Perceptions of tutoring roles and psychological distance among instructors,tutors and students at a Korean university

This study explores issues related to the tutor’s role when initiating tutoring as an institutional strategy at a conventional university. Based on a pilot tutoring program implemented in four college courses, we investigated the perceptions of instructors, tutors and students regarding the role of tutoring and whether it affected the psychological distance between the different types of participants. The results indicated that instructors’ perceptions of the tutor’s primary role and the psychological distance from the students and the tutors differed from the perceptions of the tutors and the students, perhaps because the instructors perceived tutors as a source of instructor support rather than student support. Implications and suggestions are discussed.     

Development of a didactical training concept for peer tutors in gross anatomy

Even though peer tutors are often used in gross anatomy courses, research in the field is rather a subject of the last two decades. This is especially true about the didactical challenges these types of peer tutors experience during their tutorials and about how they are prepared for the task. The aim of the presented study was to learn about the training needs of the tutors, and to subsequently design, implement, and evaluate a didactical training concept. A qualitative design was chosen to examine how tutors can best be prepared for tutorials of gross anatomy. To do so, focus group interviews were conducted. The data were analyzed and grouped into various concepts, using semi‐structured interview questions as guidance. It was found that peer tutors are in need of training in the following aspects: Dealing with students who are experiencing difficulties during or as a result of dissection, dealing with group dynamics, that is, at the dissection table, keeping students motivated, time management, and staying confident as a tutor. In order to be regarded as useful and relevant in the eyes of tutors, a preparatory training course should include all these aspects in addition to general didactical training elements. Training needs of peer tutors of gross anatomy go beyond the content of standardized didactical curricula; therefore, tutors should be prepared with a curriculum that is specifically geared toward the many challenges associated with teaching gross anatomy to first year medical students which are already so well documented in the research literature. Anat Sci Educ 10: 495–502. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

Basic skill requirements for selected Army occupational training courses

This study investigated the basic cognitive skills soldiers must possess before entering the Army, skills that are needed for successful completion of entry-level training. Judgments of 126 instructors from 25 military occupational specialties were obtained on 129 candidate skills, which resulted in the identification of 55 basic skills. Factor analysis of these 55 skill items resulted in 11 interpretable factors. Mean scores on the factors were compared across factors and across Army training schools. The results of the study suggest that, for all occupational specialties studied, skills related to the learning process are as crucial as traditional academic skills for successful training course completion. These results have important implications for training for the Army as well as for industry.     

Providing Effective Support: Investigating feedback to distance language learners

Interaction and feedback on performance are essential elements of the language learning process. On a distance-learning course, since opportunities for interaction may be limited, feedback plays a crucial role in opening and maintaining a dialogue between tutors and students. Using text analysis, questionnaire and interview data, this study explores both tutor and student perspectives on the feedback offered on a distance language course. It finds that there are considerable individual differences in the feedback offered by tutors and there is also variation in the type of feedback the students want and their reported uses of it. The article suggests that more training for both tutors and students is necessary to adequately exploit feedback's potential in a distance-learning context.     

关于小学教育本科学生推行双导师制的思考

在小学教育本科学生中实施双导师制,主要是根据小教本科的专业特点和社会对小学本科学历教师的要求引入一种“理论与实践相结合”的学习方式,学生在大学四年的学习和生活中,每学期均配备校内和校外指导教师共同指导其学习,并为其提供参与科研和实践工作的机会。校内导师可由学院根据专业特点随机指派,亦可允许师生根据自己的研究方向双向选择,并充分利用本校教育专业博士与硕士研究生资源,参与导师的工作,和班主任、辅导员共同配合指导学生的专业入门、学习计划的涉及和初步的学术研究等方面。校外导师专门负责学生的教育教学技能的训练和培养,并给学生提供各种实践锻炼的机会。不同层次的学生通过共同的导师联系起来,互相学习,合作研究,形成本科生、研究生、教师三者间密不可分的联系。这不仅是对高校智力资源的充分挖掘,而且可以促进学校科研和学术环境建设。     

The effects of a competency‐oriented learning environment and tutor feedback on students’ reflection skills

This study investigates the effects of a competency‐oriented course and the effects of feedback training on students’ reflection skills. Thirty‐one nursing students enrolled in a conventional course with lectures and assignments following a traditional test. Subsequently, they enrolled in a competency‐oriented course, which included more performance‐oriented tasks based on competencies and a performance‐based assessment. In both courses, half of the students received feedback on their assignments from tutors who were trained in feedback skills (experimental group), while the other half of the students received feedback from non‐trained tutors (control group). After each course, all students wrote a reflection report. Results show that students’ reflection reports after the competency‐oriented course were of a higher quality than the reports after the conventional course. Contrary to our expectations, the quality of the reflection reports of the control group (students supervised by non‐trained tutors) was significantly higher than the quality of reflection reports of the experimental group (students supervised by trained tutors). This study shows that a competency‐oriented design of courses enhances students’ reflection skills, but that the training in feedback skills needs to be reconsidered.     

In practice—Student as teacher: The insiders' view of peer instruction

Rutgers College, the oldest college of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, relies solely on peer instructors to teach its first‐year seminar course. The authors offer a look inside the selection and training of these peer instructors and share the students' thoughts on their experiences.     

Firefighting training at a distance – a longitudinal study

This article presents an analysis of a five-year study on the implementation of a technology-supported distance programme in Swedish firefighter training. Based on activity theory and four interview studies, the attention is directed to firefighter instructors’ perceptions and use of digital technologies with a focus on challenges, contradictions and changes. Two phases are identified, viz an implementation phase and a dissemination phase. During the implementation phase a clear contradiction emerges regarding how the object of the training should be interpreted, which results in the instructors responsible for the implementation reconsidering previous beliefs and, with the support of digital technologies, developing more theoretical and process-oriented approaches and improving the course design. However, during the dissemination phase, when all instructors are involved, a number of conflicts and dilemmas emerge, resulting in the changes achieved in the distance programme to some extent being normalised in the direction of the instructor-centred and exercise-oriented approaches of the campus programme. The article concludes with a discussion about contradictions as well as opportunities that may emerge during the implementation process of a vocational technology-supported distance programme.     

Pedagogy and Diversity: Enrichment and Support for Social Work Instructors Engaged in Social Justice Education

The primary purpose of faculty development is to create and sustain a culture of teaching excellence. For social work faculty, an important part of teaching excellence involves incorporating core social work values such as social justice and diversity across the curriculum and developing pedagogical skills and strategies to teach these issues effectively. In this article, we present a model of a faculty development seminar that offers a facilitated space for instructors to discuss how issues of diversity, social identity, and oppression influence their teaching, the classroom environment, student interactions, and the overall campus climate.     

The dynamics of teaching at a distance in Tanzania: reflections from the field

In this paper, pedagogical issues drawn from a study to examine the nature and quality of correspondence tuition are analysed. The paper observes that effective correspondence tuition depends on a number of factors ranging from the tutors’ academic competence to their professional experience, values and assumptions about distance learning. Given the novelty of the distance mode of delivery at university level in Tanzania, there is a need for an induction programme for newly recruited tutors to provide them with the core skills and techniques of distance teaching. Recruitment of additional tutors, as well as continued professional development, is crucial for the enhancement of student feedback and quality of correspondence tuition.     

On Consultation and Beginner Educational Psychologists

In this article, we describe some of our purposes and processes when introducing consultation as a comprehensive model of service delivery to course members in their programme of initial professional education. We also note some of the impacts from this model, both in the course modules and the placement experiences. While it is written from the perspective of course tutors, we hope that this account may trigger useful thoughts for readers-about their own initial training, about their current model of practice, about their current professional development or even their current contribution to initial training.     

Vocational training for prison inmates: a treatment model

Offenders, whether they are adults or juveniles, convicts or simply on remand are usually offered some sort of vocational training durir g the period of incarceration. For most prison service establishments, training has been elevated to a position of utmost prominence, so much so that an offender's post‐release career seems to depend largely on the success of training received in prison. Prison vocational training should address the vital aspects of offender rehabilitation and reintegration, and current agitations centre on whether offender should ‘do time’ or ‘use time’ during training sessions. By and large, training should not simply be part of prison routine, but instead should have firm features of an intervention, and also represent a treatment regime. This article discusses a treatment model of prison vocational training for all categories of offenders. The model provides for an initial diagnostic phase of offenders’ work history and training needs, which are carefully analysed in relation to labour market skills requirements. Central to this model is the provision of appropriate job and entrepreneurial skills in conjunction with aftercare services. It also places a high premium on the vocational adjustment of ex‐offenders in society, which must be closely monitored in order that success of the rehabilitation and resettlement processes can be correctly assessed.     

Effects of training peer tutors in content knowledge versus tutoring skills on giving feedback to help tutees’ complex tasks

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of training tutors in content knowledge of a particular domain versus training them in tutoring skills of pedagogical knowledge when tutoring on a complex tutee task. Forty-seven tutor–tutee pairs of fourth-year secondary school students were created and assigned to one of the two treatments. Twenty-two tutors received training in content knowledge and the other twenty-five tutors in tutoring skills. Tutors formulated written feedback immediately after the training. Tutees first interpreted the tutor feedback and then used it to revise their research questions. The results showed that tutors trained in tutoring skills formulated more effective feedback than tutors trained in content knowledge. In addition, tutees helped by tutoring-skills tutors found the feedback more motivating than those helped by content-knowledge tutors. However, no differences were found in tutee performance on revision. The findings are discussed in terms of the set-up of this study and implications for improving the effectiveness of peer tutoring.     

Videotutoring, non-verbal communication and initial teacher training

Telematics has the potential to transform Higher Education through creating a distributed community of tutors and students. Videotutoring is central to telematics, enabling personal tutoring to occur at a distance. Within the context of a post-graduate teacher training course, videotutoring was used to tutor two students during the first six weeks of their first full-time school placement. Both ends of the videosignal were recorded. Analysis of the tapes used a protocol based upon research into non-verbal communication (NVC). NVC is as important as verbal communication in the tutorial process. Findings suggest that the interaction of participants mediated through the screen was significantly different from face-to-face communication in relation to the two-dimensional image of the screen and the "viewing frame" effect of the physical boundaries of the image. The viewing frame literally served as the proscenium arch of a theatre. Two-dimensionality and the viewing frame effect emphasised both the positive and negative elements in inter-personal communication as represented in Argyle's social skills and Goffman's theatrical models. The conclusion is that videotutoring can potentially be a more effective form of tutoring than face-to-face interaction.     

Adult numeracy teacher training programmes in England: a suggested typology

Nationally approved adult numeracy teacher training programmes were started in September 2002 following the introduction of subject specifications by the Department for Education and Skills and the Further National Training Organisation in England. These programmes delivered by higher education institutions and further education colleges were found to consist of a wide variation of course structure and delivery style. This article offers a conceptual typological framework to classify the diversity of these programmes. It uses examples of adult numeracy courses drawn from a research project which investigates the diverse curriculum approaches to teaching the subject specifications, the issues around implementation, and the way that subject knowledge was translated into classroom skills. The typology uses Bernstein’s theories on curriculum knowledge, transmission and recontextualization of pedagogic processes as a framework to classify and enhance our understanding of the raison d’etre of this subject area of teacher training courses, that is, to teach trainees how to be teachers of adult numeracy. The article also offers an ‘ideal’ teacher training course where some of its elements are drawn from best practices identified in the project. Finally, this article might act as a platform for practitioners to critically assess how adult numeracy teacher training courses might be structured and classified.     

A programme-wide training framework to facilitate scientific communication skills development amongst biological sciences Masters students

In this article we describe the effectiveness of a programme-wide communication skills training framework incorporated within a one-year biological sciences taught Masters course designed to enhance the competency of students in communicating scientific research principally to a scientific audience. In one class we analysed the numerical marks achieved by students (N 61) for specific communication assignments completed at the start and at the end of the course. This was complemented by questionnaires administered to students at the beginning and at the end of the course to self-assess their competency and to elicit their views on the usefulness of the training received. We considered three questions: did students’ communication skills improve during the course; did the outcomes depend on the place of previous education (UK or non-UK); and how useful did students consider the learning and teaching activities to be? We show that the training improved students’ self-reported competency in most of the communication skills considered. Coursework marks for writing literature reviews improved during the course (p < 0.001). Those marks were marginally associated (that is, approaching statistical significance after Bonferroni correction) with the place of previous education (relatively high in UK students; p = 0.005). Coursework marks for writing research proposals did not change during the course (p = 0.361) but did depend on place of previous education (relatively high for UK students (p = 0.001). Although this small study’s intriguing results merit further investigation, our initial data supports the use of a programme-wide framework of the type presented here to facilitate communications skills development amongst biological science graduate students.     

远程临床医学技能培训的实现

目前医学教育中的临床技能培养存在要求高、难度大、实践机会少等问题。虚拟现实、视音频、多媒体及计算机网络等技术的发展,为临床医学技能培养提供了一条新的途径。基于新疆生产建设兵团医疗现状和发展规划构建的远程医学临床技能培训平台,就远程教育与医学教育的结合进行探索,依托优质医学资源,利用卫星网络、互联网络和VPN专网以及现代信息技术,实现远程医学教育、协同诊断、手术观摩、三维虚拟手术实验等功能,缩短了医学院学生、各类医务人员从理论学习到临床具体操作的时间,提升了整体的临床技能综合水平。     

论成人声乐教学中的呼吸训练

呼吸是歌唱的四大基本要素之一,是歌唱的动力和基础。在声乐教学中,所有的教育者都会特别强调呼吸的训练和运用。在成人声乐教学中,要想在较短的时间里获得较好的歌唱呼吸的效果,就要科学地、实际地研究呼吸技巧,并按照学生的认识规律及接受能力,选择适应学生的教学方法和教学手段,这样才能使学生在有限的时间内掌握其正确的呼吸方法并自如地运用于歌唱之中。     

工业分析与检验专业实验能力培养的综合化研究

围绕专业培养目标,结合北京联合大学生物化学工程学院教学条件和学科特点,以达到化学检验工国家职业标准技能要求为核心目标,在实验教学中充分利用现有的仪器设备,进行直观教学和技能训练,分段分层运行,切实提高学生的专业素养及实验能力,优化实验教学。