing with sensitive cultural issues Doctor’s own immune status with respect to TB.

This phase might take 10 to 15 minutes.

Step 3: Analyse the problems The next phase is to take each problem in turn and subject it to a detailed analysis by using the combined knowledge and questioning power of the group. This phase is often carried out using a brainstorming technique and leads to the generation of many questions about each problem, which are recorded by the scribe for later use. This is followed by attempts to provide answers and explanations in the form of suggestions or hypotheses, drawing on the background knowledge of the group. Here, the scribe records key ideas, questions

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and possible answers on flipcharts or whiteboards around the room and a great deal of writing might take place. This process may take up to 30 minutes and is the largest element in the first tutorial. In some forms of PBL, at this stage additional information might be given to the group. For example, in the scenario described above the results of particular clinical investigations might be introduced. This might have the effect of answering some of the questions that have been posed and even closing off some lines of inquiry or questioning.

Step 4: Make a systematic list of the analysis The group will have now produced a list of questions, some of which will be unanswered and some of which might have possible answers in the form of partial or incomplete explanations. In addition, there might be some hypotheses or speculations that might require testing. The group now has to make a coherent list of this analysis bearing in mind any broad curriculum themes that need to be addressed. This might take 15 minutes and, again, the scribe will be required to record the process.

Step 5: Formulate learning outcomes The final process in this phase of the first tutorial is to attempt to turn the coherent list of questions, possible answers and hypotheses into a set of learning issues or objectives that can form the basis of individual independent learning. Each learner in the group needs to take away a set of learning objectives that can guide their own self-study. This might take about 15 minutes. In the case of the scenario given above, Table 7.2 gives a brief list of learning outcomes that might have been generated via the five PBL steps described.

Step 6: Independent learning focussed on learning outcomes The longest step in the PBL process is where learners go and consult resources in libraries, on websites and a variety of other teaching and learning resources to find answers to their questions, to test their hypotheses and to achieve their learning outcomes. In most versions of PBL each learner attempts all the learning objectives rather than a specific set, although this can be varied. They may attend conventional lectures, practical classes or

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■■ TABLE 7.2  Possible set of learning outcomes generated by medical undergraduates working with the PBL scenario

Basic and clinical sciences

Community and population

■■Describe

common causes of cough types of clinical investigations ■■Interpret a chest X-ray ■■Outline microbiology of mycobacterium tuberculosis ■■Describe the immune response to TB, its use in diagnosis and the tuberculin test ■■Describe the clinical and pathological manifestations of TB ■■Outline the drug regimes for treatment, their modes of action, side effects and problems of drug resistance

■■Describe

Patient and doctor

Personal and professional development

■■Describe

■■Describe

how communication can be approached with non-native English speakers ■■Describe how TB can be stigmatized in some communities ■■Clarify the issues of confidentiality versus the needs to notify authorities ■■Consider how to ensure compliance with long-term drug use regimes ■■Persuade family members to be immunize

the epidemiology of TB and the impact of socioeconomic factors

■■Discuss

the issue of ‘doctor as patient’ ■■Discuss the issue of personal immune status

seminars and even have individual tutorials with teachers. They can engage in work experience that might, in the case of medical, nursing or dental learners, take the form of short clinical attachments in out-patient clinics, operating theatres, hospital wards or general practices. All of these additional learning experiences should complement their independent learning activities and contribute towards the generation of a coherent and comprehensive response to the learning outcomes, which will be presented to the group in the next PBL tutorial.

Step 7: Synthesize and present new information At the next PBL tutorial conventionally both the chairperson and scribe roles are taken by other group members. A variety of presentation and discussion

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techniques can be used to enable learners to present their finding to the rest of the group. For example, each group member could be asked to present a brief summary of their findings using an overhead projector or else individuals could be asked to present on specific learning objectives. The facilitator ensures that all the objective have been addressed as far as possible. Sometimes, inevitably, this final session might agree that certain questions have not been adequately answered or could even generate some additional questions. In this case a final brief session can be held to deal with these outstanding issues. In this session it is also useful for the facilitator to review and summarize the key issues that have been covered and to get the group to evaluate its working practices and engage in some reflection. This is where ‘metacognition’ occurs as learners deepen their insight into how they learn. This can lead to the development of positive attitudes to learning that serve as a foundation for life-long learning and continuing professional development.

REFLECTION POINTS • If you teach a course of lectures consider how you could replace it with a series of PBL sessions, for simplicity ignoring the physical and practical consequences (see later: ‘Setting up a PBL course’)? • How many realistic problems would you need to create? • What would be the learning objectives or outcomes generated by each problem? • What education resources would you require? • How many facilitators would you need?

THE EDUCATIONAL RATIONALE FOR PBL The most powerful learning occurs when the learner is dealing with uncertainty. (John Dewy) Now that PBL has been described and the PBL process explained, the reader can more easily make comparisons with other forms of SGT and begin to understand the educational reasons why it is considered to be one of the most powerful methods of learning. As described in Chapter 3. the benefits of SGT

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derive from a combination of content and process and there can be no better fusion of these two elements than PBL. Participants not only develop a deeplevel understanding of the content but also develop a range of communication and professional skills allied to a positive attitude towards learning. PBL is therefore a highly integrated system of education in which cognitive content, professional context and interpersonal processes are intertwined. The evidence for its effectiveness will be reviewed later. ACTIVITIES AND LEARNING PROCESSES OCCURRING DURING PBL In broad terms PBL involves active, collaborative, learner-centred learning, coupled with highly motivated independent learning. Learning is reinforced by talking, doing and presenting. It is worthwhile listing some of the key activities and processes that learners can engage in when conducting PBL to demonstrate how it provides such a wide-ranging set of learning opportunities. ■

Thinking: analysing, synthesizing, critically evaluating, problem solving ■ Activating, evaluating and using prior knowledge ■ Communicating: talking, discussing, arguing, empathizing, listening ■ Questioning, challenging ■ Imagining, suggesting, hypothesizing ■ Collaborating, co-operating and sharing ■ Taking responsibility ■ Self-monitoring and reflecting ■ Searching for information ■ Processing, summarizing and recording information ■ Presenting. The use of scenarios that have been structured around actual problems and situations faced by practitioners has a profound effect on the learning process. By using scenarios and the associated problems and questions generated from their analysis, learning immediately becomes professionally contextualized and relevant; it has high ‘face validity’. Learners automatically have to activate their prior knowledge in order to start thinking about the problem confronting them. This has been shown to enhance learning (Norman and Schmidt 1992). In addition, they find themselves in a state of uncertainty,

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described as ‘cognitive dissonance’ (Festinger 1957) where their existing knowledge base and mental framework is challenged either by the problem itself or by the knowledge and experience of other group members. Such a state motivates the learner to seek mental equilibrium by finding the answer to questions during self-directed learning. By learning in collaborative groups, not only are communication skills developed and personal insights into strengths and weaknesses gained but participants become highly motivated to achieve their learning objectives because of group dynamics and positive peer pressure. PBL has also been described as an example of ‘contextual learning’ (Coles 1991) where learning takes place in an appropriate and relevant context and learners elaborate their knowledge by seeing the interrelationships between different areas of knowledge. Furthermore, the elaboration of knowledge during learning has been shown to enhance retrieval (Norman and Schmidt 1992). PBL can also be seen as a response to the acquisition of professional expertise. Traditional learning is often dominated by the acquisition of content in the form of propositional knowledge or ‘knowledge that’. However, professional expertise in addition requires the acquisition of procedural knowledge or ‘knowing how’. Savin-Baden (2000) has shown that PBL that encourages the integration of these two types of knowledge leads to a greater insight into multi-dimensional problems. In terms of the theoretical frameworks described earlier (Chapter 2), PBL is a classic example of social constructivism as originally described by Vygotsky. Learners collaborate with themselves and their facilitator to construct their knowledge using their own mental resources plus, during the activity phase, the stored resources of the academic community. PBL can also be described in terms of experiential learning theory; the PBL session is an experience that requires reflection and mental processing before being incorporated into the individual’s conceptual framework and knowledge stores. But this reflective process may also generate ‘cognitive dissonance’ and uncertainty that will require activity for resolution; the search for answers will be triggered and resources must be explored. Humanistic theory can also be applied to PBL, particularly looking at the role of the facilitator. She must be sensitive to the needs of the individuals in the PBL group and must make sure that group dynamics functions optimally to allow all members to participate appropriately. The facilitator will be involved in multiple relationships and must steer the group through its changing goals as they work through the problem and its consequences over time.

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PROFESSIONAL ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING Schön’s concept of the ‘Reflective Practitioner’ (Schön 1983) also includes the integration of propositional and procedural knowledge. Schön argued that traditional education emphasized ‘technical rationality’ where learning was focused on abstract and stylized situations divorced from reality and dominated by propositional knowledge. However, when learners began to practise in real situations, they found themselves in the ‘swampy lowlands’ where they began to acquire procedural knowledge in a complex and frequently indeterminate environment filled with values and emotions. Here, they found that knowledge (‘knowing-in-action’) was often tacit and not necessarily based on empirical or rational evidence. PBL can lead to the development of professional attitudes towards knowledge, learning that can help learners cope with this transition to professionalism and professional practice. Reflective learners, encouraged to think about how they learn (the process of metacognition), realize that knowledge is not just given but is actively constructed. Furthermore, they see that the process of acquiring and elaborating deep-level understanding is facilitated by the interplay between individuals in group discussion. Crucially, they also recognize that they have the ultimate responsibility for filling the gaps and weaknesses in their own mental models by questioning and independent learning. Such realizations are more likely to generate lifelong learners and reflective practitioners who will engage in continuing professional development. ADULT LEARNING PBL also fulfils many of the characteristics of adult learning (see Chapter 5), as shown in the following examples of conditions for effective adult learning: ■

Active learning through posing one’s own questions and seeking the respective answers ■ Integrated learning, learning in a variety of subjects or disciplines concurrently, learning in the context in which learning is to be applied in real-life situations ■ Cumulative learning to achieve growing familiarity through a sequence of learning experiences that are relevant to the student’s goals – experiences that build in complexity and challenge.

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Brookfield (1987) has reviewed concepts from cognitive psychology and theories of adult learning that also underpin PBL: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Learners know what they might gain from the effort of learning Learners determine the course and pace of their learning Learners perceive that learning is related to their own experience The topics used are those that help them deal more effectively with their everyday problems Topics relate to actual tasks and problems Learning is seen to enhance job satisfaction and self-esteem Learning incorporates elements of challenge to promote critical analysis Learning takes account of the needs of the organization and society as well as development of the individual.

THE PBL FACILITATOR One of the aims of PBL is to encourage the learners to manage the learning and questioning process as far as possible. However, the facilitator plays a pivotal role in the proceedings to such an extent that without appropriate and sensitive interventions the PBL session could go off track. In keeping with the learnercentred nature of PBL the facilitator must let the learners be responsible for their own learning and must let the learners do most of the work. However, the facilitator must monitor the activity and progress of the group and may provide help in the form of suggestions. The facilitator is part of the faculty PBL team and as such will know the overall direction the group should be taking and the objectives they should be heading towards. They may also, in some versions of PBL, have additional material they can feed to the group at appropriate moments. The facilitator can intervene to subtly steer the group in a particular direction or to encourage them to ask questions in an important area they might have missed. However, in general, the facilitator is not there to either provide or answer questions concerning the content of the scenario, an intervention that would ‘short circuit’ the PBL process. This can be a difficult activity to engage in and PBL facilitators require training and continuing support to ensure their role helps the group to function optimally. As mentioned previously in Chapter 4, the facilitator of a SGT session must have an appropriate and relevant attitude towards teaching and learning. This is even more important in PBL facilitation. In particular, the facilitator must put their desire to tell learners information on hold and they

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must trust the learners to do the work. Facilitators also work in close proximity to group members for two or three hours a week, which will inevitably lead to the development of more complex ‘teacher–learner’ relationships. Rogers (1983) has stressed that teaching is essentially a relationship and PBL facilitators need to be particularly aware of this and to acknowledge and reflect on its effects on themselves. PBL facilitators become partners in the learning process. They get to know learners’ strengths and weaknesses and they should be concerned for the individual development of each learner in the group. Facilitators have to be prepared to expose their own ignorance and be prepared to say ‘I don’t know’. In PBL the boundaries between the academic, the personal and the pastoral become blurred and facilitators need to steer a path between the roles of teacher, parent, consultant, mediator, counsellor, confidant and learner. FACILITATORS AS SUBJECT SPECIALISTS? A contentious issue in PBL is whether the facilitator should be a subject specialist for the given problem. In its original incarnation the PBL facilitators at Case Western Reserve University were all practising clinicians and, as such, could be considered subject specialists for the basic medical scenarios used. However, over the past half century the requirement that facilitators need to be subject specialists, for each scenario, has declined and been replaced by the requirement that the facilitators should be well trained in the skills of facilitation. Facilitators need to have a broad understanding of the problems involved but they do not necessarily need to be subject specialists since they should not be in the business of providing ‘answers’ in the PBL sessions. Nevertheless, specialist facilitators do make excellent facilitators provided they do not end up simply ‘teaching’ knowledge content. EVIDENCE FOR THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PBL The trouble with PBL is that you have to learn a whole bunch of stuff that you won’t need until after you graduate. (A PBL learner) PBL is now used in hundreds of higher academic schools worldwide and has been endorsed by many professional medical and health science bodies such as the Association of American Medical Colleges, the World Federation of Medical Education (Walton and Matthews 1989), The World

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Health Organization (WHO 1993), the World Bank (1993) and the English National Board for Nursing Midwifery and Health Visiting (English National Board 1998). Schmidt et al. (2009) cite evidence for PBL tutorials on clinical problems being adopted within a majority of the medical schools in the United States, with 20 per cent considering themselves to be fully PBL based. Within the UK, of 33 current undergraduate medical schools, about eight describe themselves as offering a PBL-style curriculum, five as integrated, and the remainder as traditional. Clearly, many medical learners are currently learning through PBL discussions of some sort. Nevertheless, PBL is such a radically different way of learning that it has frequently provoked sceptical questioning in people coming across it for the first time and it has often had to justify its existence and demonstrate its effectiveness. Consequently, it is one of the most heavily researched areas of higher education and a number of large studies have been carried out and meta analyses reported (Vernon and Blake 1993; Albanese and Mitchell 1993; Berkson 1993; Wilkie 2000; Newman 2003; Koh et al. 2008). However, in recent years the debate has moved on from whether or not PBL is effective towards exploring what aspects of PBL make it effective and to consider under which circumstances it is effective and why (Dolmans and Gijbels 2013). The questions now asked are which individual features of PBL work for which type of person in which circumstance so that programmes may be tailored to capitalize on aspects that are known to work. However, it is important to recognize that there are a wide variety of PBL types, ranging from pure to hybrid, and easy comparisons are not always possible; Barrows (1986) differentiated between six types of PBL whereas Savin-Baden (2000) identified five. Albanese and Mitchell (1993), in reviewing 20 years of literature, argued that PBL was more enjoyable and that PBL graduates performed as well and sometimes better on clinical examinations and faculty evaluations. In addition, PBL graduates had better communication skills and were more likely to engage in continuing professional development opportunities. However, PBL learners in a few instances scored lower on basic knowledge tests and felt they were less well prepared. On the other hand, Berkson (1993) asserted that PBL graduates were indistinguishable from their traditional counterparts but agreed with Albanese and Mitchell that PBL was more costly when used to teach over one hundred learners. Koh et al. (2008) conducted a systematic review of the evidence for the influence of PBL learning on 37 competencies after graduation. They concluded that PBL positively influenced both observed and self-reported assessments of four competences:

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Coping with uncertainty Appreciating legal and ethical issues in health care ■ Communication skills ■ Self-directed continuing learning. ■

Schmidt et al. (2011) give a summary of the sizable volume of research into the cognitive constructivist approach to PBL and summarized six fundamental educationally effective processes found to be enhanced by PBL. 1. Activation of prior learning has a major impact on learning efficacy (Ausubel, Novak and Hanesian, 1968) 2. Prior knowledge is necessary for subsequent knowledge 3. Knowledge is structured by the individual and in relation to the context 4. Storage and retrieval of knowledge improves after elaboration 5. Activation from long-term memory depends on external cues 6. Anything that prolongs the study time is likely to enhance study. KNOWLEDGE GAPS IN PBL The problem of basic knowledge gaps and the potential for PBL learners to have incorrect knowledge has often been raised because some teachers are uncomfortable with the self-directed nature of the PBL process. The question is: does it matter? The fact that learners taught via conventional means, such as lectures, do not all score 100 per cent in examinations indicates that they too have knowledge gaps. Also, the fact that teachers have stood up and ‘covered’ the curriculum in traditional lectures is no guarantee that learners will learn all the material. In addition, there is evidence that significant amounts of basic knowledge, taught in medical courses, are not required for clinical practice and are perceived as irrelevant by practitioners (Clack 1994). In PBL what is considered more important than trying to achieve an essentially unachievable complete factual knowledge is to develop the learner’s attitude towards learning and to encourage them to reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses. Learners need to be encouraged to be honest with each other, to challenge each other’s knowledge and to admit when they are wrong or don’t know the answer. Learners need to be made aware of the iterative nature of knowledge, that facts are approached on many occasions from different directions and in different contexts. The idea that facts are acquired and memorized once, when uttered by teachers, is unrealistic.

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EXPLORATIONS OF THE PBL PROCESS Moving on from studies of PBL effectiveness to studies looking at the processes occurring during PBL sessions have revealed interesting features of group and individual interaction, an understanding of which can potentially enhance the PBL process. The use of corpus analysis, whereby computer algorithms analyse verbatim transcripts of PBL sessions, often coupled to video recordings of learner behaviour, has become a powerful tool for exploring the linguistic, semantic and lexical processes occurring between learners and their facilitator during PBL. In a preliminary study using this technique to analyse global transcripts that did not identify contributions from individual learners, Da Silva and Dennick (2010) showed that it was possible to differentiate between the use of technical vocabulary, hypothesizing and questioning behaviour, between the first and the final PBL session dealing with a clinical scenario. They proposed a research programme into PBL using these techniques and posed the following questions as being relevant for all participants and facilitators, answers to which would provide a framework for managing the effectiveness of a PBL curriculum. These questions are also relevant to many forms of SGT. 1. What proportion of the total discussion is contributed by individual learners? 2. Is the quality of a learner’s contribution, such as questions generated or explanations given, associated with his or her learning style, academic background, personality or other variables? 3. Is the quantity or quality of an individual’s contribution to the collaborative learning process a valid predictor of academic success in knowledge and clinical reasoning assessment? 4. How do learners use their language skills (e.g. imagery, metaphor, etc.) to construct explanations for concepts? 5. How do the technical vocabulary and reasoning skills of individual learners vary and develop over time? 6. How do the technical vocabulary and reasoning skills of PBL groups develop and change over time as they move through cycles of PBL scenarios? 7. Do learner discussions cover all the learning objectives and factual and conceptual content provided in the guides and other resource material provided for each scenario?

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The work of Haines (2016), also using corpus analysis of PBL transcripts, but coupled to individual learner data, showed how it is possible to identify how individual factors such as gender, personality, learning style and exam performance are associated with the way learners interact in PBL sessions and how this correlates with exam performance. It was shown that introverted learners spoke less frequently, but with longer utterances. Male learners spoke significantly more frequently than female learners. Corpus analysis demonstrated statistically significant differences between personality, gender, and high and low test performers in terms of verbal behaviour. Lower performers frequently dwelt on ‘what’ and ‘why’ and more general technical terminology. Higher performers used ‘when’ and ‘how’ and highly specific technical vocabulary more frequently. Corpus analysis of PBL transcripts has also been used by Olukayode (2016) to analyse how learners actively construct meaning during clinical PBL sessions. This study looked at medical learners’ talk, and provided evidence of knowledge construction through prior knowledge mobilization, knowledge extension and enhancement and demonstrated attainment of shared knowledge. It was possible to identify how facilitators frequently asked lower order questions and used directive expression indicators to flag relevant content and learning behaviour expectations. SETTING UP A PBL COURSE Medical and nursing schools that have made the decision to move over to a PBL curriculum often take two or three years before the system is ready to implement. PBL is a significant change in the teaching and learning ethos and staff need plenty of time for consultation and training. Even when a PBL school has been created from scratch with newly appointed staff, the process will take at least two years. A curriculum has to be defined and then scenarios and problems carefully constructed that will lead learners to acquire the desired learning objectives and outcomes. Staff need to be trained to become PBL facilitators and newly arrived learners also need to be inducted into the PBL process. There are important physical restraints: multiple small seminar rooms with appropriate resources have to be created or acquired. Attempting to achieve the same learning outcomes by having a PBL curriculum running alongside a conventionally delivered curriculum can cause problems affecting both systems. Either the PBL learners envy the

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‘spoon-fed’ conventional learners or else the conventional learners envy the ‘fun’ and freedom the PBL learners have. The ethos of the two systems is so radically different that it might be wise for the sanity of both staff and learners to keep them apart. COOPERATIVE LEARNING PBL is a form of cooperative learning but there are a range of other types of instruction that utilize small groups in a cooperative manner such as teambased learning and process-oriented guided inquiry learning. The use of cooperative learning groups in instruction is based on the principle of constructivism, with particular attention to the contribution that social interaction can make, as discussed in Chapter 2. It builds on the social constructivist theories of Vygotsky plus social interdependence theory, which grew out of the work of Kurt Koffka, Kurt Lewin and Morton Deutsch (Brame and Biel 2015). It is based on the idea that groups are dynamic entities with members exhibiting a range of interdependencies and collaborative functions that can be utilized to achieve group goals. For example, small groups of two to four learners can work together during an individual session to answer questions or engage with challenges from an instructor. Learners can also work together over one or more sessions to complete a collaborative task during which they might be given defined roles to enable them to achieve the prescribed objectives. Facilitation is important, and the teacher engages with the learners, providing feedback and encouraging reflection. EXAMPLES OF PBL SCENARIOS FROM DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES Nursing Mrs Sandhu, a 40-year-old Sikh woman is admitted to your ward. She was diagnosed with breast cancer 18 months ago and has since developed liver and bone metastases. She is very thin, dehydrated, in a lot of pain and crying. She is accompanied by her sister and eldest daughter, Sandeep, 12. Her husband is at home looking after their other, 5-yearold, daughter.

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Electrical Engineering The university has decided to host a swimming competition for local schools in the university’s new swimming pool complex. Rather than pay for outside contractors to supply the timing equipment staff in the Electrical Engineering department have volunteered to build a system themselves supervising final year learners to design, construct and install the equipment. International Politics Boldova was a semi-autonomous province within Meningia, a grouping of old European states held together in the Soviet Bloc after the Second World War. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and its replacement by the Russian Federation, Meningia has forced Boldova’s largely Muslim majority into exile in neighbouring Kamania causing a major humanitarian crisis in the region. The houses and the jobs of the Boldovans have been given to ethnic Meningians, who are Orthodox Christians, any remaining Muslims have been persecuted and even murdered by Meningian ‘special forces’ and many mosques have been destroyed. The president of Meningia, Harradin Silovic, has declared that all the Orthodox Christians in the neighbouring states must be incorporated into ‘Greater Meningia’ fulfilling the promise made to all ethnic Meningians after the battle of Blatto in 1497. This implies the annexation and ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Kamania. Meningia has repeatedly ignored United Nations resolutions to stop ethnic cleansing and has prevented relief agencies from sending in aid to Boldovan refugee camps. The government of Kamania is threatening to invade Boldova to push back Meningian forces who are massing on the border. NATO is meeting in Brussels to decide what move it should make to restore European stability. Social Work Police have been called, by neighbours, to the house of Mr White, an unemployed 30-year-old labourer who lives with his partner and her three children from another relationship, Donna 3, Kylie 5 and Wayne 11. Mr White, who is a heavy cannabis user and has been treated for depression, has a history of violent conduct towards his partner who has had to stay in a women’s refuge on a number of occasions. The eldest boy, Wayne, has recently been caught by the police for breaking into parked cars. All three children have been looked after by foster parents in the past. On this occasion Mr White has assaulted

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his partner so severely that she has been taken to hospital with a suspected fractured skull. The police have arrested Mr White and are considering if he needs to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act. A policewoman is minding the children until a social worker arrives. Economics Van Tran, a 15-year-old Vietnamese boy, works in a factory manufacturing trainers for export to the USA. He works nine hours a day six days a week, earning $12, which is almost twice the average wage. On a number of occasions his hands have been injured but his manager has bandaged him up and sent him back to work. His father thinks he is well paid and hopes his job can continue as it helps support their family. He is concerned about rumours that the factory might close because there is a movement to boycott the trainers in the USA.   SUGGESTED FURTHER READING Savin-Baden, M. (2000). Problem-based learning in higher education: Untold stories. Buckingham: Society for Research in Higher Education and Open University Press.

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Chapter 8

Learners as partners Learner-led seminars, tutorless tutorials and collaborative approaches

INVOLVING LEARNERS MORE There are a number of reasons today for wishing to adopt a learner-centred and a more collaborative and ‘learner-involving’ approach to learning in higher education. Some are pragmatic while others arise from educational principle and the need to support the development of professional skills and encourage lifelong learning. However, the concept of ‘peer tutoring and learning’ is not new at all. Briggs (2013) notes that Aristotle, who began teaching in 338 bc, is known to have engaged learner tutors, named archons, and the approach of peer teaching was theorized as early as 1795 by Andrew Bell when he pioneered Madras education (also known as mutual instruction) and discussed by Joseph Lancaster in his book Improvements in Education (1803). So today’s interest is a renewed enthusiasm for understanding and developing a more nuanced partnership with learners with perhaps the desire to formalize, strategize and assess it (Arrand 2014). Engaging learners in partnership means seeing learners as active participants in their own learning. (Healey et al. 2014) As learner numbers have increased and staffing, resources and funding haven’t to the same extent, the benefits of encouraging and supporting learners to learn from and with each other are obvious. It is also clear that higher education should aim to equip learners with the abilities to update and continue to learn independently after graduation. This will happen through the help and guidance provided informally by friends and colleagues (Boud et al. 2001) and from the participation in extra-curricular and volunteering activities. However, embracing partnership and adopting

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approaches that foster learner engagement in the curriculum and particularly in small group learning, has been shown to result in a range of positive outcomes for both learners and educators (Jarvis, Dickerson and Stockwell 2013. Increased engagement, developing a stronger sense of identity and enhancing the learning experience are amongst the noted benefits (Cook-Sather et al. 2014). Evidence that participation in co-operative learning can lead to improvements in learner learning and outcomes has long existed (Johnson et al. 1981, 2014; Slavin 1989, 2013). Falchikov (2001) had also previously describes the positive effects of collaborative e-learning in terms of the increase in self-esteem, motivation, attendance, completion rates and liking of the topic and the institution experienced by learners. There is also evidence that, specifically within peertutoring relationships, learners taking both ‘tutor’ and ‘tutee’ or ‘mentor’ and ‘mentee’ roles can benefit (Bargh and Schul 1980; Annis 1983). Studies comparing the academic achievement attained by learners who have been supported by peers and proctors (more advanced learners) tutors compared with academic tutors, typically show peer-tutored learners are not disadvantaged in the comparison, achieving similar outcomes (e.g. ten Cate et al. 2012). Engaging learners as peer educators can lead to improvements in their own learning. For example, Peets et al. (2009) showed that learners who had been tutors for small groups of their peers outperformed their non-tutor classmates in later clinical presentation assessments. Indeed, Iwata et al. (2014) found that peer-assisted learning (PAL) tutors performed better in final examinations than non-tutors but did also note that the PAL tutors were self-selecting and high-achieving learners and so their findings may reflect the inherent academic abilities of the PAL tutoring learners. So the idea that ‘If you really want to understand something try and teach it’ seems to be borne out. In this chapter we will explore the use of learner-centred, collaborative learning in the SGT setting and the growth in ‘learner as partner’ (Healey et al. 2014), that is increasingly evident is today’s higher education vision. To do so we imagine a continuum of learner involvement and ownership that includes, at one end, the tutored seminar programme in which learners are asked to prepare and present the topics for class discussion or to prepare learning activities for their classmates – learner-led seminars. Or in the syndicate class or the workshop in which learners and facilitators work together to explore, design, collaborate on learning activities aimed at sharing knowledge and experience and developing skills and a richer understanding.

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Moving along the continuum are SGT sessions in which the tutor is completely absent but has provided the framework, structure, focus (and resources?) to support collaborative work. These sessions may be called – tutorless tutorials, learning sets, base groups, peer learning and proctoring meetings, etc. At the far end of the continuum are learner-organized and -led small groups in which the learners have been asked to, or have spontaneously decided to, formalize their collaborative learning with little or no direction from the tutor. Such groups may be referred to as study groups or learner support groups. Through these examples it is possible to reflect on the changing role of teacher and learner and see the ways in which the pedagogic relationship is shifting from a traditional, hierarchical model to one in which learner and educator are understood to working collaboratively towards a common goal, both sharing the responsibility in partnership. The learner is actively involved in the design and delivery of their educational experience and indeed the curriculum, as ‘co-creator’ or ‘co-producer’ (Neary and Winn 2009).

REFLECTION POINTS • What are your first thoughts when you read about the term ‘learners as partners’? • What do you think these reactions tell you about your views on the teacher/learner relationship? • If you think about your own practice and experience (as learner and teacher) can you identify opportunities for learners to work more in partnership with teachers in your discipline area?

EXAMPLES OF COLLABORATIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING APPROACHES Learner presentations and learner-led discussions One of the most common approaches used in seminar classes is to ask a learner, a pair of learners or a small group of learners to prepare a short (5–15-minute) presentation, or to prepare to lead a discussion on assigned

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readings or a discussion topic for the class. The learners may have limited choice in the topics that they prepare and usually know their assignments well in advance. In some courses seminar lists and topic allocations are given out at the beginning of the semester/term. A standard approach is that the learner, or learners, give their presentation and this is then followed by a full group discussion of the key issues raised. Often, the tutor provides the focus for this discussion by asking a question(s) about the presentation but this facilitator role too can be played by a learner or learners. A slight variation on this method is to ask the class to work in small groups (four or five) to discuss a particular question or questions arising from the initial learner presentations before feeding back their responses to the whole class. The tutor may choose to ask questions that are designed to simply check that the non-presenting learners have followed and understood the presentation; however, the questions can have a more ambitious purpose such as: ■

To help fill the gaps in the topic not covered by the presentation To correct any errors and misinterpretations given in the talk ■ To extend, extrapolate and deepen thinking on key topics raised by the presenters ■ To raise alternative approaches or different interpretations for comparison with those presented. ■

By using small group, follow-up, discussions in this way the tutor can minimize one of the noted difficulties associated with traditional learner-led seminars. This being that the learners who are leading the seminar are very involved in the class and have prepared well (usually!) but that the nonpresenting learners may abdicate their responsibilities, attend passively and behave like an audience rather than as participants. ENCOURAGING ALL TO PREPARE FOR THE LEARNER-LED SEMINAR Some tutors ask all the learners in the class to prepare as if they were going to lead the tutorial and, at the start of the class, select two learners at random to actually do so. In this case all the learners will have undertaken a basic level of preparation for all their classes rather than preparing in depth for some. For example, all the learners could be directed to do the designated reading, come up with half a dozen questions about it and prepare a very brief summary of key findings or issues.

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An alternative strategy is that the seminar leaders, selected in advance, are asked to prepare in depth and in detail while the non-presenting learners negotiate to undertake a reduced and more superficial level of preparation, e.g. read the core article or chapters only. So the learners have ‘heavy’ and ‘lighter’ weeks during the course. Decisions about approach are usually based on the module learning outcomes, the overall workload of the learners during their studies and the attitudes and preferences of the academic module leaders. SUPPORTING STUDENTS TO LEAD SEMINARS AND DISCUSSION The methods and approaches discussed in Chapter 6 and the complementary suggestions below may be very helpful to your learners embarking on leading seminars – indeed, you may wish to share this with them. ■ Learner pairs Pairs of learners lead the seminar, one as the presenter and one as the facilitator. It is the facilitator’s job to involve their peers in discussing the topic presented. With guidance from the tutor the pair need to prepare the seminar together (this may not always be possible to do face-to-face, but can be done virtually). In their planning, they need to think about how they are going to reach out to their peers and involve them in further debate, analysis and evaluation. ■ Debates A debate may be possible. There may be polar points of view, two theories, solutions or ideologies that can be argued, two historical or political interpretations, two experimental models or mathematical methods that can be compared and contrasted. If the topic presented lends itself to a debate, fun can be had. The non-presenting learners may be given a viewpoint or stance to defend or support before the presentation to enable them to begin thinking about their arguments and evidence. The seminar leaders may wish to provide additional articles or resources to help this process. After the initial presentation(s) the learners, in two groups, can work together to develop their cases. The final section of the seminar is the debate itself, in which both sides put forward their points of view. The tutor may take the role of the chairperson who manages the discussion or the arbitrator who eases negotiation. If appropriate, the tutor may cast the vote deciding which side has won the argument that day, or the learners can decide that for themselves. This decision could happen during the tutorial or

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as a follow-up exchange on the class discussion board or via an email discussion list. There are many variations on the debate theme and it is an approach that, with a little thought, can lend itself to both qualitative and quantitative disciplines. Using questions to focus discussions Divide the class into smaller groups of two, three, or four and give the groups a question or, better still, a number of questions to consider. After giving the groups enough working time you can then ask each group to respond to one of the questions in turn. You could ask a spokesperson from the group to explain their group’s answer or, for a change and to speed things up, you could invite groups to use Post-it notes to feed back their responses or write up notes on flipchart. Using triggers for discussion You can provide, or better still invite, learners to bring a variety of ‘triggers’ to class to stimulate discussion. These could include a newspaper clipping, extracts from books or journal articles, physical artefacts, poems, demonstrations, a data set, a piece of music, a short video clip, etc. Using personal stories, vignettes and case studies Following an introductory presentation to explain the situation and context (historically, politically, sociologically, scientifically, medically, etc.) the learners could be given personal accounts that show a range of experiences or viewpoints to illustrate learning points. The stories can be drawn from autobiographies, fiction, the Internet, research, published case studies as well as from personal experience. The inputs can be a mix of truth and fiction, or you can amend the true ones in order to anonymize them or make them more relevant to the class. The stories can be used in the seminar in a number of different ways by setting different tasks or questions for the learners to work on, for example, What would you do here?, What are the options?, What do you think happened next?, Why did that happen . . .? Using a quiz There are various kinds of quizzes. a. The questions are given out, each learner writes something down, then answers are read out and the learners swap their answer sheets and mark each other’s.

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b. The questions are read out, and groups of learners agree answers and jointly write them down before groups swap answer sheets and mark each other’s. c. The questions are asked, and the teams reply verbally, often through a team spokesperson. Maybe gaining points for correct answers and losing points for incorrect answers and offering the question to another team. Such an approach would be ‘higher energy’ and would need to be closely managed to ensure that learning was taking place. d. Questions could be provided on a quiz sheet with True/False options or using a multiple-choice format. The sheets could be used by individuals or by groups. Responses could be shared using voting apps on smart devices. Alternatively, the whole class could be organized around a set of quiz questions. Learners, working in groups, could be asked to work collaboratively to answer them. Then responses could be discussed within the class. Using this format allows questions to be asked that have a range of different possible answers rather than needing to be so clearly ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.

REFLECTION POINTS • Nancy Worth (2013) reflects on her and her learners’ experiences of learner-led seminars, with 35 learners in her Geographies of Childhood and Youth module, which you may find useful to read (available at www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.11120/plan.2013.00003). • How can learners become ‘co-producers’ in your discipline?

SYNDICATE CLASSES Conventionally SGT groups have a facilitator, but an alternative technique involves using syndicate groups that are tutorless, independent learning groups. Although considerable facilitation and organization are required to set them up once they are implemented, they can operate without significant intervention to achieve specified learning goals. A body of learners is split up into groups of five or six who work in a self-directed and coordinated manner on specific tasks, which might involve reading, discussion and/or

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the production of written assignments. These activities occur during regular timetabled sessions, which may replace lectures. Syndicate groups may work on different tasks and then present their findings during plenary sessions during the course or in a mini-conference styled event. Alternatively, group findings may be shared through a blog or newsletter or as collated ‘case studies’. The facilitator’s role is to co-ordinate this process, ensure that groups are ‘on task’ and that appropriate outcomes are reached for all learners at the end of the course. However, once this framework is established the learners act as co-producers of knowledge and are responsible for their self and group management. Syndicate classes can readily translate into the online environment too (Brindley et al. 2009) where the importance of having clear expectations and instructions for relevant group tasks is underlined. An approach whereby the tutor provides guidelines and perhaps a virtual learning classroom, but gives space for learners to form their own groups based on common goals or interests, can work well (see Chapter 11). Communicating the role of the teacher is important – will you monitor, moderate, give feedback on process or outcomes, etc.? WORKSHOPS Workshops are extended SGT sessions often lasting at least half a day, but could run for several days. They are orientated towards the achievement of a specific set of learning goals, which involve full and active participation from those attending and frequently require co-design and co-production of learning activities and outcomes. They consist of a series of linked group-based tasks that enable participants to explore and exchange views on the topic. The structure and activities within a workshop are carefully planned, coordinated and timed. Practical arrangements, such as having an appropriate number of rooms of appropriate size, ensuring there are enough breaks and that refreshments are provided are equally important. Many of the techniques previously described can be used and a generic workshop framework is provided below. A TYPICAL WORKSHOP OUTLINE Preparation: Participants should be clear on the nature and proposed outcomes of the workshop in any pre-workshop documentation. If necessary, they should be given instructions on any preparation that

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might be required. This could include reading relevant documents, thinking about a list of specific issues or preparing a mini-presentation or demonstration. Arriving: Participants should be given accurate information on where to come and at what time. The location of the registration area should be well signposted from a variety of directions. On arrival, participants could be given information packs containing course materials, references, timetables, room maps and numbers, and name badges. At this stage there should be an opportunity to meet informally with refreshments. Overview: The workshop may begin with a plenary session at which the aims and outcomes are stated, maybe a brief address from a ‘key-note’ speaker followed by a description of the workshop activities, including plenary sessions, breaks and other ‘housekeeping’ information. Grouping: A variety of techniques (see Chapter 6) are available for breaking large groups up into smaller groups and these may be used at this stage. Introductions and icebreaking: Once groups have been formed, if the grouping process did not include an element of personal introductions this should be initiated at this stage and coupled to an icebreaking activity. These activities can be co-ordinated by participating learners themselves. Activities: A variety of SGT activities should be used relevant to the proposed outcomes that have been set. These have previously been discussed in Chapter 6 with further activities described below. The aim should be the active participation of all group members towards clearly defined goals. Clear perimeters, timings and outcomes should be agreed and time-managed. Responsibility for this is shared by all. Breaks: Breaks are actually one of the most important features of a workshop. They are where participants can unwind, talk informally to each other and network. Therefore, it is essential that an adequate amount of time is set aside for them and ideally refreshments and fresh air are available. Plenaries: Plenaries may introduce a workshop and may act as a point of closure. Most workshops will have plenary sessions where presentations are made by specific individuals or the results of SGT

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are brought back to the larger group for presentation or discussion. As didactic episodes in an otherwise active learning environment, their timing should be carefully controlled and limited. Evaluation: Like all forms of teaching and learning, workshops should be evaluated, and some form of an evaluation questionnaire could be used to collect immediate reactions to the event. Questionnaires can be given out with the course materials or handed out or placed on seats prior to the plenary. Ensuring a good response rate can be challenging so it is useful to make the questionnaire as brief as possible and to include time at the end of the proceedings for completion. AWAY DAYS An ‘away day’ is a SGT workshop that takes place away from the normal working environment. This is done to minimize the distractions of telephones, emails and interruptions so participants can more readily focus on specific issues and problems. By changing the environmental context groups of people can work together in different ways, exploring new ideas, encouraging creative thinking and building new team relationships. Away days allow participants to spend time together socially as well as working through a variety SGT methods in both formal and informal settings. Away days need to be organized, structured and facilitated in the ways described above for workshops but arrangements can be more flexible and the environment can play a greater role. For example, encouraging people to work together in groups, as in ‘team building’ exercises, might involve performing a physical outdoor task. Buzz groups, where people discuss issues with each other in twos and threes, no longer need to be fixed in a room but can take place sitting under a tree or walking down a country lane. Away days are ideally suited for the development of teams and for revisioning exercises where participants ask themselves the questions ‘where are we now?’, ‘where are we heading?’, ‘how are we going to get there? and ‘what might help or hinder us along the way?’ LEARNING EXCHANGES You scratch my back and I’ll play ball with you. A group of learners can work together in order to investigate and research a wider range of topics by taking one aspect each and then seeking to teach

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their peers about their allocated topic – with their colleagues reciprocating in kind. The exchange can happen relatively informally and privately within a collaborating group or it can become much more of an event and mimic a mini-conference (Sampson and Cohen 2002). The learners can be asked to share their findings formally using both an oral presentation and by providing copies of a brief, written report for each other. Alternatively, the exchange could happen virtually, with the learners being asked to post their written reports to an online discussion forum using virtual learning environments such as Blackboard or Moodle. The group can then use the discussion boards to give and receive feedback and ask and respond to each other’s questions. Support groups can also be established to formalize reciprocal peer feedback. Learners can help each other to develop their ‘written assignment skills’ and by so doing develop their interpersonal and communication skills. A process of prescribed dialogue can be used within the support group – for example, for each written assignment learners are asked to work in a group of three and meeting together three times to prepare, review and de-brief their assignments. The learners can helpfully keep a learning journal in which they record their thoughts on how the process of group dialogue has supported them in developing skills and writing their assignments. Such a journal would also provide invaluable feedback on the approach for staff. LEARNING SETS AND STUDY GROUPS The tutor usually sets up ‘learning sets’, as an integral part of a module or course, in order to provide a forum for course-related issues to be addressed. Indeed, membership of a study group may well be a requirement of the course and the tutor is likely to assign individuals to specific groups in order to provide equity and encourage a cross-sectional mix of constituents in each group (e.g. in terms of background, experience, gender, culture, etc.). Subsequently, learning set meetings are organized by the learners themselves in a semi-autonomous fashion. The tutor may provide guidance to the learners on how they can do this and may suggest co-operative tasks that can involve the whole group. The tutor should also keep in regular contact with the group to both monitor and motivate – although this can be done at a distance using email or virtual learning environments. Although learners list the personal benefits of participating in learning sets (e.g. gaining support, confidence building, sharing ideas) as the main

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values associated with being a member of such a group, there can be significant academic gains too. Study groups can provide a forum in which learners are able to explore their discipline in a relaxed and supportive environment and are therefore more likely to ‘take risks’ and discuss issues and concepts in greater depth. Learners may also develop professional skills such as how to run and organize a group meeting, how to minute and record decisions and outcomes and how to learn to work together in mixed groups. It can help maintain the cohesion of a study group if members can share a common goal and if the members can work together towards the completion of a joint task or activity. This could be the preparation of a joint report, giving a group presentation or the production of their study group web page. Increasingly, learning sets and study groups are likely to meet in the virtual world or in a ‘blended’ way with face-to-face contact (see Chapter 11). There are clearly many tools to do this but probably the most common is to use Skype, or FaceTime for one-to-one meetings, or the Google Hangouts platform. Some colleagues recommend the use of GoTo Meeting for groups with larger numbers or the collaboration app ThinkBinder, which enables group members to share videos and pictures as well as text. The New England College provides some great advice for learners wishing to set up online study groups suggesting that they identify a moderator, a role that can be rotated or shared, and develop an agenda that includes a regularly organized activity to help group members ‘tune-in’ the group meetings. It is also suggested that the group should try to play to their collective strengths by utilizing the existing skills of members while also giving space for individuals to try new things and develop their skills sets REFLECTION POINTS • What is your experience of taking part in away days, learning sets or peer learning groups? • In your opinion what makes them effective and useful learning opportunities?

SETTING UP LEARNING SETS OR STUDY GROUPS – QUICK ADVICE ■

Keep the groups quite small (between five and eight learners). ■ Particularly in the early days, give the group specific tasks to complete co-operatively in order to give the group a focus and a purpose for being.

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Provide guidance on where and how often the group is expected to meet. ■ Provide guidance on how they can develop ground rules to work together. ■ Monitor the groups by requesting that they keep minutes and nominate a group liaison person whom you can easily communicate with and through. ■ If possible, build in an assessment component that rewards learners for playing an active role in the study group and encourages their reflection on that contribution, e.g. a learning log or diary that includes critical incidents and associated reflective commentaries. PROCTORIALS AND PEER TUTORING / MENTORING When the learners within a learning group are drawn from different levels of the course and the more experienced learners have the specific role of tutoring or supporting their less experienced peers then the groupings may be referred to as proctorials and the learner tutors called proctors or peer mentors. A related approach know as supplemental instruction (SI) invites second year volunteer learners to guide first year learners and help them learn from their lectures and classes in, one hour, weekly sessions. As SI systems typically operate in content heavy and intensive courses, such as in Medicine and Engineering, the SI leaders do not introduce new material but work to help first year learners make sense and ‘construct’ their own understanding of material already delivered in lectures. Second year volunteers are trained in group dynamics and study strategies for their role. SI is reported to improve learner performance, develop a range of study skills and cognitive skills as well as reducing dropout rates. For more information please have a look at the SI home page and linked resources – details are given in the ‘Further reading’ section of this chapter.

REFLECTION POINTS • In your discipline is proctoring or peer-mentoring common practice? If not, why do you think that is the case? • What do you think proctors or peer mentors gain from the relationship?

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EXAMPLES FROM THE DISCIPLINES Final year learner-led seminars and a course assignment in e-commerce For the assignment learners research and write a seminar paper on a topic of current interest to e-commerce researchers and present their findings in a short seminar to a small group of learners. Presentations are 15 minutes and learners choose the date they wish to present. Learners receive feedback on their seminar paper prior to presenting the seminar itself. This allows them to address any identified weaknesses. The learners attend all the seminar presentations given by their peers and their contributions to these are also be assessed. Learners are assessed on their seminar paper and presentation and on their contribution to the seminars presented by their peers. A development of this approach is, rather than write a seminar paper, learners develop materials (e.g. abstract, aims and objectives, materials and handouts, reading list etc.). These are formatively assessed, giving developmental feedback to the presenter, in discussion with the tutor, before the presentation is given and then summatively assessed as part of the presentation grade. This approach ‘front-loads’ feedback to support learning. (Adapted from Martyn Prigmore’s (2015) article, Using seminars to assess computing learners, www.tandfonline. com/doi/full/10.11120/ital.2011.10030044)

STRUCTURED GROUP TASKS LINKED TO LEARNERLED SEMINARS IN COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE To encourage learners to read more widely around the subject, learners were divided into seven groups and, on a rotating basis, engage with seven tasks, one per week. Through the weekly tasks the learners developed a rich learning resource for each topic in the form of an online text book, which was available to the whole cohort. The tasks involved summarizing lectures, assigned readings, formulating an open question for discussion in a seminar and four MCQ questions. Learners used a Wiki to compile their group’s task outputs.

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The group of learners responsible for delivering the weekly learner-led seminar were also responsible for uploading the task and seminar materials together with a summary and reflections on the discussion within the seminar. They were also responsible for compiling, synthesizing and proofing the outputs for the online text book. (Adapted from Shirley-Ann Rueschemeyer’s (2014) article, Support ‘time on task’ and deeper learning, https://elearningyork. wordpress.com/learning-design-and-development/case-studies/ support-time-on-task-and-deeper-learning-structured-weeklygroup-activities-and-collaborative-resource-production/) PROCTORING IN PHILOSOPHY A tutor group of about 12 first year learners attend a proctorial at the beginning of each week of the taught course. The proctorials are led by third year ‘proctors’. The purpose of these sessions is to provide additional structured guidance for first years. During the proctorial the learners are encouraged to work through a series of questions relating to recent lectures. The learners then take this preparatory thinking, responses and questions to a tutored tutorial that runs at the end of the week. The proctors can gain credit for their input by registering for a third year optional module ‘Proctoring’ that is assessed through a written exam. The exam asks proctors to give responses to between three and six generalized question scenarios drawing upon their experiences of proctoring and reflecting upon their role specification and the training they received. (Reporting the work of Hayler, R. and Funnel, M., 1998. at The University of Leeds) PRESENTATIONS IN STATISTICS Of all the teaching strategies that I explored, the small group presentations were, in fact, the most successful. The strategy here was to supply each small group with either the same set of data and different tasks (in which case a full investigation of the data could be undertaken), or to give each small group a different set of data and the same task. Each group of learners then worked through the data and was given a 5-minute slot at the end of the session to report back to the wider group on their miniproject, the techniques they used and what they had found. (Bramley 1996, 75)

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A CAUTIONARY TALE! I certainly don’t like it if you get tutorials where the guy just comes along and sits down and makes you stand up and do the work on the blackboard. Usually he picks on people that can’t do it, which I think is terrible because you get stuck up at the blackboard and made to look a fool and it switches you right off . . . I think I’m not going to do that if this guy’s going to do that to me, because it takes you so long to do the question; and it makes you very unhappy with that particular course, so I lose interest in the course. (Learner taking Physics reported in Entwistle and Ramsden 2015, p. 169)   FURTHER READING Baloche, Lynda and Brody, Celeste M. (2017). Cooperative learning: Exploring challenges, crafting innovations. Journal of Education for Teaching 43(3) 274–283, www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02607476.2017.1319513 Boud, David, Cohen, Ruth and Sampson, Jane (2001). Peer learning in higher education: Learning from and with each other. London: Kogan Page. Falchikov, Nancy (2001). Learning together: Peer tutoring in higher education. London and New York: Routledge/Falmer. Healey, Mick, Flint, Abbi and Harrington, Kathy (2014). Engagement through partnership: Learners as partners in learning and teaching in HE. HEA, www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/resources/engagement_through_ partnership.pdf Moon, Jenny (2001). Short courses and workshops. London: Kogan Page.

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Chapter 9

Hands-on, practical teaching in small groups

INTRODUCTION Many disciplines in HE require learners to practise and master a variety of manipulative techniques and to use specific pieces of equipment and machinery. Scientific, environmental and engineering subjects all involve the use of a wide range of increasingly sophisticated devices that are essential for modern practice and the development of laboratory skills that require high levels of hand–eye co-ordination, manipulation and observation. In Fine Art, Music, Architecture and many of the creative disciplines, hands-on ability with an instrument, paintbrush or computer is central to practice. In the medical and health fields, doctors, vets, dentists, nurses and physiotherapists must learn clinical skills that have to be carried out safely and sensitively on patients. These practical skills are often referred to as psychomotor skills (Simpson 1966), since they involve the acquisition of co-ordinated sequences of muscular movements. SGT is an ideal teaching medium for learning practical skills as it allows the teacher to easily demonstrate the skill, using appropriate methods to be described below, enables important feedback to be given and allows learners to learn from and with each other in a community of novices. SGT facilitators need to be aware that there are a number of theoretical frameworks that have been put forward to aid in the understanding of psychomotor skills acquisition. In addition, there are some recommended procedures that have been developed to optimize the learning of psychomotor skills. Frameworks for understanding the stages by which learners acquire practical skills are described below

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SIMPSON: THE PSYCHOMOTOR DOMAIN Simpson (1966) described seven levels that learners can pass through on the way to achieving the highest levels of psychomotor skills. ■

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■ ■

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Levels one and two include ‘perception’, where the learner merely identifies the need to perform a particular skill in response to perceptual clues, and ‘set’ when the learner is ready to act. Levels three and four include ‘guided response’, when the skill is performed immediately after a demonstration and ‘mechanism’ when the skill has started to become habitual. Level five, or ‘complex overt response’ is characterized by an accurate and efficient performance of the skill. Level six, or ‘adaptation’ occurs when the skill has been so well internalized that it can be adapted for different contexts and situations Level seven or ‘origination’ involves the creative development of new psychomotor skills.

Fitts and Posner (1967) break up the sequence of skills learning into three phases: ■

The cognitive phase when the skill is being learned The associative phase when performance is becoming skilled ■ The autonomous phase when the skill has become entirely automatic and can be carried out without thinking about it. ■

The system described by Miller and outlined below, ranging from ‘knows about’ to ‘does’, has been widely used in medical education to describe the stages of clinical learning and to judge levels of competence (Miller 1990). ■

Does: is a competent and independent practitioner under working conditions ■ Shows how: demonstrates basic competence under controlled conditions ■ Knows how: knows how to do a skill and is practising it ■ Knows about: has knowledge about a skill but is not yet practicing it.

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A more comprehensive analysis has been provided by Benner (1984) in her book about nursing practice From Novice to Expert. Although more concerned with holistic clinical practice rather than single psychomotor skills, it nevertheless provides a useful framework for seeing how knowledge and attitudes are integrated with psychomotor skills in professional practice. The fundamental process identified for learners is the progression from reliance on abstract principles and rule-based behaviour to the increased use of actions based on personal experience. Benner identifies five stages: ■ Novice ■

Advanced beginner

■ Competent ■ Proficient ■ Expert.

The above frameworks all share a number of concepts in common. In particular, there is progression from the purely cognitive through various levels of practice and basic competence to mastery. However, psychomotor skills acquisition is seen to have a strong cognitive and attitudinal component, so it is important to realize that reasons and values frequently underpin the purely physical process of skill acquisition. Although skills are acquired by deliberate and repetitive imitation and practice, eventually they become internalized, automatic and capable of modification in different contexts. This latter feature of psychomotor skills can lead to problems when an expert is called upon to teach them to a novice as will be discussed in the next section. METHODS OF TEACHING SKILLS An expert may encounter problems when teaching psychomotor skills because it has become so internalized and their actions have become so smooth, automatic and efficient that they find it difficult to break it down into its component parts. The ability to analyse a skill in this way is absolutely essential and is one of the most important skills a facilitator needs to have if novices are to acquire it. Building on the frameworks described above, some tried and tested techniques for teaching psychomotor skills have evolved. First of all, the principles of psychomotor skills learning are described and then a five-step training protocol based on them is outlined (George and Doto 2001).

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CONCEPTUALIZATION Some time should be devoted to the cognitive and attitudinal components that learners should understand prior to the learning of a practical skill. This can provide stimulation and motivation for what might be difficult and challenging activities. The facilitator should put the learning of the skill into context by explaining why participants need to learn it and the reasons for its importance, relevance and usefulness. Learners should be made aware of the skill’s degree of difficulty, and roughly how much effort and practice might be required to achieve a specified level of competence. Issues of health and safety and the use of appropriate precautions must be mentioned. In the case of practical skills applied to patients. the attitudinal, ethical and communication aspects need to be emphasized. VISUALIZATION Learners should be able to see the whole skill carried out from start to finish by the expert in normal time. The demonstrator need not provide any verbal explanations of actions at this stage so that their performance is not slowed down in any way. This enables the learner to start to construct an internal mental representation of the expected performance. All equipment should be available, and participants should have a clear view of what is going on. VERBALIZATION The skill should be demonstrated and explained at the same time. Here, the skills of the facilitator in breaking down the skill into its components become essential. The facilitator should try as much as possible to put themselves in to the position of the novice and try to be aware of the cognitive and manipulative problems they might face. Not only should the facilitator explain the procedure but also the novices should be encouraged to articulate and describe the processes occurring. Their verbal contributions will add to the internal mental representation. PRACTICE The novice should be able to practise the skill. It is up to the judgment of the facilitator whether a skill needs to be practised as a whole or, in the case of a more complex skill, broken down into some of its component parts.

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The amount of practice required will vary with the complexity of the skill. Eventually, however, all the parts will need to be integrated and this process needs to be managed effectively. FEEDBACK This very important component of psychomotor skills teaching relies on the skills of the facilitator to give help and guidance to novices. Again, it is here that the ability to empathize with learners and to get into their ‘mindset’ is essential. Feedback should reward positive actions. SKILL MASTERY This phase occurs after much practice and allows the learner to demonstrate to the facilitator that they have achieved a specific level of required competence. SKILL AUTONOMY This phase constitutes independent practice and means that the learner can routinely perform the skill without error in real-life contexts. Using the above framework, it is possible to develop a basic system that can be applied to the teaching of virtually any psychomotor skill (George and Doto 2001). This is outlined below. THE FIVE-STEP PSYCHOMOTOR SKILLS TEACHING PROTOCOL Step 1 Introduce and contextualize the skill to be taught. Activate any prior knowledge or skills by questioning. Explain reasons why the skill is required and its relevance and usefulness. Indicate how long it will take to learn the skill and how much practice might be required. Outline what is going to take place. Step 2 Demonstrate the skill in real time exactly as it is performed with no verbal commentary.

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Step 3 Repeat the demonstration but this time break it down into appropriate sections explaining what is happening at each stage. Encourage learners to ask questions and ensure that they understand what is going on. Step 4 Learners are next asked to guide the facilitator through the skill instructing him or her in what to do at each stage. The facilitator may question the learners again and ensure that they understand the process and are giving clear and accurate instructions. Step 5 The learners next practise the skill themselves with the facilitator providing feedback on their progress. Although this procedure may seem overly formalized, by following it learners will have a much better grasp of what is expected of them when they come to practise the skill. This will potentially reduce the amount of feedback required.

REFLECTION POINTS • Is it feasible to use this technique in the skill teaching that you perform? • Sometimes it’s necessary to modify the protocol for practical or resource based reasons. • Which elements are the most important to you?

GIVING FEEDBACK ON PRACTICAL SKILL PERFORMANCE In order for learners to improve their practical skills they need feedback on their performance. However, feedback has to be constructive and given in a sensitive way to avoid any negative feelings that might inhibit development.

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A method has been developed known as the ‘feedback sandwich’ that manages to give helpful feedback in such a way that the receiver sees it as a positive experience. The overall process involves discussing positive achievements, then dealing with problems areas but providing helpful suggestions for improvement. The problems are sandwiched between positive observations and solutions. The process is also designed to be learner-centred. In other words, it starts from the experiences of the learner. Feedback can be conducted by the facilitator or it can be conducted by a peer, after a demonstration by the facilitator, as an exercise in learning how to deliver feedback Assuming the facilitator has observed the learner’s performance the first thing they might do is to ask the learner how well they thought their performance was. Note that they are starting from the learner’s experience and concentrating on the positive. Experience shows that 99 times out of 100 if you ask a learner how they performed they will immediately start talking about the negative. Hopefully, the facilitator can give positive descriptions or evaluations of their performance. The evaluator should next reinforce these with any further positive observations of their own. Next, the evaluator asks the learner what they might do differently given any problems he or she encountered during their performance. Note that the learner is not necessarily being asked to dwell on problems but rather to think of solutions. After listening to the learner’s possible solutions the evaluator can start to make further helpful suggestions. In addition, if the evaluator has spotted further problems that the learner might have been unaware of, they can mention them emphasizing possible solutions the learner might like to think of. In summary the process should go like this: 1. Ask the learner to describe their positive achievements. ‘Tell me what you thought went well in your performance.’ 2. Respond positively and, if possible, describe further examples of good skills you have observed. ‘I agree. I liked the way you . . . And I also liked . . .’ 3. Ask the learner to describe how they might deal with any problem areas they encountered during their performance. ‘Are there any things you would do differently given any problems you may have encountered during your demonstration?’

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4. Add you own suggestions for dealing with problems and for improving practice. ‘Yes, but why don’t you try  .  .  .  Try concentrating more on  .  .  .  Next time you can . . . It might be useful to . . . Have you thought of . . .’   FURTHER READING Ericsson, A. (2006). The Cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Chapter 10

Managing and facilitating small group projects

INTRODUCTION The group project is a relatively common experience for both undergraduates and masters students and typically represents the best and worst of times for learners. Many learners experience hugely positive collaborations in which they collectively achieve far more with their peers than they could have working alone and gain enormously valuable employability skills along the way. However, it is not uncommon for learners to feel exasperated by the difficult behaviour of some of their teammates and the perceived unfairness of the group assessment strategies that are used. This chapter seeks to share a range of practical and theoretically underpinned methods for managing group projects so as to maximize real learning benefits while minimizing the typical challenges frequently faced by learners and teachers alike. BENEFITS AND GOALS OF GROUP PROJECTS The benefits of the collaborative experience of undertaking a group or team-based learning are well documented in the literature and reportedly valued by future employers. In a review of the research Haidet et al. (2014) show that there is substantial empirical evidence to support the claims that team-based learning increases both knowledge acquisition and understanding together with a whole range of employability skills (e.g. collaboration, leadership, communication and negotiation, etc.). Combining this with the opportunity to explore a topic or research question in greater depth by undertaking a design or investigative project extends the opportunities for skills development (e.g. problem solving, planning, project management, creativity and time management, etc.).

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Working in a group can also encourage a sense of belonging and provide the experience of working in an academic/ research community (Cartney and Rouse 2006). By actively and collaboratively working on projects with peers, it is argued that learners gain a deeper understanding of the topic too through discussion, challenging each other, defending ideas and seeking to apply more abstract learning to solving practical problems (Johnson and Johnson 2003). WHAT CONSTITUTES LEARNER GROUP WORK? Group projects can be organized in many ways from relatively simple tasks, undertaken by two or three learners over a couple of weeks to much more complex undertakings with larger groups of learners, perhaps from different disciplines, collaborating for a semester or a whole year on a project. EXAMPLES OF LEARNER PROJECT TYPES At the end of this chapter we include some examples of ways in which group projects are operating in different discipline areas. The diversity is considerable, however there are three common types of projects that are seen across higher education. ■

Producing a joint report on a researched topic or issue A collaborative piece of experimental work undertaken in the laboratory or during fieldwork ■ A design and build activity (for a product or a service that may be linked to the development of entrepreneurship skills and/or to enter a competition). ■

HOW WILL LEARNERS BE ASSESSED? The design of the group project needs to consider assessment at a very early stage to ensure the assessment drives achievement of the intended learning goals. Most notably, will the learners be assessed on: ■

How they work together (the Process) What they learn from undertaking the project (Reflection on group working) ■ What they make or build together (the Product) ■

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How they communicate their work (written and/ or oral presentation) Or some combination of these?

In addition, decisions need to be made about: ■

If the contributions made by individuals will be recognized and how? Who will carry out assessments and their relative weightings (e.g. the role of self, peer, tutor and perhaps ‘external’ assessors)? ■ Where and when are there opportunities to provide formative assessment and feedback? ■

Clearly, the decisions made regarding assessment design will impact hugely on many of the issues discussed in the rest of this chapter. Considering the best ways of enabling learners to evidence the specific learning outcomes of the project and supporting their learning throughout to meet the aims of the group work is fundamental TYPICAL STAGES IN GROUP PROJECTS There are a recognizable set of stages that are common to most group project contexts; 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Preparation and familiarization Set up and start up Work planning, allocation and scheduling Implementation and progress checking Completion and dissemination.

1. Preparation and familiarization In more recent times it has been well recognized that enabling learners to gain practice in team working and having the opportunity to develop the key skills of self- and project-management before embarking on a significant and high credit bearing group project is extremely beneficial. This is also true when it comes to familiarity with the ways that group projects are to be assessed (e.g. a group presentation or report). Providing learners with clear information about expectations and practical guidance on group working processes is also important. In line with good

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practice, it is also valuable for the learners to review the assessment criteria that will be used to judge their performance on the group project. 2. Set up and start up Although learners may prefer to be able to self-select who they work with in a team, there are many advantages in the tutor allocating learners to groups. This is more likely to ensure the teams are heterogeneous and not formed along ability or cultural norms. This strategy may also help avoid some of the more well-reported problems with group work. Having had the experience of supervising a group in which a girlfriend and boyfriend spectacularly fell out half way through the project, it may be that some of the ‘less anticipated’ challenges can be avoided too. Decisions about the best size for a project group are made with both educational and pragmatic reasons in mind. If the group gets too large, it is more likely that there will be more significant differences in individual contributions, the group is more likely to fragment as learners lack the skills of group management required and the additional demands placed on effective communication and decision making can delay progress. However, if the scope of the endeavour is such that more people are needed to complete it or the staff:learner ratio drives it, then projects can run with larger groups. From a group functioning perspective groups of four to six are ideal. 3. Work planning, allocation and scheduling: helping groups to self-manage A key tenant of any approach to project management is the clear installation of appropriate milestones. Establishing a work plan that denotes tangible checkpoints enables self-management and progress monitoring to take place. Such milestones are also fantastic opportunities for episodes of formative assessment and providing feedback. COMMUNICATION AND RECORD KEEPING Undertaking a group project presents significant communication challenges and inviting learner groups to explicitly consider how they will communicate with each other and with the teaching team is very desirable. Blending faceto-face meetings and virtual meetings is a common approach. Some groups

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■■ TABLE 10.1  A typical set of project milestones Stage ■■Set

Activities up

■■Project

Initial contracting, role allocation and division of labour plan

review / contextualization

Including timescales with deliverables and outputs

■■Literature

The initial scoping of the work and researching the context

■■Methodology

How the work is to be undertaken (e.g. research approach)

■■Checkpoint(s)

Key milestones reflecting the expected stages ■■Data

collection analysis ■■Data interpretation etc. ■■Data

■■Findings

Preliminary results and discussion

■■Reporting

Oral and/or written presentation of the project

establish online ‘groups’ using group email lists, WhatsApp, Facebook or similar to assist this however, using ‘communities’ or group features on university virtual learning environments (VLEs) such as Blackboard or Moodle, may also be prescribed. It may also be desirable to clarify key meeting roles and responsibilities – who will organize the meetings, who will chair, who will keep notes, etc. Rotating between these roles can also help expose the learners to different tasks and opportunities to develop key skills. It is common practice to require learner groups to log their meetings and maintain structured notes or minutes that detail individual contributions, plans, issues and progress. A more formal ‘contracting’ process can be used to capture decisions made about communication, roles and responsibilities (please see Figure 10.1). 4. Implementation and progress checking The best of plans are unlikely to be ‘future-proof’ and it is to be expected that as the project gets underway the learner teams will need to be able to respond to new situations and unforeseen demands. Being able to respond

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Group Project Agreement Team Name

Date

GOALS: What do we want to accomplish during the project?

EXPECTATIONS: What do we expect from each other? Attendance, Participation and Contribution?

Respectful working practices and Communication?

Time-management and deadlines?

Quality of Work?

RULES: What rules do we want to set ourselves to help meet our goals & expectations?

CONSEQUENCES: What will we do if group members do not follow the agreed rules?

Signed by (all group members).

■■ FIGURE 10.1  A sample team contract

to these and adapt their plans requires regular progress and review checks. Planning group meetings to coincide with key project milestones can best facilitate this need to be adaptive. We have noticed that needing to be flexible and modify initial plans can be stressful and difficult for many learners and so having access to mentorship or tutor support at these times is particularly valuable.

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SUPPORTING GROUP PROJECTS The larger-scale projects are often supported by a team of ‘supervisors’ or ‘advisors’ who each work with individual groups for the duration of the project. Project supervisors arrange to have regular contact with the groups they support and may take particular roles (e.g. mentor, advisor, client/customer, manager, assessor, etc.) for the entirety of the project or at different stages in the work. 5. Completion and dissemination The end point of the project can be marked by the completion of a particular task within a specified time frame but it is commonly accompanied by the requirement to present and report on the work through a formal written report and/or oral presentation. However, many alternative group project outputs can be produced, for example a group poster or magazine, a website or a performance (e.g. of a play or exhibition), depending on the goals of the projects. For some projects the results and findings can be shared with external organizations or ‘sponsors’; this certainly adds an exciting and more celebratory dimension. Whether or not external representatives are also involved in the formal assessment of the project or, alternatively, provide a ‘prize’ or commendation for excellent work, is a decision for the project convenor. External validation and a further opportunity to disseminate excellent project work may also come in the form of national and international learner competitions. These seem to be particularly popular in the world of Business and Entrepreneurship, Engineering and Design and Architecture and Planning. WHAT DID WE LEARN FROM THAT? It can be very valuable to assist learners to reflect upon the learning experiences they have had during a group project. It is common that learners have focussed on the task and achieving the goal of the group project and haven’t noticed the journey they have been on and the learning they have had along the way. Prompting learners to evaluate their experience either individually or as the final group project task can help them to recognize and identify key meta-cognitive learning points that can be transferred and used in future group or team activities. Figure 10.2 shows an example group project evaluation form that aims to encourage such reflection.

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Evaluating Our Group Project How successful were we in meeting our project goals? Below average

Average

Above Average

How do we rate the group’s abilities in the following areas – Planning

Below Average

Average

Above average

Time-management

Below Average

Average

Above average

Group working & Cooperation

Below Average

Average

Above average

Group Communication

Below Average

Average

Above average

Conducting useful meetings

Below Average

Average

Above average

Listening to each other

Below Average

Average

Above average

Making decisions

Below Average

Average

Above average

Adapting to new situations

Below Average

Average

Above average

Writing our report

Below Average

Average

Above average

Presenting our work

Below Average

Average

Above average

If we were to do the Project again, what would we do differently?

What would we do exactly the same?

What have we learnt from undertaking the project?

■■ FIGURE 10.2  Example of a group project evaluation form

TYPICAL CHALLENGES AND SOME ‘TROUBLESHOOTING’ STRATEGIES ■

Free riders – An unfair and unequal distribution of effort and labour between group members is perhaps the most commonly reported issue for group projects. It can lead to frustration and resentment, and ultimately lead to the breakdown of the group. Groups should

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be encouraged to tackle this issue ‘head-on’ by discussing what they would do if somebody wasn’t pulling their weight right at the beginning of the project and include this in their initial agreement or contracting with each other. As a project or convenor, it is also important to be very clear with learners what your role will be if they cannot resolve the issue themselves. Will you intervene and act as an arbitrator or not? The assessment design for the group project can also be used to encourage more equal contributions by including peer assessment or some element of individually assessed work (e.g. allocate specific tasks to named group members, require all group members to present or have vivas, assess an individual’s diary reflections on the group activity or assess the learning from the group project in the exam). ■ Disagreements – Group members may fall out over many different things including roles and responsibilities, work tasks and personality clashes. Many teachers would argue that learning how to resolve or ‘live with’ the unresolved issues is a huge part of the learning in group work. Learners can be guided to take a democratic approach to problem solving in their meetings and be encouraged to be personally flexible for the overall benefit of the group. Having a clear policy that includes a contingency plan for group membership changes and your role as supervisor or convenor is very useful to include in the module/course handbook. ■ Inequalities – In Chapter 5 we discussed some of the ways that learners and groups can vary, and this may lead to challenges for project teams. Differences in expectations, communication norms and language, for example, can ultimately lead to inequalities within the group. As much as this variety is likely to be representative of the worlds of work and future employment that learners will go on to experience, and so be an excellent learning opportunity, it may still be challenging to reach agreement and consensus as a group. Fostering open and democratic processes in meetings, encouraging group members to speak out if they feel such inequalities are impacting on themselves or other group members and being sensitive to each other’s needs is a good starting point. Experiences of group projects are often extremely positive and provide learners with evidence of skills development and experiences that they

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frequently use in job interviews and applications. Such projects are often cited as the reason an individual wanted to continue to do higher degrees or seek further research opportunities. However, this is not true for all and concern about inclusivity and unintended bias feature in the literature regarding group projects. Gender effects are sometimes reported but appear to be variable depending on which study you read. The heterogeneity of the group, particularly in relation to the mix of home and international learners, is also discussed in the literature. Gibbs (2010) concludes that culturally similar groups may function better when the project is of a short duration, but a more diverse and mixed group has the advantage when the project runs over a longer timescale. It can be surmised that the benefits of working with peers who have a similar background and culture, enabling a quicker start-up phase, will be outweighed, over time, by the added value of a greater mix and diversity of ideas, experiences and learning approaches leading to a more creative and nimble team. Mixed-ability teams have many educational benefits and encourage peer learning but are only effective if the stronger learners are able to shine and their strengths are fairly reflected in the way the project is assessed.

REFLECTION POINTS • How do you feel your own experiences of working in learning groups has impacted on your attitudes to student group work for your learners? • Do your students receive any training or guidance on how to work in teams? • In what ways can a tutor or facilitator support student groups to resolve their own issues or difficulties?

THOUGHTS ON ASSESSMENT AND FEEDBACK The marks awarded for team projects are often higher and in a narrower range than for other individually assessed modules or courses. This frequently reflects the engagement, motivation, peer-learning and the considerable effort that learners put into such projects (Knight 2004). However, assessment strategies that include elements such as anonymized peer assessment, marks for individual reflections on the experience of group learning and carefully calibrating the challenge of the projects topics and tasks tackled,

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can produce greater levels of discrimination and a higher standard deviation in summative assessments. The valuable literature review undertaken by Graham Gibbs (2010) gives persuasive evidence that seeking to allocate a single group mark to a team of learners is rarely satisfactory for a number of reasons. Learners often consider the assessment process and the marks they receive as being unfair. Free-riding and game-playing strategies lead to inequality in individual effort and contribution and can seriously distract from the intended learning outcomes and goals of the project. An assessment strategy that has many benefits is to allocate individual roles and responsibilities for tasks or sub-components of the project, the roles being allocated by either the tutor or by the learners themselves, through a clear and transparent mechanism. EXAMPLES FROM THE DISCIPLINES Geography

Robert Hearn, Cordelia Freeman and colleagues, The University of Nottingham Techniques in Human Geography involves second year undergraduate students learning research methods in three areas, ‘People’, ‘Archives’ and Data’, by undertaking three, five-week, practical projects, supervised and monitored by academic staff members and a demonstrator. The support and monitoring is by group and individual drop in sessions and ongoing correspondence with the student groups. Some of the projects employ a blended learning and flipped class room approach too (e.g. please see the website used in one of the Archive projects – www.nottingham.ac.uk/toolkits/play_16429). The module is specifically designed to prepare and give practice to students in methods that they will use in their final year dissertations. The cohort of approximately 120 students are allocated to one of three large groups comprising approximately 40 students each. These large groups rotate around the three consecutive five-week projects. Within the large groups, students are allocated to one of approximately eight subgroups of five students. Students remain in the sub-group for the duration of the module. The projects: The organization of each project (‘People’, ‘Archives’ and ‘Data’) are different; for example, one project may be more directed

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than the others, in order to reflect the different ways research is undertaken in different branches of human geography. For this reason, the amount of contact time often depends on the nature of the organization of the specific project. Details of the three projects are as follows: 1. People: Here, students learn how a series of social scientific research methods centring on talking to and/or observing research participants can be used to address a range of research questions and issues. Through working in small groups, students are given a research topic and, with the support of project staff, will be expected to select, carry out and analyse the research finding. 2. Archives: Here, students are introduced to the concept of the archive, first, a traditional paper archive; second, a digital archives; and, third, contemplate the politics and power of archives in shaping and challenging historical geographies. Students participate in one of three projects that encourage students to reflect on how meaning, experience and materiality are captured, preserved, communicated, censored and distorted. 3. Data: Here, students use the UK census data and the English Index of Multiple Deprivation to address socially important research questions on topics such as income inequality, education attainment, etc. They formulate research questions and hypotheses, analyse the data using statistical and GIS methods, and present their findings orally and in a written project report. Assessment: While the projects are conducted in groups, the assessment comprises individually produced reports for each project. These write-ups are four pages of text plus illustrative/tabular material and references, individually produced, each comprise 33.3 per cent of the module mark, and are submitted at the end of each five-week project cycle. While the precise nature of the assessment varies depending on the specific nature of the work, all assignments must include the following attributes: An explanation, drawing on wider academic reading, of the technique(s) used in the course of the project; ■

A description and justification of the techniques you used to address your research question ■ A discussion of the substantive findings of your research ■ A critical reflection of the technique used in the research project.

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Architecture

Dr Nuala Flood and colleagues at Queen’s University Belfast Public CoLab was a project-based learning experience where small groups of architecture students designed and built a number of temporary plywood installations, all of which aimed to enliven the underutilized riverfront in Derry–Londonderry, Northern Ireland (see Figure 10.3 for an example).

■■ FIGURE 10.3  One of the winning designs

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The pedagogical goals were to offer the student an opportunity to learn how to work effectively as a team, to experience how a design process evolves from inception through to completion, to grapple with the multiple, and often competing demands, of a real client, to design within the constraints of a fixed budget, and limited resources, and to acquire digital fabrication skills. At the launch of Public CoLab a detailed brief was issued to the students. It outlined the design criteria and a number of scheduled design tasks to be completed on a weekly basis. For the first three weeks, 48 stage one undergraduate students worked in teams of four and formulated the initial design concept. At the beginning of their design process, they met the client representatives, surveyed the project site and visited the local digital fabrication laboratory, where the installations would be constructed. Following on from this, the emergent project proposals were presented to the teaching team, and the rest of the cohort, on a weekly basis, where verbal feedback was given. The client representatives participated in these teaching sessions on a number of occasions also. The learning experience was also monitored at weekly tutorials where the teams’ progress was reviewed and a clear trajectory forward, for the upcoming week’s work, was established. In the fourth week of Public CoLab, each design team was joined by three masters students for an intensive five-day workshop, where the more experienced students helped to develop the proposals through the construction of scaled laser-cut prototypes and a set of fabrication drawings. On the final day of this workshop, the refined proposals were presented to the client representatives. They choose to build five of the most innovative and impactful proposals. With the help of the students, these installations were constructed on the banks of the river in May 2018. Written and verbal feedback from the students confirmed that Public CoLab was a positive learning experience for them. On reflection, there were a number of factors that contributed to its success. Having a generous, open-minded and flexible client, who wanted immerse themselves in the design discussions and the construction process, was critical. Their full involvement helped to deepen the students’ understanding of the brief and confirmed to them that their efforts were valued. The stage one students took the lead in the design process. This helped to establish the validity of their ideas, before being joined by more experienced students. Correspondingly, the masters students valued the opportunity to impart their technical skills and to guide the less experienced students in transforming their design concepts into buildable proposals. Given the

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budgetary constraints, only some of the projects could be realized. This constraint helped to keep the students engaged, motivating them to produce innovative designs and to capture the client’s imagination.

Acknowledgements The project was commissioned by Our Future Foyle, a riverfront regeneration initiative that aims to tackle the negative connotations associated with the River Foyle and to cultivate healthy relationships between the river and the city’s inhabitants. Our Future Foyle is a collaboration between the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design and the Public Health Agency Northern Ireland. Public CoLab was led by Dr Nuala Flood, with support from Dr Sarah Lappin, Dr Jasna Mariotti and Mr Niek Turner. Engineering

Dr Karl Dearn and Colleagues at The University of Birmingham Formula Student (FS) is a university student design competition managed in the UK by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. In the competition, teams are required to produce a prototype for a single-seat race car for autocross or sprint racing and present it to a hypothetical manufacturing firm. UBRacing is the university’s Formula Student team. Based in the School of Engineering, UBRacing’s development of a formula student car is an extra circular activity. Unlike many other university teams, Birmingham encourages students from all years and all disciplines from across the university to take part. This hugely successful project enables students to gain hands-on experience of a real life-engineering task. The school assists the team with financial support, laboratory space, postgraduate supervision, technical support and academic faculty. They compete in July every year at Silverstone, against about 120 other university teams from across the globe. The competition requires the team to demonstrate both the logic and business model for the car. Including: ■

A series of static events that test the quality of the design of the vehicle, its costs and general sustainability (relating to materials and processes choice), and the development of a sound business proposition to market the vehicle (taking a dragon’s den type format).

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Dynamic events that include a figure-of-eight skid pan event, a 100-yard acceleration event, an autocross and, finally, endurance event (22 laps of a 1 km course). To provide an indication of the level of engineering involved in these vehicles, UBR 20, Birmingham 2018 completed the acceleration course faster than a Porsche 911.

The engineering students have the opportunity to integrate the project into their degree course. This may be through the third-year group design project, or on an individual basis, developing a technical aspect of the vehicle as part of their final year thesis. Participating in Formula Student and joining UBRacing nurtures and develops a student’s creativity and innovation. It also equips our graduates with a level of professionalism, practising as engineers, such that they are well equipped for their future engineering careers, and widely recognized as quality engineering graduates by industry. The project also provides an excellent STEM/ outreach mechanism for enthusing youngsters to consider a career in engineering and this often includes taking the car and team to local schools, colleges and the wider community. Key to all of this, is that the whole project is driven by the students.   SUGGESTED FURTHER READING Assessment Standards Knowledge Exchange (ASKE) [online]. Available from: www. brookes.ac.uk/aske/groupwork-assessment/ Gibbs, Graham (2010). Assessment of group work: lessons from the literature. ASKe, www.brookes.ac.uk/aske/Groupwork%20Assessment/ (accessed 11 December 2018). There are a useful set of group resumes and skills inventories available from the Carnegie Mellon University website at www.cmu.edu/teaching/ designteach/design/instructionalstrategies/groupprojects/tools/index.html

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Chapter 11

Blended learning and tutoring at a distance

INTRODUCTION The advance of technology means that what is of value is not what the learner knows. After all, Google knows everything! Rather, it is about what learners can do with that knowledge, how they navigate problems for themselves, how they prioritize and critique ideas, and how they communicate, agree and disagree with others. Of course, this is the general backdrop to a lot of this book and underlines the value of facilitation and SGT more generally. However, technological advances haven’t just created a world where simple knowledge exchange has limited value, they also open the door to more interactive and enabling SGTs. What technological advances take with one hand they give with the other. The approaches to using technology for SGT discussed in this chapter allow the tutor to address other things raised in this book (see Chapter 4). For example, differentiation; creating an inclusive teaching environment; and dealing with learners who learn at different times and in different ways. Technology also provides a response to the environmental and timetabling issues. The reader will also notice that in this chapter we sometimes talk about lectures. This might seem odd in a book on small group teaching! But, as we’ll see, the use of technology, in fact, continues to break down the traditional ‘lecture’ and ‘SGT’ distinction. Part of the legacy of technology is that the distinction between ‘lecture’ and ‘SGT’ is of less value. WHAT IS BLENDED LEARNING? Blended learning is obviously blending something, but what? Well, the general consensus is blending synchronous communication with technology to deliver content. Of course, this means there are as many ways to deliver ‘blended

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learning’ as there are synchronous forms of communication, technologies to deliver content and methods to blend the two. The general idea, though, is that in order for there to be blended learning, there has to be some realtime communication and some technology to deliver content. So, the learner whose course involves a series of online quizzes and, perhaps, a couple of videos is not experiencing blended learning. Massive open online courses (MOOC) fall into this category but they are not typical examples of blended learning. What is required is that the blended learning includes real-time communication between people. Although we will assume in this chapter that this means face-to-face communication, in practice it does not have to be, as real-time communication can be virtual. Given this broad definition, blended learning is bigger than, though does include, methods such as ‘flipped classrooms’, or ‘teaching labs’. However, for ease – and because it has come to be most popular in higher education – we will focus here on ‘flipped classrooms’ as a model of blended learning; but what might blended learning look like in practice? DIFFERENT APPROACHES Although there are a lot of different models of blended learning, we will outline here two general approaches that can both be modified and adapted. Rotation model This model involves ‘stations’ through which the learners rotate. At least one of the stations involves online delivery of material and the others could include traditional teacher led content or group work. How the learners are moved through the stations will dictate different variations of this model; there may be a fixed schedule for how all the learners move through the stations; or there might be individual approaches drawn up for each learner; or there could be more of a pick and mix approach, where the learners simply decide for themselves how, and how often, to engage. ‘Station’ in a university context will probably mean a teaching room. For example, a set of learners could move from a computer lab (station), to an open-style seminar room with plectrum tables (station) to a traditional lecture theatre (station). Flipped class room In the flipped class room the background context and information of each topic covered (traditionally delivered in the lecture theatre) is delivered

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online ‘at home’. After engaging with this in their own time, the learner then participates in discussion/group activities etc. in the classroom about that material. The tutor has a facilitating role. ADVANTAGES OF BLENDED LEARNING Today’s distance education inevitably involves the use of technology, and in fact one of the defining characteristics of distance education is its use of technology to remove the distance between the provider and recipient of instruction. Our analysis suggests that those studies that used a combination of technology and face-to-face education resulted in the most positive outcomes. (Zhao et al. 2005, 1863) Blended learning brings flexibility in delivery, which means that it can address many of the problems already discussed regarding timetabling, learning space and differentiation, etc., while not abandoning the benefits of face-to-face communication. One advantage of blended learning is that it has the potential to respond to the perennial problem of why the learners tend not to participate in SGT or lectures. It is useful to try and establish why this is the case. One plausible explanation is that the learners may not have managed to understand the essential content, the basic context, and foundational material given in lectures. It follows that any additional reading, problems and translations, etc. will be difficult to understand because there is no foundation in place. Imagine how hard it would be to read a paper for group discussion on the various implications of Marx’s concept of ‘alienation’ while having no idea about Marx’s basic theory. However, if the key content, the basic context and the foundational material itself is the focus for learners in their own time/at their own pace, then the problem of engagement becomes less of an issue. So, if content delivered by technology provides the backdrop for discussion, and the material can be accessed and engaged with in a way that is bespoke for each learner, then this would arguably improve the quality and quantity of discussion. So blended learning has the potential to help facilitation because it gives a greater chance to understand the prerequisites for discussion. Not only does blended learning help facilitation, it makes the discussion time more effective. If the tutor can legitimately expect all the learners to know the contexts and know the basics, then this can allow them to delve deeper and to resist using SGT time for delivering material

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and therefore means that the tutors are in a better place to deliver the best practice discussed throughout this book. A further specific advantage worth foregrounding is that blended learning enables international learners to go at their own pace with the initial introductions through technology, and thus they are able to get to grips with this key information and be much more prepared to join in. Most of these advantages will also apply to mature learners, new learners and disabled learners. Less talked about, and maybe less common, is that blended learning allows learners to engage with material that might be inaccessible to them because of political or geographical reasons. A learner with Internet access could take part in blended learning about democracy even if they are in a besieged war-torn country; or women in Afghanistan might, if they can get Internet access, be given educational chances they would otherwise not have. However, clearly in this case real-time communication would have to be virtually, rather than face-to-face. Another advantage of blended learning is that it improves the chances for creativity from the tutor, be that with how and in what form technology is used to deliver material, or the form and approach to the synchronous part. For example, a series of animations (there are many apps that can help with this, for example, Powtoon.com/Moovly.com) discussing key concepts in neurophysiology, with commentary and quizzes delivered through a virtual learning environment (e.g. Moodle). Given the better accessibility, the ease of differentiation and the possibility for creativity, we should expect that the learners will be better motivated to engage with the material, and of course, the benefits of better motivated learners are clear. All in all, if blended learning is carried out in a thoughtful and holistic way then there are some genuine advantages which can make SGT more rewarding.

REFLECTION POINTS • Are there any ways of incorporating blended learning into your teaching? • What are the biggest potential problems/benefits of incorporating blended learning in your discipline? • What creative ways could you use to deliver the online material? • How could you encourage discussion of material in-class that learners have encountered outside class?

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POTENTIAL PITFALLS Despite the distinct advantages of blended learning, there are certainly potential pitfalls. Blended learning relies on working up-to-date technology, which needs to be accessible to all learners. If part of the class time involves self-directed work on computers, then there should be enough computers that are working; there should be good technical support in case there is a problem; there should be good reliable Internet access, etc. Institutions need to have the funds, and be willing, to invest in future proofing the technology. If the blended approach relies on the learner engaging with technology outside the classroom, then can they do this? Do they live in a place with a computer, with access to the Internet? With a reliable, high-speed Internet connection etc.? Are they going to have to fight for the use of the computer? Apart from the reliability, future proofing and accessibility of the technology, for blended learning to work the tutor needs to be fully committed. In fact, in order for blended learning to work, it needs to be an all-or-nothing approach. Blended learning will fail if it is thought of as ‘do what you’ve always done but just add some technology’. For example, if you are asking learners to use technology to learn information and basic content, but then devote time in SGT to learning information and basic content, then the learners will view this as a waste of everyone’s time and will quickly disengage. Essentially, if the tutor doesn’t act as a facilitator then blended learning is going to be ineffective and the learners will become uninterested. Put in another way, and echoing another theme of this book, for blended learning to work the tutor needs to remember that the technology is just a tool and to use that tool effectively means a complete examination of their approach to teaching, what they want to get out of each SGT and what they can expect from learners etc. A challenge to successfully implementing blended learning is that it changes the role of the tutor. It can change the expectations of the tutor and the learner’s expectations of the tutor; the blended learning approach means that learners can learn without the tutor, and learners can learn from other learners. Both of these ideas can be quite difficult for a tutor to assimilate into the teaching practice. Also, it has the potential to threaten the tutor’s identity as a tutor. (For more on tutorless tutorials see Chapter 8.) There is a related issue here. Prior to entering higher education learners have typically been taught in a way that requires them to recall information that has been presented to them. This can sometimes mean that the learners then get frustrated with blended learning because they simply don’t recognize it as teaching.

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Blended learning also requires a blended approach to the design and delivery and because of the nature of blended learning, the tutor will need to know exactly what is going to be discussed in each SGT, and the material will need to be carefully picked and structured to ensure maximal engagement. However, despite the need for clear preparation, the tutor needs to be flexible and responsive. For example, if the first tutorial is going to be about identifying bovine foetal abnormality, but the learners come with no understanding of normal foetal development despite looking at the material at home, then the tutor will need to rethink their approach. Linked to this last example, the tutor will need to consider how the learners will learn practical skills because blended learning will not be possible for some material. For example, if the topic is about ascetic non-touch technique in wound care, then there will need to be a very specific set of teaching practices –something which can’t be delivered via technology. Of course, technology can help with learning facts about this (e.g. www.notting ham.ac.uk/nursing/sonet/rlos/placs/antt/), but the key learning is about the acquisition of skills. So blended learning might not be possible in some contexts. (For more on SGT related to practical skills see Chapter 9.) Another potential problem is the flipside of the advantage listed above. Blended learning gives the chance for the tutor to be creative which hopefully will lead to learners being motivated and engaged. However, if little thought is given to the material that the learners are accessing outside the tutorial, then this, in fact, might be a barrier to engagement with the key material. For example, simply putting a set of slides on a VLE and telling the learner to click through them before the next tutorial isn’t going to get the most out of blended learning. The final potential problem regards the day-to-day running of blended learning. Because of how the material is delivered, lots of questions are likely to be raised and a clear ‘triage’ system for questions outside the discussion time is important. FAQs and archived discussion boards are good for this. Tutors can then signpost learners to these. Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, the tutor must be clear, and make the learners understand, that the SGT itself should not be about answering questions about basic material. If this is not made plain, then the potentially rich and sophisticated discussion will disappear; replaced by questions recapping and dealing with the out of class material. The tutor then needs to set up clear expectations with regarding to questioning. Imagine then, that you want to design blended learning for your course. What do you need to consider?

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TIPS FOR DESIGN To get the most out of blended learning, the tutor needs to be creative and forward thinking. If the learners are going to engage with the material in their own time, and then fully engage with each other when there is discussion/group work, then the tutor needs to maximize the chance of the learners doing their ‘homework’ and make the time when the learners are together as exciting and notably different from the other content as possible. A good way of approaching this is thinking about the online delivery as the content, and the in-class time as the application. For example, the technology could deliver content about window design in an architecture course and the SGT would then be a group design project and discussion. Because there are so many more variables in blended learning, it is paramount that feedback is collected throughout the course. If the design and delivery isn’t iterative and reflective, then it will be divorced from the learner and fail to deliver its intended learning outcomes. Important to the design process is realizing how and why learners engage with content outside class. Mixing up the way the content is delivered is ideal. As a tutor you have a vast array of options from PowerPoint slides, quizzes, translation exercise, animations, podcasts, blogs, wikis and videos, etc. Furthermore, the tutor shouldn’t be worried about using, or at least signposting to, other work on the web. For example, a first year Economics course might require learners to watch a set of Khan Academy videos along with the tutor-made material. However, the sheer amount of technology is vast and bewildering and our suggestion to you as a tutor is that you ask yourself what you want to do and then look for the technology rather than vice versa. Another key design principle is to include backchannels for collaboration; if the learners can help one another with their work outside class then that is great. However, the learners may need some help with this. So, for example, booking a room for learners to drop in and discuss the homework with other learners would be helpful, or, creating a learner-led online discussion board. Anything you can do as a tutor to encourage peer-support will help enrich the SGT discussion/activity etc. As a tutor how might you know how best to engage learners with the content delivery via technology, or with the in-class synchronous time? How will you know how much content to design into each session? Well, ask the learners. This active engagement with learners from the start is especially important with blended learning where so much is learner driven and is based on learner motivation and learner engagement.

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Another good tip for design is to be mindful of the skill set of your learners and if you can pool their resources; not only is this going to save you time, but will also reinforce the idea that they are owners of the course. It is important to include points in the online delivery to cause learners to think about their level of understanding. Direct feedback, and data for both the learner and the tutor is going to be key to allowing the learner and tutor to monitor engagement and progress. So, for example, mid-point formative online assessment where learners get immediate real-time feedback is going to help learners get a realistic picture of their own abilities. When designing the blended learning material, the course needs to be challenging enough to stretch the learners, and there needs to be chance to ask questions. Feedback given, either asynchronously or in real time, needs to be mindful of using the vocabulary of mindset theory (see Chapter 2). And, of course, all the good practice regarding implicit bias and stereotypes, etc., applies with blended learning as it does with traditional methods of delivery. EXAMPLE FROM THE DISCIPLINES Political Philosophy I have used a form of flipped teaching in a module on moral and political philosophy for final year undergraduates. I asked the learners to view three ‘mini-lectures’ each week in advance of the timetabled lecture. These mini-lectures substituted for one reading (I asked them to read one paper or chapter each week, rather than two as I normally would). The mini-lectures were narrated slideshows, hosted on a VLE. Each one was about 8–10 minutes long. I prepared them using the Keynote app, which means recording each one in a single take. This took a bit of practice, and the results were not perfect in terms of fluency – but I have not received any complaints about that. In each one I attempted to explain some key idea or argument, which I would otherwise explain in the main lecture. The idea was that (a) learners could view these as many times as they liked before the lecture, and could return to them later, to secure and consolidate their understanding; and (b) the timetabled lecture could take a more conversational and spontaneous form, since I would not be trying to explain the basic ideas in it. In turn, this freed up time in the accompanying seminars to discuss things other than the lecture material – including, for example, preparation for assessments.

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I have used this method with this module for three different cohorts of learners. Each time, it has worked very well – discussions have been good in lectures and seminars, learners seem to have had a better understanding of the basic ideas discussed in the mini-lectures, their assessment results have been good, and they have spontaneously praised the mini-lectures and flipped format in learner evaluations of the module. For example, the following comment is quite typical: ‘The mini lectures are a great idea and have helped me to feel much more prepared before starting each topic, and I feel secure in the knowledge that I can come back to them/my notes on them when it comes to revision time’. In future I might try to have fewer and/or shorter mini-lectures each week. I originally adopted a uniform pattern of 3 × 10 minute mini-lectures each week, and it might be better to use them more sparingly. One reason for this is that it would reduce the cost in time of revising the module: with this much material prepared in advance, it is more time-consuming to revise the module than it would be if I were just giving conventional lectures. But I have found this method of teaching works very well for me, and I will certainly continue to use it. TUTORING AT A DISTANCE Technology gives the chance to ‘tutor at a distance’. This is different from blended learning because there is no online content delivery through video, quizzes, slides etc. It is simply trying to mimic the SGT but in a virtual space. The ways of doing this could be to use video conferencing/interactive software, for example, Adobe Connect, Stoodle, Starleaf, Skype or ezTalk; however, there is a need with software to be mindful of things like futureproofing and bandwidth, etc. Other ideas to consider are how many learners can be part of the group – 5, 50, 500? Do you want to have a collaborative whiteboard, or be able to share slides? How will the audio work for the group? (See also Chapter 8 where we discuss using technology for group work and student collaboration.) There will also be some very specific facilitation techniques that the tutor will need to be mindful of when tutoring at a distance. For example, if communication is through live real-time discussion boards then the tutor and learners will need to agree some rules in terms of turn taking, etiquette, abbreviations and grammar, etc. There will also be some important issues concerning time delay, how to ask questions, basically how to have a

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group discussion in a virtual environment. Clear preparation, clear rules for engagement and trying out the software beforehand is vital for the success of tutoring at a distance. There are some other specific things that other forms of online SGT will generate. For instance, immersive worlds might generate issues such as the appropriate use of avatars. Will it matter where in a virtual world the tutoring takes place? (See ‘Suggested further reading’ for some more detailed discussions.) REFLECTION POINTS • • • •

Are there any areas where you could incorporate tutoring at a distance? Would there be any benefits in doing so? What would make you choose tutoring at a distance over blended learning? For you, what is the biggest barrier to incorporating technology into your teaching more generally?

CONCLUSION Blended learning and tutoring at a distance have a lot going for them. However, the use of technology certainly isn’t a panacea and there is the potential problem that learners end up learning about technology rather than learning through it. There are obvious set-up costs in terms of time and education. Furthermore, there needs to be clear long-term investment from all those involved – learners, tutors, line managers and institutions – to make sure the SGTs are enhanced by technology. There needs to be a recognition that blended learning and tutoring at a distance require a whole different approach to teaching. They can both help address many of the potential problems raised in this book, so the potential benefits are great, but so also are the pitfalls, and if these are not properly addressed, then the approaches taken in this chapter will make SGT far less rich, engaging and rewarding.   SUGGESTED FURTHER READING A large meta-analysis comparing online and blended learning: www2.ed.gov/ rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf See www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb2d8E1dZjY for different models of blended learning.

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For a discussion of technology and inclusivity see Chapter 2 of Fisher, Andrew, Exley, Kate and Ciobanu, Dragos. (2014). Using technology to support learning and teaching. London: Routledge. Evidence base for the benefits of blended learning: Zhao, Y., Lei, J., Yan, B., Lai, C. and Tan, H. S. (2005). What makes the difference? A practical analysis of research on the effectiveness of distance education. Teachers College Record 107(8), 1836–1884. Nice overview of blended learning: www.heacademy.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/ blended-learning-0 (accessed July 2018). Professor Gilly Salmon has an excellent website for resources related to technology and learning: www.gillysalmon.com/ Nice discussion of how to make online material accessible: https://accessibility. jiscinvolve.org/wp/2016/02/05/adding-variety-without-adding-barriers/ (accessed July 2018). A more sceptical/cautious piece about blended learning: www.timeshigher education.com/news/us-blended-learning-learners-least-engaged-teaching (accessed July 2018). Discussion about starting blended learning (though not in HE still relevant): www. coursera.org/lecture/blending-learning-personalization/moves-of-theblended-learning-teacher-i-Nd6Zf (accessed July 2018).

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195

Index

Note: References in italics are to figures, those in bold to tables. active feedback 50–1 active learning 13, 14, 53 active listening 50–1, 59 adult learning: problem-based learning (PBL) 127–8 aims 91 Albanese, M. A. 130 alienation 76 anxiety 32 architecture: group projects 173, 173–5 Aristotle 137 assessing achievement 52, 162–3, 170–1 astronomy: role-playing 113 Ausubel, D. P. 12 authenticity 35, 46 away days 146 Bandura, A. 17 ‘banking’ approach to learning 43, 45 Barrows, H. S. 116, 130 base groups 139 beginnings 86–7 Bell, A. 137 Benner, P. 155 Berkson, L. 130 bias, implicit 30–2, 41

196

Blake, R. L. 115 blended learning 77, 177–8; advantages 179–80; design tips 183–4; examples from the disciplines 184–5; flipped class room 178–9, 184–5; potential pitfalls 181–2; rotational model 178; conclusion 186 body language 29–30, 50 brainstorming 94 Bramley, M. 151 Briggs, S. 137 Brookfield, S. D. 101, 128 Buzan, T. 95 buzz groups 96–7 Calaprice, A. 58 cards 99, 110 Carin, A. A. 51, 59 case studies 142 chilly climates 26–7, 40; body language and dismissive behaviour 29–30, 50; discourse in the classroom 27–8; implicit bias 30–2, 41; micro-aggressions 27 choose an item 93–4 circle of voices 101 clarification questions 57

INDEX

clarity of speech and content 71–2 closed questions 53–4 closure 65 cognitive dissonance 14, 62, 126 cognitive neuroscience: learner-led seminars 150–1 Coles, C. 126 communication and feedback skills 50; active listening 50–1, 59; and international students 69–73; and non-native speakers of English 69–73; and non-participation 64; questioning 51–9, 104, 142 concept maps 95 constructivist theories of learning 11–13; active learning 13, 14, 53; cognitive constructivism 12; cooperative learning 134; learner engagement 13, 43; practical consequences of in SGT 13–15; social constructivism 12–13, 126, 134 contextual learning 126 convergent questions 53–4 cooperative learning 134 cross-over groups 97–9, 98 crowd sourcing 100–1 curiosity 46 cut ups 99 cynical group members 64–5 Da Silva, A. L. 132 Dearn, K. 175–6 debates 108, 141–2 Dennick, R. 132 Deutsch, M. 134 Dewey, J. 12, 43, 124 differentiation in SGT 47–9, 68 Disability Act (UK; 2010) 78 disabled learners 78; adaptations for group working 81; anticipatory adjustments 80–1; individual needs 80; legal position 77–80; teaching resources and online tutorials 81–2 discourse in the classroom 27–8

dismissive behaviour 29–30 dominant group members 63 Dweck, C. 33, 35 dysfunctional groups see problem/ dysfunctional groups dysfunctional organization 61–2 e-commerce: learner-led seminars 150 Eble, K. 46 economic history: methods and techniques 112–13 economics: problem-based learning (PBL) 136 educational theories 11; constructivist theories of learning 11–15; experiential learning theory 15–19; humanistic theories of learning 19–20, 126; social psychology theory 21–2 Einstein, A. 58 electrical engineering: problem-based learning (PBL) 135 Elwyn, G. et al. 88, 106 engineering: group projects 175–6 enquiry-based learning see problem-based learning Entwistle, N. et al. 13, 152 evaluation apprehension 21 experiential learning theory (ELT) 15–17, 16, 17; hypothesis testing and action planning 19; mental models, practical skills and attitudes 18–19; practical consequences of in SGT 18; problem-based learning 126; reflection through writing and feedback 18 extension questions 57–8 facilitation 10, 60; closure 65; communication and feedback skills 50–9, 72–3; defined 42–4; differentiation in SGT 47–9, 68; difficulties 44–5; ground rules 60, 62, 63, 91; for international

197

INDEX

learners 69–73; by learners 140; management and control 60; for non-native speakers of English 69–73; problem-based learning (PBL) 128–9; problem/ dysfunctional groups 61–5; questioning 51–9; skills 44–61; structuring and organizing 59–60; subject specialists 129; tutor personhood and personality 45–7 facilitator position 38–9 failure 32, 35 Falchikov, N. 138 feedback 18; active feedback 50–1; on group projects 170–1; language of 35; from learners 31–2, 109; on practical skill performance 158–60; on psychomotor skills 157 Festinger, L. 14, 62 fish bowling 105 Fitts, P. 154 flipped class room 178–9, 184–5 Flood, N. 173–5 Freeman, C. 171–2 Freire, P. 16, 43 Funnel, M. 151 games 108 geography: group projects 171–2 Gibbs, G. 170, 171 goal setting 91 google jockeying 101 ground rules 60, 62, 63, 91 group conflict 62–3 group dynamics 52 group projects 161; assessment and feedback 170–1; assessment of learners 162–3; benefits and goals 161–2; challenges and strategies 168–70; communication and record keeping 164–5, 166; examples from the disciplines 171–6; reflection on learning 167, 168; stages 163–8, 165; supervisors/advisors 167; types 162

198

Haidet, P. et al. 161 Haines, C. 133 Hayler, R. 151 Healey, M. et al. 137, 138 Hearn, R. 171–2 humanistic theories of learning 19–20; practical consequences in SGT 20; problem-based learning 126; self-actualization 19 humbleness 46 icebreakers see warm-up/ice-breaking exercises Illich, I. 16 imposter syndrome 32–3, 41 individual responses 109 ‘the inner circle’ 105 instant posters 109–10 interest, arousing 51 international learners 69–73, 180 international politics: problem-based learning (PBL) 135 interruption, rules of 28 Iwata, K. et al. 138 jigsawing 102–3 justification questions 57 Kaas, K. 103 Kant, I. 12 Koffka, K. 134 Koh, G. C.-H. et al. 130 Kolb, D. 15, 16, 16, 17 Lancaster, J. 137 law: methods and techniques 111–12 learner diversity 66–7; differentiation 47–9, 68; disabled learners 78–82; international learners 69–73, 180; learner understanding 72; mature students 73–6; multi-disciplinary/ mixed-ability groups 67–9; ‘new learners’ 76–8; non-native speakers of English 69–73, 180; participation and communication

INDEX

72–3; progressive tasks 69; understanding one another 73; concluding remarks 83 learner engagement 13, 43 learner-led discussions 139–40 learner-led seminars 138, 140–3, 150–1 learner pairs 141 learner presentations 111, 139–40 learner support groups 139 learner understanding 72 learners: finding out more about 90–1; learning resources of 20; physical, psychological, emotional needs 20; teacher–learner relationship 21 learners as partners 137–9; away days 146; encouraging all 140–1; examples from the disciplines 150–2; learner-led discussions 139–40; learner-led seminars 138, 140–3, 150–1; learner presentations 111, 139–40; learning exchanges 146–7; learning sets 139, 147–9; mentoring 149; methods and approaches 141–3; peer tutoring 99, 137, 138, 149; proctorials 139, 149, 151; study groups 139, 147–9; syndicate classes 138, 143–4; workshops 138, 144–6 learners’ views on small group teaching 1; advice to new teachers 7–9; benefits 1–4; problems/difficulties 4–7; closing remarks 10–11 learning exchanges 146–7 learning outcomes 91 learning sets 139, 147–9 Lewin, K. 11, 15, 134 listening, active 50–1, 59 McCain, K. W. 11 McLean, N. 71 Madras education 137 Malseed, J. 87–8 management and control 60

Mann, Sarah J. 76 mansplaining 28 Marton, F. 13 Maslow, A. 16, 19, 20, 23–4, 24 Matthews, M. B. 115 mature students 73–6 mentoring 149 metacognition 14, 18, 50, 64–5 methods and techniques 85–6; beginnings 86–7; brainstorming 94; buzz groups 96–7; choose an item 93–4; circle of voices 101; concept maps 95; cross-over groups 97–9, 98; crowd sourcing 100–1; cut ups, cards and Post-its 99–100, 110; debates 108, 140–2; examples from the disciplines 111–13; finding out more about learners 90–1; fish bowling 105; games 108; goal setting 91; google jockeying 101; individual responses 109; ‘the inner circle’ 105; instant posters 109–10; jigsawing 102–3; learner presentations 111, 139–40; mind maps 95; more adventurous techniques 104–13; nominated spokesperson 111; pass the pen 93; pre-tests 90; prompted peer questioning 104; pyramids 97; quiz choices 103; reporting back/ feedback from learners 31–2, 109; resource-based learning tasks 102; role-play 105–7, 113; rounds 93; simulations 108; SWOT analysis 96; syndicate groups 100; traditional formats 92; varying the stimuli 101–2; warm-up/ice-breaking exercises 87–90 Mezirow, J. 16 micro-aggressions 27 Miller, G. E. 154 mind maps 95 mindset theory 33–6 Mitchell, S. 130 mixed-ability groups 67–9

199

INDEX

multi-disciplinary groups 67–9 mutual instruction 137 needs, hierarchy of 23–4, 24 ‘new learners’ 76–8 nominated spokesperson 111 non-native speakers of English 69–73, 180 non-participating individuals 64 nursing: problem-based learning (PBL) 134 Olukayode, M. T. 133 online tutorials 81–2 open questions 54–5 over-enthusiasm 74 participation and communication 72–3 pass the pen 93 passive group members 64 PBL see problem-based learning peer-assisted learning (PAL) 138 peer learning 139 peer observation 31 peer support 12, 18, 49, 68, 183 peer tutoring/mentoring 99, 137, 138, 149 Peets, A. D. et al. 138 perfectionism 32 personal stories 142 philosophy: proctoring 151 physical environment 36–7, 41; facilitator position 38–9; group arrangements 37–8; group size 37; physical conditions 37–8; room size 39; concluding remarks 39–40 physics: role-playing 113 Piaget, J. 12, 16–17 Pirsig, Robert M. 55 pleasure 46 political philosophy: flipped teaching 184–5 Posner, M. 154 Post-its 100, 110 posters, instant 109–10

200

pre-assessment 48–9 pre-tests 90 presence 46, 55 Preskill, S. 101 Prigmore, M. 150 probing questions 56 problem-based learning (PBL) 115–16; activities and learning processes 125–6; adult learning 127–8; cooperative learning 134; curriculum 117–19, 118; educational rationale 124–5; effectiveness of 129–31; examples from the disciplines 134–6; explorations of the process 132–3; facilitators 128–9; knowledge gaps in 131; lectures 119; professional attitudes towards learning 127; setting up a course 133–4; seven step process 120–4, 123; subject specialists 129; tutorials 119 problem/dysfunctional groups 61; cynical group members 64–5; dominant group members 63; dysfunctional organization 61–2; group conflict 62–3; non-participating individuals 64; passive group members 64 procedural knowledge 126 proctorials 139, 149, 151 proctoring meetings 139 professional attitudes towards learning 127 prompted peer questioning 104 prompting questions 56–7 propositional knowledge 126 Proverbs 50 psychological and social conditions for SGT 23; chilly climates 26–32, 40; implicit bias 30–2, 41; imposter syndrome 32–3, 41; Maslow’s hierarchy of needs 23–4, 24; mindset theory 33–6, 41; stereotype threat 24–6, 40; concluding remarks 39–40

INDEX

psychomotor skills 153; conceptualization 156; feedback 157, 158–60; learning sequence 154; levels 154; practice 156–7; skill autonomy 157; skill mastery 157; stages of clinical learning 154–5; teaching methods 155–7; teaching protocol 157–8; verbalization 156; visualization 156 pyramids 97 Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (1999) 78, 80 questioning 51; activating prior learning 52; arousing interest 51; categories of questions 53–8; checking progress and understanding 52; controlling group dynamics 52; diagnosing strengths and weaknesses 52; for different levels of learning 56–8; encouraging deep level thinking/active learning 53; to focus discussions 142; function of in SGT 51; process 58–9; prompted peer questioning 104; responding to 59; reviewing and summarizing 53; summary of recommendations 59–60; triggers for discussion 51, 142 quiz choices 103 quizzes 142–3 Raider-Roth, Miriam B. 46 Ramsden, P. 42, 43, 46, 152 redirection questions 58 reflection through writing and feedback 18 reporting back/feedback from learners 109 resource-based learning tasks 102 reviewing and summarizing 53 Roberts, V. C. 74 Rodgers, Carol R. 46 Rogers, C. 16, 19, 20, 129 role models 77–8 role-play 105–7, 113 room size 39

rounds 93 Rueschemeyer, Shirley-Ann 151 rules of interruption 28 Säljö, R. 13 Sandler, B. 26–7, 28 Savin-Baden, M. 126, 130 Schmidt, H. G. et al. 119, 130, 131 Schön, D. 127 seating arrangement 38 self-actualization 19 SI (supplemental instruction) 149 Simpson, J. S. 154 simulations 108 snowballing 97 social climates see chilly climates social constructivism 12–13, 126, 134 social inhibition 21 social interdependence theory 134 social psychology theory 21–2 social work: problem-based learning (PBL) 135–6 statistics: methods and techniques 112; presentations 151 Steele, Claude M. 25 stereotype threat 24–6, 40 stimuli variation 101–2 structuring and organizing SGT sessions 59–60 study groups 139, 147–9 study skills 75 subject specialists 129 summarizing 53 Sund, R. B. 51, 59 supplemental instruction (SI) 149 SWOT analysis 96 syndicate classes 138, 143–4 syndicate groups 100 Tamblyn, R. M. 116 task progression 69 ‘teacher titles’ 10 teacher–learner relationship 21 teaching resources 81–2 team-based learning see group projects

201

INDEX

technology 75, 77; see also blended learning; tutoring at a distance Tomlinson, Carol Ann et al. 47 traditional formats 92 trust and co-operation 58 turn-taking 70 tutor personhood and personality 45; authenticity 46; curiosity 46; humbleness 46; pleasure 46; presence 46, 55; see also facilitation tutoring at a distance 185–6 tutorless tutorials 139 University of Buffalo Centre for Education Innovation 70

202

Van Ments, M. 107 Vaquer-Fanes, J. 71 Vernon, D. T. A. 115 vignettes 142 Vygotsky, L. 12, 16, 126 Walton, H. J. 115–16 warm-up/ice-breaking exercises 87–8; higher risk 89–90; low risk 88; medium risk 89 workshops 138, 144–6 Zhao, Y. et al. 179 zone of proximal development (ZPD) 12