Transcript Experiences of Non-Graduates Undertaking Masters Courses

An Investigation into the
Experiences of Non-Graduates
Undertaking Masters’ Courses
Gail Louw1, Dave Baker2, Carmel Keller1
1Institute
of Postgraduate Medicine, Brighton and Sussex
Medical School, Brighton, UK
2Institute of Education, London, UK
Introduction
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Background
Literature Review
Methods used
Findings
Discussion
Conclusions/Recommendations
Background
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Health professions need CPD
Undergraduate / postgraduate choice
IPGM – 16 courses
3 programmes: Clinical Specialties, Public
Health, Professional Development
• Student population: 50% doctors, 25% non
graduates
Literature Review
• Very little evidence
• Cohen et al (2005) – paucity of lit on Masters
programmes for medical/health professionals
• Luke (1998) discussed habitus and identity
• Lahiff (2005); practitioners’ journey towards
understanding academic practices
• Coombs (2005); mentoring, action research,
critical thinking sustained practitioner research
through reflective practice
Conceptual/theoretical framework
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Academic practices
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confidence with reading, writing, interactions, development of
critical thinking
Habitus
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participants’ expectations, habits, skills, values, beliefs and
other aspects essential to his/her social identity
Pedagogical approaches
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styles of assessment, access to resources, institutional
support systems, time, personal circumstances, and support in
the workplace
Student Diversity and Background Knowledge
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valuing the diverse experience participants bring to cross
disciplinary programmes
Ref
• Cohen R, Murnaghan L, Collins J, Pratt D 2005 “An update on
master's degrees in medical education” Medical Teacher Volume 27,
Number 8 (December 2005) pp: 686 – 692
• Coombs S, Fletcher S 2005 “Mentoring, action research and critical
thinking scaffolds: promoting and sustaining practitioner research
through reflective practice”. Paper presented at the British
Educational Research Association Annual Conference, University of
Glamorgan, 14-17 September 2005, pp. 18.
• Lahiff A 2005 “Developing academic writing: a case study of postcompulsory practitioners personal and professional development”
Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 2005, vol. 57, no. 3, p.
275-292, ISSN: 1363-6820.
• Luke H . 1998 “Beginning Research on Junior Doctors Habitus”.
Paper to be presented at the British Educational Research
Association Annual Research Student Conference, The Queens
University of Belfast, August 26th - 27th 1998, pp. 26 .*
Methodology
• Generic qualitative approach (Caelli 2003)
• 8 courses chosen:
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Cardiology
Diabetes
Nephrology
Resuscitation Practice
Public Health
Women’s Health
Child Health
Professional Development in Health & Social Care
• 24 original sample of which 21 interviews undertaken
• 12 – Senior Nurses; 1 Physiotherapist, 1 Occupational Therapist, 1
Midwife, 1 Physiologist, 2 Resuscitation Managers, 1 Paramedic; 1
Clinical Effectiveness, 1 Education
Methodology cont.
• Inclusion criteria
• non graduate
• must have submitted at least one assignment
• Names identified at random
• 2 researchers programme leaders; 1 outside the unit
• Interview schedule derived from issues identified in the
literature review and experience
• 10 Questions: Structured interviews conducted by
external researcher
• Taped and transcribed
• Analysis by individual questions – not thematic analysis
Results: Question 1
What made you decide you wanted to do a Masters
course? What were your aspirations and expectations of
the course and your sense of being able to achieve them?
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‘it was proof that you’ve taken it seriously’
The issue around confidence was important; ‘something deep down inside
said yes, I think I’d like to try to see if I could do it’
Some hadn’t studied in years, if at all, and felt the time had come; ‘I am in a
time of my life where I want to try it, and see how it goes’
Some felt that it would enable them to go much further ‘become more of a
specialist in that area’ whilst recognising that ‘these days you need it to stay
in your job’
Many students expressed fear at the prospect of undertaking Masters
courses, ‘Initially complete terror’
Meeting the required level was clearly a concern; ‘I was apprehensive about
whether I would be up to that standard’
Some aspirations were rather modest; ‘I hoped to achieve that I could
understand it’
Another student discussed how the lack of higher education had always
been ‘a big regret…it has always been something that I have been aware
that I don’t have a first degree’
Q2: Why did you decide to do a Masters
course rather than a first degree?
• It was possible to skip the stage of first degree
– ..thinking that I would do a BSc. And then when I saw
the opportunity to do a MSc I thought; Well what am I
thinking of, I can actually do that.’
• Some felt that there was simply no point in doing
a first degree if a Masters was available and
appropriate
– Realistically I couldn’t see, for myself, that I would be
doing a first level degree and doing all that work when
I could be doing the same amount of work and come
out of it with an MSc’
Q3: How did you feel during your interview
for the course, before you started and on
your first morning?
• Several felt apprehensive, daunted and anxious. Some felt they had
not studied for a long time.
– ’It has been a long time since I have done formal studying .. I was
fearful I was overreaching’
• Others felt that they did not know what was expected of them. They
were not sure that they could manage the level of work or cope with
the subject matter. Some felt daunted or intimidated by the prospect
of working with students from other professions with different
backgrounds and with academic degrees.
– ’I was apprehensive but interviewer put my mind at rest about the
course what was expected of me’
– ‘we were all in similar positions. .. There were some people who were
very confident but there were a lot of people who felt a little bit
apprehensive’.
• Despite their anxieties they also felt ‘very
excited and good about it’.
– ‘I felt very excited all the way through’. ‘I
found it a privilege actually having that [first]
day for myself as a practice and being able to
come in here and participate and listen to all
those wonderful people who were coming to
talk to us about things and use the library and
everything else’.
Q4: What was your experience (feelings,
development/change, change of identity, beliefs, values,
skills) of your first module, and subsequent ones?
• In general the students felt the course enabled
them to grow in confidence and in knowledge
• Some of the modules encouraged the students
to reflect on their own personal development.
Some of the students found this most valuable.
One said she felt that this:
– ‘changed my whole outlook. I began to realise what
sort of person I was’
• Others struggled with the language on some
modules
– ‘hated it. It was like being in a foreign country and not
being able to speak the language’
Q5: How did you feel in relation to the staff, to other
students, and specifically those students deemed to have a
high level of education such as doctors?
• Most of the students found the staff supportive, knowledgeable,
helpful, approachable, treated them as equals and were sympathetic
to their needs.
– ‘Very supportive, no problems here at all, met quite a few from
consultants to permanent members of staff. They were all really great’.
• In relation to other students several mentioned that they remained
aware that they did not have a first degree whereas the doctors did
– ‘I have not shed the bit that I don’t have a first degree, .. the anxiety
about that.
• But the same student felt that she had the advantages that came
with age and other experiences
– ‘I think on that particular course there were the most doctors. And
actually in many ways, I have to say, I think age is on my side there in
that I am able to see that perhaps I have got some skills that they may
not have.’
Q6: How would you describe your experience during the
classes, in terms of interactions, involvement and ease of
contributing in class, between peers and tutors?
• Overall class interactions seemed to be linked
with age and maturity, gender, confidence, the
size of the group and the facilitating nature of the
tutor.
• Some found it easy to contribute and felt their
contributions were valued irrespective of their
backgrounds.
– ‘I would say it has been a very positive experience, to
be honest. I haven’t had difficulty in putting forward
my opinion even when my opinion is quite different to
other people.
Q7: What was your experience doing the assignments and dissertation (If
appropriate), specifically your first and then subsequent ones? How did you
deal with and feel about searching, reading, writing and accessing resources?
How did you cope with the Masters’ requirement for coherence and reasoned
argument? How has this developed over time?
• The first assignment seemed to be a huge
moment for them, either as a stumbling block, a
crisis, or the point where confidence became
more entrenched.
– ‘my anxiety was about doing the essay, the
assignment, because it was that part that I really felt I
hadn’t done any, producing something like that for a
very long time. Subsequently it seemed much better. I
now have a sort of system of how I organise myself,
how I plan my essay, how I keep all my references
together, all those things.’
• Feedback is recognised as important by
students.
– ‘I found the feedback very helpful. They shaped it in a
different way, organised it in a different way.’
• And the importance of feedback on early drafts;
– ‘..helped me so much saying, ‘No, you need to
expand this, no, you can’t do that etc etc. I’ve learnt a
lot’.
• Students are offered support, and encouraged to
use it particularly in the early stages of the
course.
– ‘I should have gone to her before I did….I think I
could have made them more easy with the help
available’.
Q8: How has your learning had an impact on your professional
practices (in terms of relationships with peer, managers and
clients/patients/users, and reading and writing reports). How has your
learning impacted on your critical thinking.
• Many students considered that doing the Masters has
taught them to be more critical or developed lateral
thinking. Challenging conventional wisdom and status
quo is recognised by several
– ‘I question things much more…the kind of questions I ask now
are different and sometimes people can’t give me the answers to
them and this really makes me think, ‘gosh, have they really
thought through what they’re asking for?’.
• The learning to be critical seems to have embedded
itself within the students’ practice
– I don’t just read an article and think, ‘oh well yes, they said this’.
It’s actually, ‘is the way they’ve done the research correct? Have
they used the right methodology?.. I am much more questioning’.
Q9: For those who have completed the Masters, has gaining a Masters
affected your self identity, how you feel you are perceived by others?
Has it affected your work relationships, the work you undertake?
• Students felt that it has impacted on their self
identity
– ‘any learning you undertake changes you slightly
.…[because] you interact with other people’.
• After a confrontation with a senior nurse, PD1M
(a paramedic) said;
– ‘whereas before I would probably have just rolled
over.. I felt strongly enough to take him up on it which
I probably wouldn’t have done before..I feel the whole
Masters process has changed the way I work’.
• The recognition of educational achievement in others
differs too once a Masters has been attained. One
student spoke of a colleague with a PhD and other
colleagues’ changed attitude to her. She, however, felt
differently;
– doing the Masters has made me feel, that’s fine, everyone can
do it. You can apply yourself. It is not a scary thing’.
• One student summarised what it means to have a
Masters;
– ‘I suppose with a Masters it will just identify that we..can think at
that level, are educated at that level and we are able to be
specialist in our area’
• The sense of achievement, recognition by self, comes
across in others; ‘
– I can proudly say I have done it plus holding a full time job and
looking after a family’
Q 10: Would you want to continue
studying even further?
• The answers to this varied from the very
positive through the unsure to the definite
no. One student said there were so many
things he wanted to study and described it
as having ‘the bug’.
Discussion
1.
Academic Practices
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2.
Initial anxiety
Support
Habitus
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Concern of lack of degree
Studying with graduates
Call on own resources
Pedagogical Approaches
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Relevant and purposeful
Critical thinking and research methods
Student Diversity and Background Knowledge
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Multi-discipline, multi-professional
Recommendations
• Support and feedback for assignments essential,
particularly in early days
• Students benefit most when area studied is
relevant to them personally and/or in their jobs
• Research methods must underpin a different,
more critical approach to their professional
practice.
• Multi-disciplinary, multi-professional learning
works well