Problem based Learning in Engineering and Science – Development of Facilitator A Course given by: Xiangyun Du Department of development and planning Fibigerstraede 11, DK - 9220 Aalborg East Phone: + 45 99408353, e-mail: xiangyun@plan.aau.dk Lars Peter Jensen Department of Control Engineering Fredrik Bajers Vej 7C, DK - 9220 Aalborg East Phone: + 45 99408740, e-mail: lpj@es.aau.dk http://es.aau.dk/staff/lpj Associated Professors at Aalborg University Tell about each bullit by reading up the content from the program

Thursday, the 10th of September 2008: Facilitation 9.00       Mini project: In a Danish brewery  there is too much noise emitted in the production hall, due to the bottles. Plan how to find the noise sources and find solutions. 9.45       Introduction to role play. Exercise: Role play of a supervising situation 12.00       Lunch 13.00       Facilitation skills and experience exchange 14.30 Intercultural Communication in a PBL Environment 15.15       Forming Peer groups and planning experiment 16.00       End of day two   Supervision

Role-play Six role plays illustrate supervising situations (meetings) Imagine that your group is working on the project from this morning The group members assign roles between themselves, so that the outlined situation in the role play occurs Each role play lasts approximately 15 minutes Each role play is commented by 4-5 observers Supervision

Lunch until 13.00 Supervision

Laissez-faire Supervision Forms of Supervision Process supervision Product supervision Control Supervision Laissez-faire Supervision Supervision

Forms of Supervision - 1 Process supervision: Sees the project as a cognitive process Facilitates co-operation in the group Starts reflexive processes Asks facilitating (reflexive) questions in stead of pointing out solutions Supervision

Forms of Supervision - 2 Product supervision: Focus on theoretical knowledge Focus on solutions, which are often given Project report must be coherent The product/construction (or part of) should be finished Supervision

Forms of Supervision - 3 Control Supervision: The group is tested Thinks on the exam The project period is one long exam Is interested in the knowledge of the individual student Supervision

Laissez-faire Supervision: Forms of Supervision - 4 Laissez-faire Supervision: The students are left to themselves Lack of engagement General and occasional comments Uses minimal time Supervision

Situated supervision Ability to read the situation …. Where in the process Where in the education Type of projects and objectives Type of students Experienced? Brilliant or poor students Social competence Ability to read the situation …. Supervision

project supervision “supervisor ” “Students” http://meds.queensu.ca/medicine/pbl/pblhome.htm

Communication maps during a project Beginning of the project Progressing in the project Supervision

Forms of groups - 1 Supervision

Forms of groups - 2 Supervision

Characteristics for a well functioning group: Common goal or objectives Agreement about group norms, rules The members ”play” all the necessary roles All group members respect each other How do you see if it is a good group? Supervision

Co-operation: group classification Integrated Instrumental Hierarchic Chaotic Role casting All Some No Work sharing Control/Leadership Yes Few Power Equal Equal ? Unequal Personal Engagement High Fair Different Low Group identity Conflict solving A simple classification of groups could be: The integrated group where all members are equal and share roles, work and leadership. They respect each other and have equal power in the group. This gives a very high group identity and personal engagement. But the main point about this group is that they don't ignore conflicts, in fact they have realized that a lot of progress in project work might come from conflicts if they are discussed and dealt with. So the group work actively with identifying, discussing and solving conflict. In this way it differs from any other group classification and it makes the best projects and learns the most also as individuals. But is is not possible for all people and groups to be that way. The instrumentional group reach a fairly good result by sharing roles and work so that each job is handed out to the person that knows most about it on beforehand and they use control and leadership as a tool more than giving power to someone. Usual there is a fairly high personal engagement with each persons tasks, but the group identity is low. This kind of group is good to get things done and might be preferable sometimes in a company, but being students it would have been better if they have shared work and roles so everybody learned more about their week sides. In the hierarchic group there is a battle of controlling the group. Usually there is 2 power constellations and this affect the group work. Roles and work has to be decided from the top of the group and usually peoples engagement is rather different. As the group often is working more like two groups there is a very low group identity. These group seldom exist more than one semester. Finally the chaotic group where nothing is done because there are no engagement and no driving force. This kind of group is usually the result of the other students judgement of the group members, meaning that they are the left over when the groups are formed. It is persons that no other will have in their group because they have behaved badly or don't do their job, so it is a kind of rest group, and if it turns out chaotic then the student probably will fail and stop Supervision

Ideal group size: 3-4 people Ideal Learning environment from the perspective of students – group work Ideal group size: 3-4 people Most important things that make group work function Positive attitude Constructive communication Cooperation Compromise New perspectives Supervision

Students’ opinions on supervision Good Supervision: Overview in chaos Cut through in critical situations Solutions are not presented by the supervisor Ask facilitating questions The project is not controlled by the supervisor but by the group itself Supervisor is well prepared and well informed Supervision

Students’ opinions on supervision Poor Supervision: Supervisor does not express opinions about affective questions Supervisor does not give constructive feed back/criticism Lack of interest in the project and/or the students The supervisor has poor knowledge about the students’ work and work process Supervisor takes ownership of the project and controls the students’ learning process Supervision

Learning environment from the perspective of students –supervision Functions of supervisors Beginners of each project / the study program More direct inputs regarding how to the project work started and relevant technical knowledge Later part of the project / education Structural comments, emergency support ‘In the first year, we had no idea what we can expect from them and how to communicate with them. So lots of problems coming out along the way. Now we know what we can do from our part. If we have specific problem we have to solve, we will tell him and be clear about what specific help we expect to get. We prepare something for him to read for comments.’ – student group Supervision

Learning environment from the perspective of students –supervision Expectation to supervisors clear information about what can be expected Technical knowledge The art of teaching (more important) Engagement, willingness to help Accessibility Mental support, especially in case of problems Instruction of methods (how to learn) regarding how to solve the project and do the project rather than facts answers Constructive communication – with clear knowledge about the expectation from both sides Supervision

Tasks of a supervisor Before the semester start: Prepare project proposals Plan project courses In the beginning of a project: Help to find appropriate literature Help to establish contacts with companies etc. Discuss the potential of the project proposal with students During the whole project period: Give comments to both oral and written presentations/memos/working papers Monitor the progress and professional level of group and individual students At the end: Prepare for the examination Chair the examination So what are you supposed to do as a supervisor: .... We will dig deeper into commenting presentations and assessing later Supervision

Tools for supervision Contracts Supervision Now we will talk about the tools we have as a supervisor. First we can set the learning objectives, e.g.. Using bloom in our project proposal. At the start of a project we might make a kind of contract with the students – i will dig deeper within a minute. You can help improving the students peer assessment, by e.g. Encouraging them to comment on each others working papers, which will improve the quality of the papers you have to read. At the basic year we use a written process analyse to improve the students teamwork and project skills. But the main tool you have in the daily confrontation with the students is to be aware of facilitating more than teaching and to use dialogue, more about this later. Supervision

Group contract – an example It might be a good idea to make a kind of formal contract with the students to create … Supervision

Tools for supervision Contracts Students’ peer assessment Supervision Now we will talk about the tools we have as a supervisor. First we can set the learning objectives, e.g.. Using bloom in our project proposal. At the start of a project we might make a kind of contract with the students – i will dig deeper within a minute. You can help improving the students peer assessment, by e.g. Encouraging them to comment on each others working papers, which will improve the quality of the papers you have to read. At the basic year we use a written process analyse to improve the students teamwork and project skills. But the main tool you have in the daily confrontation with the students is to be aware of facilitating more than teaching and to use dialogue, more about this later. Supervision

Students’ peer assessment Students in the same group reviewing each other’s written material Students in the same group giving mini- lectures for each other Two groups acting as opponents for each other at seminars and exams Now we will talk about the tools we have as a supervisor. First we can set the learning objectives, e.g.. Using bloom in our project proposal. At the start of a project we might make a kind of contract with the students – i will dig deeper within a minute. You can help improving the students peer assessment, by e.g. Encouraging them to comment on each others working papers, which will improve the quality of the papers you have to read. At the basic year we use a written process analyse to improve the students teamwork and project skills. But the main tool you have in the daily confrontation with the students is to be aware of facilitating more than teaching and to use dialogue, more about this later. Supervision

Tools for supervision Contracts Students’ peer assessment Process analysis Now we will talk about the tools we have as a supervisor. First we can set the learning objectives, e.g.. Using bloom in our project proposal. At the start of a project we might make a kind of contract with the students – i will dig deeper within a minute. You can help improving the students peer assessment, by e.g. Encouraging them to comment on each others working papers, which will improve the quality of the papers you have to read. At the basic year we use a written process analyse to improve the students teamwork and project skills. But the main tool you have in the daily confrontation with the students is to be aware of facilitating more than teaching and to use dialogue, more about this later. Supervision

Process analysis - content Now we will talk about the tools we have as a supervisor. First we can set the learning objectives, e.g.. Using bloom in our project proposal. At the start of a project we might make a kind of contract with the students – i will dig deeper within a minute. You can help improving the students peer assessment, by e.g. Encouraging them to comment on each others working papers, which will improve the quality of the papers you have to read. At the basic year we use a written process analyse to improve the students teamwork and project skills. But the main tool you have in the daily confrontation with the students is to be aware of facilitating more than teaching and to use dialogue, more about this later. Supervision

Process analysis – example Now we will talk about the tools we have as a supervisor. First we can set the learning objectives, e.g.. Using bloom in our project proposal. At the start of a project we might make a kind of contract with the students – i will dig deeper within a minute. You can help improving the students peer assessment, by e.g. Encouraging them to comment on each others working papers, which will improve the quality of the papers you have to read. At the basic year we use a written process analyse to improve the students teamwork and project skills. But the main tool you have in the daily confrontation with the students is to be aware of facilitating more than teaching and to use dialogue, more about this later. Supervision

Tools for supervision Contracts Students’ peer assessment Process analysis Facilitation Now we will talk about the tools we have as a supervisor. First we can set the learning objectives, e.g.. Using bloom in our project proposal. At the start of a project we might make a kind of contract with the students – i will dig deeper within a minute. You can help improving the students peer assessment, by e.g. Encouraging them to comment on each others working papers, which will improve the quality of the papers you have to read. At the basic year we use a written process analyse to improve the students teamwork and project skills. But the main tool you have in the daily confrontation with the students is to be aware of facilitating more than teaching and to use dialogue, more about this later. Supervision

Facilitation Summarize Mirror students’ work Ask open-ended questions using 6-W Encourage students to keep a dynamic list of questions Give feedback by rethinking aloud The visitor is the supervisor that acts the most as a facilitator and the way you can act is: ...... Supervision

Tools for supervision Contracts Students’ peer assessment Process analysis Facilitation Questioning the team work Now we will talk about the tools we have as a supervisor. First we can set the learning objectives, e.g.. Using bloom in our project proposal. At the start of a project we might make a kind of contract with the students – i will dig deeper within a minute. You can help improving the students peer assessment, by e.g. Encouraging them to comment on each others working papers, which will improve the quality of the papers you have to read. At the basic year we use a written process analyse to improve the students teamwork and project skills. But the main tool you have in the daily confrontation with the students is to be aware of facilitating more than teaching and to use dialogue, more about this later. Supervision

Questioning team work - 1 Put on the students’ agenda when starting the project: level of ambitions how much time to be used how to share the work meeting discipline how to solve conflicts social relations Another good idea is to put co-operation issues on the student agenda at their first or second meeting............... Supervision

Questioning team work - 2 During the project: ask to the way the students organize the work and discuss the working process ask to special project functions discuss objectives for the organizational aspects give individual consultations feel the atmosphere - be present let the students discuss try to involve all the students A lot of supervisors is not concerned about how the group cooperates, because they think that the students has learned that at the basic year, and also they don't like to question the students about what is often regarded as more personal things. This is a shame, because the process of working together always can be improved, and the supervisor can help just showing an awareness about the process. Better co-operations improves both the projects and the learning process, and knowing about the co-operation and working process makes it easier to facilitate the group. So i will recommend that you is concerned about the groups cooperation, but how to do?........... Supervision

Project supervision - preparation The group (two days in advance) : What have we accomplished (working papers) What are we doing right now Requested supervision Agenda The supervisor : Read the working papers Reflect upon and formulate questions to structure, form and content Prepare for input to requested supervision A general example of what to bear in mind at a meeting with the group … Supervision

Project supervision – meeting The group : Chairs the meeting Takes minutes Presents the points of the agenda All students participate in discussions The supervisor : Facilitates the students’ own reflection by asking questions Involves all students in discussions Secures reflections on: Contracts, working processes, progress, time schedule etc. A general example of what to bear in mind at a meeting with the group … Supervision

Project supervision – follow up The group : Sends minutes of the meeting to the supervisor Discusses and assesses the input from the supervisor Revises working papers, time schedule etc. The supervisor : Reads the minutes and replies Follows up on requested tasks A general example of what to bear in mind at a meeting with the group … Supervision

Experimenting/sharing experiences with supervision/facilitation. In each Peer Group there is at least one who is going to supervise a student group in the autumn semester. The rest of the Peer Group should help him/her in the planning and assessment of one of the supervisors meetings with the student group. The supervisor selects a planned meeting soon. BEFORE the meeting the Peer Group gets together and discusses the meeting with the supervisor, and makes a plan for how he should supervise the students at the meeting. It will be an excellent chance to experiment by doing something differently than usual. Supervision

DURING the meeting the rest of the Peer Group acts as observers (this is legalized by the student group beforehand) and notes down what happens. AFTER the meeting the Peer Group gets together and the observers tell the supervisor about their observations and they all share the experience and reflect upon how to improve their own supervision. The experiment/discussions are documented in a small report (3-5 pages) telling what was planned, what actual happened and what is to be learned. The report is handed in to the lectures (XD, LPJ) in electronic form no later than the 14th of October. Supervision