Technology to facilitate peer mentoring in Sport
PsychologyApplication of Learning Technologies
Jon Radcliffe [email protected]
The Project
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i230/PANTHERD/leap-of-faith.jpg
UK Professional Standards Framework
Areas of Activity
Professional values
Core Knowledge
The ALT Checklist
Students have commented that there is not the same relevance as some of the other disciplines
This has resulted in a drop in attendance through the module
The Problem
Attendance figures as percentage of enrolled 1st year students. Semester 2, 2012
Student Comments….
“More experience of practical aspects…”
“See the applications, not just the theory…”
Student EngagementLiterature Review
http://www.avnetwork.com/Default.aspx?tabid=65&EntryId=169
“Engagement is seen to comprise active and collaborative learning,
participation in challenging academic activities, formative communication with academic staff, involvement in enriching educational experiences, and
feeling legitimated and supported by university learning
communities”(Coates, 2007, p. 122)
SolutionsWhat is Engagement
Active learning◦ Performing meaningful and thought provoking
activities Collaborative learning
◦ Working together to achieve a common goal◦ focus lies with the interaction between students
rather than learning as a solitary activity Learning community
◦ A series of interactions in objectively working towards a common goal with each member sharing a common interest
1.Enhance students’ self belief 2. Enable students to work autonomously, enjoy learning
relationships with others and feel they are competent to achieve their own objectives.
3. Recognise that teacher and teaching are central to engagement
4.Create learning that is active, collaborative, and fosters learning relationships
5. Create educational experiences for students that are challenging, enriching and extend their academic abilities
6. Ensure institutional cultures are welcoming to students from diverse backgrounds
7. Invest in a variety of support services 8. Adapt to changing student expectations 9. Enable students to become active citizens 10. Enable students to develop their social and cultural capital
Solutions10 principles (Zepke & Leach, 2010)
Pair 1st year students with 2nd year students
1st year students gain an insight into the practical 2nd year
2nd year students had a learning ‘buddy’ to recap first year theory
This will also provide benefits derived from peer mentoring
Solution
Mentoring plays an important role in the personal and academic development within a wide array of contexts.
Naturally occurring mentorships are rare (O’Neill et al., 2005).
Developed though repeated informal contact and so are easily inhibited through demographic of time constraints
Mentor programmes typically formally arrange mentorships based upon common interests and goals (O’Neill et al., 2005).
Peer Mentoring
An environment where there is peer mentoring available yet teacher input is easily and quickly provided is beneficial.
The platform must be accessible in terms of availability and literacy without the inclusion of extensive additional resources.
The students should be able to actively partake in an environment to develop confidence providing and receiving feedback.
The environment should be challenging It would be important to promote the integration of
reflection, Student discussion and feedback would be critical and
the instances of peer feedback allowing the formation of communities with common interests.
Identifying a tool
Typical barriers to mentoring concern logistical concerns regarding the management of the mentoring with regard to time and knowledge resources.
Longstanding concerns such as optimising the match between mentors and mentees regarding gender, ambitions, or personal attributes (O’Neill et al., 2005).
Potential barriers
Many platforms exist to promote mentoring
◦ Blogs Such as EduBlogger created especially for education and not forgetting the WordPress.
◦ Content management systems◦ Social Networking sites◦ Wiki’s◦ And specialist community tools such as Tapped In.
Where to start!!!
Effective e-mentoring tool
Building and describing a mentor pool Matching mentors and mentees Provide opportunities for just in time
learning Limiting administrative overhead Limiting mentor overload
Challenges of Effective e-mentoring
E-mentoring system should consist of:• An e-mail routing account • A ‘knowledge forum’ workspace in which
mentors and mentees can work together • A definition of the range of experiences that
might be shared (O’Neill et al., 2005)
I now need to refine my search to a tool that offers:•Community space•Private discussion •Opportunity for reflection.
Both can support online mentoring as both offers the facility for discussions
Both allow for e-mail notification when a change or comment has been made.
Both offer media rich information such as videos with PBworks also allowing for Skype plug-in for synchronous collaboration
The key distinguishing factor between the two platforms appears to be the available community space.
Deciding on a PlatformBlog tool vs. Wiki tool
Tonkin (2005): A wiki falls into four main categories in education◦Single user◦Lab book◦Collaborative writing◦Creating a topical knowledge repository
for a module cohort
Wiki technology in education
Knowledge constructed through reflective abstraction
Cognitive structures facilitate the learning process
Cognitive structures are constantly developing
Methods of teaching must agree with constructivist learning
Wiki technology in educationAlignment with constructivist learning
Ease of publication Speed of publication Organisation of knowledge areas Available support from others Version management tools.
◦ Changes can be monitored and facilities exist for reviewing earlier versions.
Wiki technology Characteristics
Cole (2009) used a wiki to support engagement.
After five weeks there was zero posts.
Two thirds of the students visited the wiki but did not post.
Students were only interested in pre-set learning activities.
Reflection on Previous Studies
This was due to Confidence constraints
“I don’t want to be the first to post”“I haven’t done all the readings so don’t want to
post…” Technical constraints,
“There aren’t any useful guidelines and tips that can be used”
“I tried posting but it wouldn’t let me upload it” Educational constraints
“Deadlines for coursework are on the same day”“A piece of coursework to submit every day”
And a general lack of interest.
“I can’t see any value in it”
Reflection on Previous Studies
Attendance is typically used to measure engagement.
A crude measure as it only measures direction and not intensity of engagement
Engagement has been suggested as a measure of institutional quality (Kuh, 2001)
Need measures to evaluate the intensity of engagement rather than simplistic direction.
Evaluation
Online tools allow the storage of vast amounts of numerical data.
Beer (2010) measured engagement through correlation of average clicks to grades.
Need quantitative and qualitative methods. Use likert scale questions and open ended
questions.
Evaluation
First Year Experience Questionnaire (Krause and Coates, 2008)
Measure multidimensional components of engagement.
7 Subscales:
Transition engagement scale. Academic engagement scale Peer engagement scale Student staff engagement scale Intellectual engagement scale Online engagement scale Beyond class engagement scale
Evaluation
Provides a platform for students to engage in the course material
Allows asynchronous discussion Opportunity for formative feedback Further opportunity for meaningful
discussion and reflection Develop skills transferable to career Provides and inclusive platform
Strengths of the project
Research studies have evidenced adherence problems. Non-participation has been reported as great concern to tutors utilising e-learning programmes (Sharpe & Benfield, 2005)
Cole (2009) reported that the use of Wikis in education are ineffective
Additional time will be taken to develop the platform
Facilitator and participants must volunteer time to learn how the software works.
Differences in digital literacy.
Limitations
A1 Design and plan learning activities
A2 Teach and support learning
A3 Assess and give feedback to learners
A4 develop effective learning environments
A5 Engage in continuing professional development
K1 Subject material K2 Appropriate methods for
teaching in the subject area at the level of academic programme
K3 How students learn, generally and within the subject area
K4 The use and values of appropriate learning technologies
K5 Methods of evaluating teaching
K6 The implications of quality assurance and enhancement for academic and professional practice
UK Professional Standards Framework
Areas of Activity
Core Knowledge
Professional values
Areas of Activity
Professional values
Core Knowledge
V1 Respect individual learners and diverse learning communities
V2 Promote participation in higher education and equality of opportunity for learners
V3 Use evidence-informed approaches and the outcomes from research and CPD
V4 Acknowledge the wider context in which higher education operate with implications for professional practice.
Thank you for listening. Any questions?