Stories and lessons from a study of the enhancement of learning process on a social work degree prog

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Stories and lessons from a study of the
enhancement of learning process on a social work
degree programme

• Gary Clapton
• University of Edinburgh

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Introduction

• The role of the academic tutor
• Developing debate
• What is happening to tutor-student contact in
  British universities? Is it dropping to
  dangerously low levels?
• (Times HE Supplement 25 June 2009)
• HEA recommends using one-to-one tutorials for
  feedback on assessed work.
• (Exploring the National Student Survey
  Assessment and feedback issues, February 2008)

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Todays challenges for Social Work lecturers and
tutors

• Research vs. teaching
• External pressures
• tutorial in danger of becoming neglected space
• Tutors?
• Adapt or Die

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Our work

• Measures to bridge theory-practice gap
• Tutor role under-researched
• Questions
• Whats a tutor for? What skills are
  necessary? Where do they fit in students
  learning experiences and processes?

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Survey results

• Integrated learning the capacity to connect
  (Taylor, Huber and Breen, 2006)
• How is it done?
• Where does it take place?
• And with whom?

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Findings

• Target Group
• Returns
• Q. Focus

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1. Hopes and Expectations of university tutor

• A relationship someone I could talk honestly
  to, ask advice, receive support

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2. Expectations met?

• 9 students felt not tutor unapproachable
• 7 answered in the affirmative appreciated
  relationship
• The negative comments regarding tutors people
  skills, described one students tutor who just
  made me want to get away from uni and back to
  work
• Importance of quality of contact e.g. rapport
  felt had built good rapport

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3. Who was or became significant in learning
process?

• Practice teachers
• Other students
• Tutors

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Dream Ticket?

• the relationship with the practice teacher was
  more intense and challenging than that with the
  tutor, but the tutor helped me to look at it from
  a distance and digest it so that I could decide
  what I thought as a professional separate from my
  practice teachers and their styles and opinions.
  The other students were also a vital part of my
  learningdiscussions with them helped me to
  develop my own ideas and opinions by providing
  another viewpoint in addition to my tutor,
  practice teacher or lecturer.

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4. Who was significant in fostering a feeling of
connectedness?

• Practice teachers and other students
• Other students, practice teachers and link
  supervisors provided me with a sense of
  connectedness. Unfortunately felt that none of
  the social work department staff at uni conveyed
  a sense often felt cold and impersonal

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Messages from the class-room

• When students are able to interact with their
  faculty as well as their peers through class
  discussion, small group activities, and hands-on
  activities, they gain greater conceptual
  knowledge about the course topic when compared to
  traditional lectures and labs. (Hake, 1998).

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Conclusion

• The relationship between the practice teacher
  and student is seen as key no matter what model
  of placement teaching is adopted (Dick et al,
  2002, emphasis added).
• Walk it and talk it.