Transcript The importance of context

Facilitating the social and
academic learning process:
Mentoring students in macro and
micro environments
Presented by:
Co-authored:
Conference:
Lindy Kimmins
Mark E. Oliver
Association for Academic Language and Learning
The importance of context
The Learning Context
Some of the challenges that lead to the intervention:
University Context
The distance between faculty and students (time constraints upon staff)
Focus on distance learners
Multimodal study patterns
Constraints on students (e.g. lack of time due to work commitments)
Residential College Context
High proportion of first generation university students, usually from
rural backgrounds
Financial constraints upon students
Social interaction tended to involve avoidance of academic
responsibilities
What we know about students …
(Scott 2008)

the presence of a supportive peer group
 consistently accessible and responsive staff
 clear management of student expectations, including active briefings on
‘how things work around here’
*

prompt and effective management of student queries
 ‘just-in-time’ and ‘just-for-me’ transition support, including the use of selfteaching and orientation materials written by students from a similar
background who have successfully managed the transition, on how they
did it

*
use of a coherent, responsive, flexible, relevant and clear course
design— a design that uses a variety of interactive, practice-oriented
and problem-based learning methods
 efficient, conveniently accessed and responsive administrative, IT,
library and student support systems; all working together to support the
university’s operation and
 relevant, consistent and integrated assessment with prompt and
constructive feedback’.
Conceptual Overview for Intervention:
Responding to the contextual and learner factors
‘There is nothing so practical as good theory.’
Kurt Lewin
Teaching/Learning Distance
Teaching
Faculty
Learning
Students
Context for Intervention


The Learning Context
Student factors
Transactional
distance between
teacher and learner
(Moore 1980)
Information flow
unidirectional
(information delivery
model of education)
How do students cope with the gap?
Teaching
Faculty
How do
students
respond to this
distance?
Learning
Students
How do
students learn?
Through social interaction, observation of social models,
responding to cues from the environment.
Social Cognitive Theory
•
Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura 1982, 1997)
stresses the idea that much human learning occurs in
a social environment.
•
•
•
Learning occurs either enactively through actual doing, or
vicariously by observing models;
Peer models can be effective sources of reinforcement for
learning (e.g. content, strategies, goals, etc); and
Observing peer models perform a task well can raise the
observer’s self-efficacy (which researchers hypothesize as
having diverse effects on achievement)
(Shunk 2004)
How to create opportunities for social
learning?
Teaching
Faculty
Learning
Students
Learning Communities are a comprehensive pedagogical strategy
that has been utilized in residential communities in the USA.
Learning communities provide macro social communities for
learning.
What is a Learning Community?
•
Smith et al (2004) defined learning communities as a
curricular approach that intentionally clusters two or more
courses around a common them, and consists of a
common cohort of students.
• Learning communities provide opportunities for social
learning to occur between students with shared interests.
• Learning communities have be established for a variety of
disciplines (e.g. pre-service teachers) and for topics (e.g.
sustainable environments).
• A major focus of learning communities is the creation of
cohorts of students, which then act as support
mechanisms.
Learning communities may not reduce the
transactional distance …
Teaching
Faculty
Learning Communities
Students
What
mechanisms
can be used to
cross the divide
and solve
implementation
issues?
Implementation of learning communities can sometimes be
inhibited due to lack of faculty involvement (e.g. due to time), and
lack of relevance (e.g. need to embed academic content to
promote relevance for participation).
The Meet-Up Program:
Providing micro opportunities for social
learning
‘Meet-up helps students find their way, from students who
have already taken the path.’
(Meet-up leader, 2011)
Crossing the divide …
Teaching
Faculty
CIV1501
Meet-Up
LAW1201
Meet-Up
NUR2000
Meet-Up
Learning Communities
Students
Meet-Up acts as a micro environment, which serves to bridge the
divide between student groups (learning communities) and
faculty. Meet-Up also provides participants with ‘peer models’ .
What is Meet-Up?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Run by students for students
Led by trained students who have previously
done well in a course
Interactive informal and fun
Responsive to student needs
Designed to encourage discussion and
develop understanding of course content
Concerned with how to learn as well as what
to learn
Program implementation:
Data from the Intervention
Qualitative and quantitative data was collected to evaluate the intervention.
Qualitative data will be reported to describe the benefits for students, peer
mentors, faculty, and the university. Qualitative data will be presented to
demonstrate the improvement in GPA results. The improvement in GPA results
cannot be solely attributed to the intervention, however the convergence
evidence would suggest that further investigation of the intervention is
warranted.
Benefits to students:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Social networking for 1st year students *
Targeted assistance with course content in
a non-threatening environment
Improved academic success *
Enhanced academic skills
Higher student satisfaction with course
support
Increased confidence and self-efficacy
Example:
One thing [Meet–Up leader] said really put
me at ease, it was along the lines of ‘last year
I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and
I got through it and you will too.’ It's such a
relief to know that I will be at that same level
as [the Meet–Up leaders] next year, that I
will be full of the knowledge and
understanding that it takes to move through
BNUR confidently.
Benefits to leaders:






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Develops leadership and communication skills
Improves employment opportunities
Increases sense of being part of the university
learning community*
Develops a sense of person reward for having
contributing to helping other students
Enhances understanding of course/program concepts
and contributes to understanding of ‘the big picture’ *
Contributes to the development of study strategies
and time management techniques
Through mentoring others, Meet-Up leaders are
explicitly conscious of content and learning strategies,
which serves to reinforce their own learning.
Examples from 2 leaders S2 2010:


o
o
o
o
It [Meet-Up] definitely increased my confidence and
my understanding of the content. I think it has also
given me more uni contacts and built new friendships
with students and with course leaders and other staff
members.
Skills learned as a Meet-Up leader:
improvement in administrative/organisational skills
with running a small group
a better understanding of the teacher’s perspective in
trying to develop lesson plans
growth in confidence with teaching and facilitating of
group-work in the small group environment
improved planning skills
Benefits to lecturers:
Students feel the lecturer is supportive
 Students gain academic confidence
 Leaders provide feedback on the
course design and content
 Leaders pass on comments from
students on course matters
*
 Can actually reduce workload *

Example:
Meet – Up was:
‘Very rewarding despite my minimal input.
Not only did they [the Leaders] improve my
situation, student satisfaction was anecdotally
high’.
 The Meet - Up leaders provided useful
feedback on ‘trouble areas, student
perceptions, ideas for activities and
improvements to the course’.

Benefits to program and university :
Can reduce fail rates
 Evidence to the students that the faculty
and university are prepared to provide
support
 Helps develop USQ’s graduate qualities
and skills in students
 Helps create a pool of quality
post-graduates

Example: FIN1101
work
and its relevance to the overall theme of the course.
c
Year
2008
2009
2010


Enrolments
89
99
88
% fail grades
15.85%
6.12%
4.54%
61 students in total attended Meet-Up sessions
‘Meet-Up facilitated the practical exploration of the
week’s work and its relevance to the overall theme of the
course’.
(Phillips, P personal communication, July 22, 2010)
Average GPA for College Students (Intervention in Red)
2009 S1 GPA
2009 S2 GPA
2010 S1 GPA
College 1
4.41
3.38
4.71
College 2
4.88
4.63
5.03
College 3
4.65
4.41
4.5
Total
4.65
4.14
4.86
Number of Failed Courses
2009 S2
Number of
Returning
Students
Number of
Courses
Failed
2009 S2
2010 S1
Number of
Returning
Students
Number of
Courses
Failed
2010 S1
College 1
45
74
78
33
College 2
86
58
136
45
College 3
38
23
59
29
Total
139
155
273
107
 55.5% reduction in the number of failed courses at College 1.
 23.0% reduction in the number of failed courses at College 2.
 31.0% reduction in the number of failed courses across the 3 Colleges.
 Increased sample size should have seen an increase in the number of courses failed if all factors were
held constant. A reduction in the total number of courses failed with an increased sample size
indicates a positive intervention has occurred.
Discussion
Where to now?
 What should a future investigation focus upon?
 How will further study contribute to current understand of peer learning
programs?
 Practical implications of the intervention
Further investigation of impact


Evaluation data from the intervention suggested that
a positive affect occurred, however further
investigation is warranted.
A quasi-experimental (natural groups) study with a
pre-post design is currently being planned to study
the effects on participants and peer-mentors
regarding:

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Self-efficacy
Learning strategy knowledge
GPA
Learning motivation
Interviews with faculty will also be conducted to
evaluate program effectiveness.
Contributing to our understanding of
peer learning programs
In Ireland at Dublin City University,
researchers found that:
‘Peer assisted learning was highly effective in
improving student performance
in the tutored subjects,
and in improving progression’
(Parkinson 2009, p. 390).
(In this study, a range of attendees were
selected from a number of volunteers.)
American research into peer led
programs and retention…
Collaborative and co-operative learning give
students a voice in their education that
‘enhances both learning and student
persistence’ (Tinto 2003, p.10)
Research into peer led programs and
retention in Australia …
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Enrolment in a PASS program was found to have a
positive impact on students’ academic success.
This relationship was found to be stronger for
students participating in PASS programs for
quantitative subjects.
It was also found to be stronger for students on the
lower end of the mark distribution.
Furthermore, given the fact that PASS programs have
a larger impact on the academic performance of most
students at the lower end of the marks distribution, it
is possible to suggest that PASS programs are also of
more benefit to students at the cusp of failing
university (Birch & Li 2009).
Thank you for attending.
Any questions?