Unfortunately I had read the resources for this module quite some weeks prior to completing this reflection, thus I'm not entirely sure whether my ideas have incorporated the reading or whether I merely 'validated' my existing ideas against the reading.
The following link to the other 'role of the teacher' task which Leah and I worked on (rather asynchronously to begin with) together- Principles: The role of the teacher in clinical education(http://dylanandleah.pbwiki.com/ and http://bubbl.us/view.php?sid=14398&pw=ya.8QMLbhmKbUMTEyLjBacjQxQnQ0WQ).
Our principles, and the following embedded diagram, drew heavily from "The good teacher is more than a lecturer- the twelve roles of the teacher" (Harden & Crosby, 2000
1. The teaching presence I intend to enact to enable my students to achieve the learning outcomes specified in the Needs Analysis Document will acknowledge the importance of my students' prior knowledge, and encourage them to take ownership of their own learning.
The role of the teacher I would like to maintain is that of a master and apprentice, in which the apprentice is encouraged to tackle a problem, and seek validation of a proposed solution to that problem, or to seek advice in order to solve a problem.
Moreover, as a manager of the team the master has a responsibility to ensure efficiency, productivity, morale, and that the team is up-to-date. Thus, the teaching presence should include reminders about deadlines, with support and flexibility when there are difficulties due to workload and deadlines.
This model seems ideal- students begin learning from where they left off; they seek advice when new questions arise, and continually reinforce that learning with repeated experiences - i.e. experiencial learning (Kolb, 1984) - see infed.com for a good summary, especially the weaknesses of the theory!!! (http://www.infed.org/biblio/b-explrn.htm)
Experiential Learning Diagram (above)
Although it would be nice to leave it at this apprenticeship analogy, the issue of quality of teaching seems to be of concern when the implementation of teaching activites are left to 'teachers intuition' (Herrington, Herrington, Oliver, Stoney, & Willis, 2001). Indeed, the continuing erosion of quality master-apprenticeship interaction in the health sector, has lead to claims of the apprenticeship model being 'abandoned' in certain aspects of clinical practice such as surgical procedures, for stategies such as simulation-based training (e.g. www.vrmedical.com)- I can't help but feel like a salesman for putting this link in, although I do acknowledge my confusion and indeed skepticism over some of the simulation rhetoric that exists. As recently discussed, the commerical imperitive of high-end simulation can be seen as somewhat self-pepetuating, irrespective of need.
2. The supports (e.g. strategies, templates, announcements) I intend to build into the course materials and contribute during the course will model critical thinking and reflection appropriate to clinical practice.
Problem-based learning is the closest description to the process of learning in hospital clinical practice. The materials and learning activities focus on this style of learning. What I haven't made explicit, is the role of the teacher in characterising this model of learning.
Therefore, I need to develop a well-defined role for teacher in this process, without overwhelming the tutors.
Thus, the idea of having students work with other students to develop solutions to these PBLs has this implicitly built-in. I think that it's a reasonable expectation that if the students are appropriately inducted into this method of problem-solving, that there will be relatively few instances in which they will need to consult about the problems with the tutors.
Thus, what I need is a way in which the tutors can observe the problem-solving process. Small-group online discussion groups seem like a good way to do this, and by including individuals from different geographical areas (Starship, KidsFirst, Northland, Wai ato), it would encourage (or essentially force) students to rely-on the online interaction in order to complete these tasks.
These peer-peer and peer-tutor (/master) interations are very close to what happens in the hospital. The online learning environment simply allowsfor an interaction which is not hospital specific, and thereby allows discussion to occur over the differences between 'taught', text-book, and hospital-specific practice, and also encourages discussion between the differences in practices and the factors which influence the differences- i.e. resources, expertise, patient population etc.
3. The strategy underlying the teaching presence I intend to enact reflects the view of teaching and learning evidenced by my Teaching Perspectives Inventory results, but also reflects new insights I have gained into the role of the teacher and e-learning.
In my original post about the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (Pratt & Collins), I struggled to explain the meaning of the apprenticeship perspective in my results (see below). Indeed, my discussion focused on development and nurturance and how they related to my own perception of my teaching perspectives- this conveniently explained the transmission and social reform perspectives not registering.
Transmission total: (Tr) 25.00
B=8; I=7; A=10
Apprenticeship total: (Ap) 32.00
B=10; I=11; A=11
Developmental total: (Dv) 32.00
B=10; I=11; A=11
Nurturance total: (Nu) 33.00
B=13; I=11; A=9
Social Reform total: (SR) 21.00
B=8; I=6; A=7
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Beliefs total: (B) 49.00
Intention total: (I) 46.00
Action total: (A) 48.00
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Mean: (M) 28.60
Standard Deviation: (SD) 4.76
HiT: (HiT) 33.00
LoT: (LoT) 24.00
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Overall Total: (T) 143.00
However, on reflection I feel that I have neglected to define the place of the apprenticeship perspective throughout the subsequent discussions. In some respects, I now find it difficult to distinguish completely between these perspectives. Somehow, I must have thought that the apprenticeship perspective could be avoided (and certainly the transmission perspective).
What I have found myself leading to in this course development document is a modelling the teaching perspective on the apprenticeship model, given that this is essentially how learning occurs in clinical practice- in that a problem is recognised, information is learned about that problem, and expertise is developed experientially.
Furthermore, the information that is learned can be presented (taught) in such a way so as not to question the validity (or evidence), or in such a way that the best possible and most up-to-date information is used to develop a solution to the problem- i.e. social reform.
Thus, the CDD reflects my new focus on apprenticeship, whilst retaining the focus on developmentalism. The learning activities are designed in such a way (peer assisted), so as to nurture a less-threatening learning environment than tutor-focused learning. I've also begun to recognise the importance of the social reform perspective, and although the tasks in community paediatrics have some of this perspective built-in, this perspective has not been widely included elsewhere.
The position of transmission in my CDD seems slightly uncertain now- I've included 'information' learning tasks via problem-based learning exercises, which have tried to avoid traditional case-based or rote learning exercises. I think the ability to include learning activities like this is advantageous, however there seem to be two difficulties with this strategy:
- Problem-based learning exercises are time-consuming and challenging to develop
- Students may rote-learn the examples, relying on their understanding of these examples to help with assessment, rather than on their understanding of the broader principles, skills and underlying knowledge.
References
Harden, R., & Crosby, J. (2000). AMEE Guide no. 20: The good teacher is more than a lecturer - the twelve roles of the teacher [Electronic version]. Medical Teacher, 22(4), 334-347.
Herrington, A., Herrington, J., Oliver, R., Stoney, S., & Willis, J. (2001). Quality guidelines for online courses: The development of an instrument to audit online units [Electronic Version]. Meeting at the crossroads: Proceedings of the 18th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE). , 263-270. Retrieved September 6, 2006, from from http://elrond.scam.ecu.edu.au/oliver/2001/qowg.pdf.
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning : experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall
Pratt, D. D., & Collins, J. B. Teaching Perspectives Inventory. Retrieved 14 March, 2007, from http://teachingperspectives.com/
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