pal leaders as decision makers: physical vs virtual learning spaces

Learning Development

www.le.ac.uk/slcwww.le.ac.uk/succeedinyourstudies www.le.ac.uk/leicesteraward

PAL Leaders as Decision Makers: Physical vs Virtual Learning Spaces

Marta Ulanicka

Steve Rooney

Zoe Enstone


Peer Assisted Learning

“... a scheme that fosters cross year support between students on the same course. PAL encourages students to support each other and to learn cooperatively under the guidance of trained students, called PAL leaders, from the year above.”

(Bournemouth University, www.peerlearning.ac.uk)


PAL decision makers: physical vs virtual learning spaces

• Context• Why?• How?• What happened:

– digital learning– PAL leaders’ experience

• Where next?


Mentoring/PAL at Leicester prior to 2011/12• Small and variable pockets of activity• School of Biological Sciences: mentoring scheme (mentors

receive training in summer term)• Department of Geography: student-run mentoring scheme• Law, Psychology, American Studies• Medicine: student run societies with quite strong and

established traditions of peer-assisted learning

Main focus on mentoring providing broader pastoral support rather than PAL as such


Given all this, we wanted to know…

• Given limited resources, scarce practice and absence of PAL culture, what types of PAL activities could be piloted?

• What could these pilot experiences teach us about how to build and support PAL in the future?

• What role might digital learning spaces play in supporting pilot, and future, PAL activities?


‘…the technology tools used in the formal setting of the university are often different from those being used in the everyday world of the student (Ipsos Mori, 2008). The Ipsos Mori report highlighted the fact that technologies that might be used for learning, such as wikis, podcasts [etc.]… were unfamiliar to students and they were uncomfortable in using them...’

(Currant, Currant and Hartley, 2011: 213-215)

Digital spaces for a ‘digital generation’?





• Where next?


PAL works!


Content

Specific

Mentees

Generic

Mentors

Skills





• Where next?


Departments


Training and Support


PAL decision makers: physical vs virtual spaces



• Where next?


How far did the students embrace digital learning?

Subject Group Format of peer activityBiological Sciences DISH Face to face, Google+ page

H and P Google+ and Tumblr accounts

Biological Sciences 101 Face to face, Google+

Medicine Doc-to-Doctor Face to face

Insight Face to face, website:

http://leicesterinsight.com/,

Facebook group, Twitter

account


Biological Sciences 101:

“The positive aspect of this was that the questions were open to all the fellow students as well as the peer mentors, therefore allowing students to help one another, for it to be a group learning group, where everyone is facilitating everyone else’s learning. Another positive aspect of this was the fact that we were able to learn from and with the students as well as just teaching them or guiding them.”*Biological Sciences, 3rd year

*(corrected for spelling and grammar)


Leicester Insight


Leicester Insight website“It was a great resource for students on outblock.”

“website has proved very popular...”

“This proved very popular and the download rate of many of the materials was very high.”

(Insight committee members)

“I feel that the website still needs improving as it could be so much more than it currently is, but the approach I will take with

it will be a different one, asking for feedback and what can be improved on the current version...”

(Insight committee webmaster)


%

Perceived effectiveness of methods


Perceived effectiveness of methods“face to face was most effective. Get instant feedback and is easier to discuss problems.”

(Biological Sciences, 3rd year)

“The group meetings with the team were effective as we got to discuss ideas more personally compared to doing so online. “

(Biological Sciences, 3rd year)


... as supported by the literature“An online discussion forum might prove more difficult to orchestrate than face-to-face PAL in a class setting. Consequently, some important forms of interaction might never develop.” (Luckie and Topping 2004: 569)

”...students' responses to and value for ...virtual communities have been mixed” (LaPointe, L. & Reisetter, M. 2008: 641)


PAL leaders’ skill development

%


PAL leaders’ overall experience• Teamwork• Communication and presentation skills• Organisational skills, time management• Facilitation skills• Own subject knowledge• Flexibility, adaptability


Teamwork“Being part of this society has allowed me to appreciate the value of a team based approach and how the support of others can help not only in the organisation of events but also provide different opinions and views on how to approach certain tasks and how to overcome any obstacles that we may face.”

(Medicine, 4th year)

“Everyone working within the team is trying to achieve the same goal and so if my idea is not accepted, it is because there is a better one that is more suited to achieving the goal. I have learned that this is not personal.”

(Medicine, 2nd year)





• Where next?


Where next?• Mentees’ experience?• Good model for PAL activity?• Institution-wide mentoring working group


ReferencesCurrant, N., Currant, B. And Hartley, P. (2011) Defining and Supporting the New Digital Students, in P. Hartley, J. Hilsdon, S. Sinfield, C. Keenan and M. Verity (eds) Learning Development in Higher Education, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 212-224

LaPointe, L. and Reisetter, M. (2008) Belonging Online: Students' Perceptions of the Value and Efficacy of an Online Learning Community, International Journal on E-Learning, 7(4), 641-665

McLuckie, J. and Topping, K.J. (2004) Transferable skills for online peer learning, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 29(5), 563-584

Ody, M. and Carey, W. Demystifying Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS): What? How? Who? Why? (PDF)The Challenge of Learning Development, 6th LDHEN Symposium: Bournemouth University, 2009

Evaluation of the Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) Scheme at Bournemouth University 2007/2008 http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/library/feedback/docs/pal_report.pdf

Feedback report on the transition programme 2010/11, UCL, http://www.ucl.ac.uk/transition/research-evaluation


Many thanks!

Marta Ulanicka Learning Development Adviser [email protected]

Steve Rooney Learning Development Manager [email protected]

Zoe Enstone Learning Development Assistant [email protected]

pal leaders as decision makers: physical vs virtual learning spaces

Documents