Pedagogy, teaching methods and guidance supporting student’s learning process

 

This week’s webinar focused on implementation. The main aim of the session was to
understand the importance of diversifying teaching and learning in higher education pedagogy. We certainly got a good dose of information on different pedagogical models, teaching methods and their use in the learning process. We also considered individual learning needs and personalized study paths and how this impacts our planning work. We also learnt about student guidance and common guidance practices.

 

My team had a great topic of collaboral learning methods, team dynamics and team working skills.  We had obviously all got our first taste in collaborative learning here at OAMK’s studies but it was interesting to take a look at the theory behind collaborative learning.

 

Collaboral learning and theory behind it

 

We introduced the students to Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. Vygotsky sees learning as a social process, rather than purely as an individual one, and  through which the intelligence in society and culture is born.

 

Central to Vygotsky’s theory is something called the zone of proximal development (ZPD), which is the distance between what learner is capable of doing unsupported, and what they cannot do even if supported. It is the range where they are capable only with support from someone with more knowledge.

Picture 1: Vygotsky’s Zone of proximal development Lev Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development | Simply Psychology

Following this, Vygotsky stated that we can't just look at what students are capable of doing on their own; we have to look at what they are capable of doing in a social setting.

 

From this we moved to consider what does collaborative learning look like in higher education. In higher education the aim is that students don’t only learn some concept by heart but also know how to apply these concepts into real life situations. And here we come to collaborative learning. If Vygotsky is correct, a group of students can learn more as a team rather than as individuals. And in addition to just learning the substance, through collaboral learning all those important skills that one needs in modern working live, like team-working skills, cultural awareness, ability to reflect, they all develop simultaneously. In a well planned collaboration, students should reach all three dimensions that are mentioned in the below picture, that depicts the Learning Lab model in place in Turku University. Also at SeAMK we use similar approach during the first year studies: all 1st year business students study in small teams, running their virtual enterprises and using their knowledge of theory eg in accounting and marketing in their group assignments.

Picture 2: Collaboral learning in higher education. Zettinig, Peter, Majid Aleem, Danijela Majdenic, and Michael Berry. "Learning Laboratory: An Integrative Learning Design for International Business in a Complex Dynamic World." Journal of Management Education 46, no. 3 (2022): 531-557.

Group dynamics

 

What we have to consider when we talk about collaboration is also group dynamics. There are lots of models in this field but one of the most prominent one is Tuckman’s model from the 60s. Tuckman believes that group dynamics develop over time and in order to reach the performing (and adjourning stage, that was added to the model in the 70s), group has to go through several stages. At the forming stages, when members are still strangers to each other, this reflects into group’s ability to work together. With time the trust and also belief that the group can achieve better results that the individual can develop and this again can be seen in the results.

Picture 3: Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63(6), 384–399. 

We discussed this theory in our group at lengths. There were some opinions that perhaps this model was outdated (even if based on human nature). Also, some felt that cultural differences, group’s motivation and also experience impacted how quickly they could reach the performing stage. Some felt that the new generation of youngsters were better equipped into working as teams and also good team work solutions (eg. online tools) helped with this too.

 

We also discussed the problem this theory caused teachers: sometimes group’s didn’t have time to develop during a short course. Also all students weren’t as motivated as others and what to do with introverted students who just din’t enjoy group work at all.

 

 

How can we prevent and deal with conflict in teams?

 

 

Students reflected the team dynamics theory to their own OAMK subteam and it was clear that there were some issues that made group work difficult, even though trust was building and group members already felt comfortable with each other.

 

We discussed different things that teacher could do to help prevent the conflicts and below are some suggestions for this

• making sure that teams were as diverse as possible (usually work better)
• teams to set rules for team work eg. penalties for missing deadline, choosing a backup person for each task, choosing a leader for the team
• online collaboration might work better for some students (introverted)

 

We also discussed Otto Scharmer’s U-model that in a sense could be an updated, modern version of the group dynamics model. The main point of this approach is on the importance of communication, moving away from debating and through dialogue into learning from each other with openness and trust helping you to perform well as a team.

 

As a little lecture-break, we wanted to focus on team dynamics. We had discussed that in smaller groups the dynamics had already moved on from the formative stage, but the larger propeda-group could use a little help. So in our pretask we asked students to have a think what their role in this team is? How can they better this team and what picture would describe you as part of this team? During the teaching session we then asked students to add their pictures to miro-platform and this way we could form a Propeda picture collage. Fantastic work from everybody!

Picture 4: Propeda 20-22 team collage.

Collaborative learning strategies and tips for teachers

 

At the end of the session we discussed the collaborative learning strategies. There are obviously many to choose from but we introduced students to four quite commonly used methods:

• Jigsaw
• Brainwriting
• Think-pair-share
• Peer review

It was nice to notice that we were using couple of the methods here at OAMK and hopefully students got ideas from these to the future teaching sessions.

 

We also offered a handy tool for students to use when planning collaborative learning sessions (below)

Picture 5: Collaborative Learning Tips And Strategies For Teachers (teachthought.com)

 

Other teaching/learning sessions:

 

Group 1: How can the vocational/higher ed. classroom teaching methods promote individual learning process and personalized learning paths? We were introduced to different learning processes eg. learning by practicing, learning by teaching and helping, learning by real-world problem solving, learning by being coached, learning by drafting and sketching and learning by playing games and through simulation. We had some nice little kahoot-tests to break up the session and were also asked to think what we would possibly use in our teaching. I think the materials were clear and easy to follow and gave us nice ideas for the future eg. playing games could be used for team building. Perhaps kahoot-tests could have had some time for answering. Our teachers felt comfortable with their subject and co-teaching worked really well.

 

Group 2: How does the vocational teacher tutor and guide groups and individuals? This group had also given students a pre-task (plan a cake for OAMK Propeda anniversary party). Only some of the students had noticed the pre-task but this did not matter in my view as our team work efficiently and we managed to do the planning in the required 10 minutes. Nevertheless, I was a bit unsure afterwards what the aim of this exercise was. Perhaps the fact that teacher is not always needed to be present to give guidance if you have written instructions? Following this we were introduced to common guiding processes and also different methods how guiding can be done. This created some nice discussion and reflection among students. We also had a miro-activity where we considered different teaching methods and whether these would be usable for individuals or groups. There were lots of activities here that I was not familiar with but teacher was able to explain well all of the examples so it was clear that she was familiar with her subject.

 
Group 3: What are pedagogical models? How can they help you to choose the teaching methods? This group had presented us a pre-task in a form of an origami-folding and a follow-up questionnaire. It was interesting to see the results that showed the average time of teaching together with student’s age. Also going through the different methods of teaching this task was generating some nice discussion. Video was the most widely used method when learning the folding but for teaching most opted for face-to-face approach. This pre-task certainly made me think the difference between being able to perform a task following advice or being able to know/learn this. I could follow a video and do the folding (grutchingly) but I cannot say that I learned how to do it. Important thing to keep in mind when you consider the desired learning outcomes and teaching methods to suit these. We were also introduced to popular pedagogical models and teaching methods. Here I think I would have hoped for a clearer practical example on how pedagogical model and teaching method are chosen.

 

 

What to take onto the next teaching session?

 

Once again some slight technical issues. This time with miro where the generated link had expired. Fortunately it was easy to reactivate and all students got in without much difficulties. Nevertheless, some students had not done the pre-task and some had files that were not supported on the platform and subsequently weren’t able to complete the collage-task. I guess this is a good reminder, again, to check and double check links and that they are working. On courses where pretask is particularly important (particularly in flipped-classroom setting eg getting familiar with a case or theory that is then used on some exercises) for the contact session, we need to be clearer on this. Also, teacher can’t assume that students can work fluently on a new platform, so perhaps even some instructions on this could be given beforehand.