The Reflective Journalas a site of Student Engagement, Learning and Transformation

Susie MacfarlaneITL Teaching & Learning Conference

Deakin University 2008

Background

HBS110 Health Behaviour

Faculty core unit first year– Health Science, Nursing, Primary Teaching,

Psychology

Unit Chair: Semester 1, 2007

Assessment – MC exam: 60%– Written assignment on 1 model:

40%

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New Assessment

Introduction of new assessment task

Students chose health behaviour to work with:

– Increase physical activity– Healthy eating– Smoking reduction or cessation– Drinking reduction– Stress reduction– Enhance sleep

10 weekly journal posts on DSO– Private: visible only to teaching staff

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New Assessment

Task: Create a plan for Health Behaviour Change

• Establish clear goals: short term and long term

• Identify any research you need to do to establish appropriate goals

• Develop strategies to achieve your goals• Anticipate the barriers or challenges you

may encounter• Develop strategies to overcome these

barriers• Identify what support you may require• Begin your plan• Monitor your progress and difficulties,

recording, analysing and reflecting on them in your weekly journal

• Observe any changes that are occurring• Celebrate and reward your successes

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New Assessm

ent

Support and Guidance

Students were supported via:

– Labs and eLive sessions – Guidelines for posts– Lectures – Feedback on posts

• Fortnightly for on-campus students• weekly for off-campus students

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New Assessm

ent

Rationale: Assessment integrated with learning

James, R., McInnis, C. and Devlin, M. (2002). Assessing Learning in Australian Universities Victoria: Centre for the Study of Higher Education University of Melbourne

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New Assessment

Rationale: Assessment integrated with learning

• Assessment greatest determinant of how students learn 1

• Assessment integrated into learning provides: 2

– Feedback to students ( mistakes and achievements)

– Motivation and a sense of achievement– Application of abstract learning to

practical contexts– Evidence of learning– Lecturers with feedback on effectiveness

of teaching 2 Brown & Glasner (2005) 1 Boud (1998)

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New Assessment

Rationale for Implementation

AIM: to ensure students

STRATEGY

Engage in deep, experiential learning not surface

Reflection on action

Develop discipline based skills

Require performative knowledge not declarative

Develop cognitive skills

Questioning by tutor

Interact with course materials

Students required to link their experience to course concepts

Provide evidence of learning

Formative assessment

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New Assessment

Outcomes: first iteration

Expected: learning outcomes demonstrated

Unexpected: significant health behaviour change and meaningful learning occurring

… but someone was lurking…

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New Assessment

Q. Do you think it’s scaleable?

In a moment of madness, the Faculty Education Developer proposed the journal would work in the following semester with 1260 students…

Support from AHoS… tutors recruited…

uhoh… 37 labs on 3 campuses…

plus120 off-campus students…

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New Assessment

Numbers…

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New Assessment

Numbers… Semester 2 2007

On-campus posts: 14 777

Off-campus posts: 1 885

Total journal posts: 16 662

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New Assessment

Training and Mentoring of Facilitators

Guidelines for tutors– Our role is to teach– No advice (refer student to health

guidelines) – No suggestions re strategies, ask

student*– Be highly encouraging and supportive– The quality of learning environment

important, safe learning space– Recognise effort, & challenge of task – Over time, tutors gently challenge

barriers, excuses and assumptions

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New Assessment

Facilitators: attitude to learner & learning

Change and learning are difficult

The learner is in a process of development

The tutor is non-authoritative and respectful

The tutor is privileged to be invited into the learning process

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New Assessment

Facilitator skills: feedback

Focus on behaviour initially- what is happening, and what is not

A model for responding that focussed on asking questions rather than providing answers, solutions or recommendations

Provide 75% safety

– what went well and why– Taking every opportunity to acknowledge

achievement

Provide 25% challenge – Stimulate student to ask what else might have

worked?– Gently challenge barriers, excuses and

assumptions

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(Hadikin, 2004; Claridge and Lewis, 2005)

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New Assessment

Example 1: Student Post

Post from a student engaged in smoking cessation:

“Beginning of Week 3 and so far off to a great start, had my last cigarette (well i hope my last) on Saturday night…

With not smoking anymore, the biggest challenge is when I go out and have a few drinks, I have a 21st this week end, and my challenge is to not have any cigarettes”

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New Assessment

Example 1: Tutor response

Response from tutor to a student engaged in smoking cessation:

“That is terrific you are continuing with your quitting program. Well done for noticing when you find it hard, such as when there are drinks involved. Are you able to work out any strategies to help you at this time?”

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Outcomes

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Examples

Outcomes

Scaling

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New Assessment

Response to a student engaged in smoking cessation:

“That is terrific you are continuing with your quitting program. Well done for noticing when you find it hard, such as when there are drinks involved. Are you able to work out any strategies to help you at this time?”

Example 1: Tutor response

Encouragement for effort

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Outcomes

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Examples

Outcomes

Scaling

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New Assessment

Response to a student engaged in smoking cessation:

“That is terrific you are continuing with your quitting program. Well done for noticing when you find it hard, such as when there are drinks involved. Are you able to work out any strategies to help you at this time?”

Example 1: Tutor response

Identification and recognition of

demonstrated skill

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Outcomes

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Scaling

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New Assessment

Response to a student engaged in smoking cessation:

“That is terrific you are continuing with your quitting program. Well done for noticing when you find it hard, such as when there ar Are you able to work out any strategies to help you at this time?”

Example 1: Tutor response

Prompt to develop further cognitive

skill

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New Assessment

Learning Cycle

Planning

Information

Action

Reflection

Feedback

Teaching staff

Student

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New Assessment

Teaching Outcomes

– Student engagement

– Evidence of of learning

– Responsive to student diversity

– Rapid cognitive skill development

– Provision of effective learning environment

– Authentic Assessment task

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New Assessment

Learning Outcomes

– Analytical skills development

– Attitude to course content & ability to learn

– Deep and resilient learning

– Transfer learning to other contexts

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New Assessment

Health Behaviour Outcomes

Over 20 students have quit smoking

Many enhanced nutrition, reduced junk food, reduction in drinking

Many established regular physical activity

Others worked on stress reduction, time management, assertiveness

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New Assessment

Outcomes: SETUs

Question 2006 2007 2008

This unit was well taught. 3.4 3.8 4.0

I would recommend this unit to other students.

3.4 3.7 3.8

The on-line teaching and resources in this unit enhanced my learning experience.

3.6 3.8 4.0

The teaching staff gave me helpful feedback.

3.5

3.9 4.0

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New Assessment

Outcomes: informal survey [DSO quiz tool]

N = 462

Learning Activity worthwhile

% Student Responses

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New Assessment

Outcomes: informal survey

N = 462

% Student Responses

Change in understanding of health behaviour

change

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New Assessment

Outcomes: informal survey

N = 462

Importance of change in health behaviour

% Student Responses

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New Assessment

Outcomes: Student feedback 1

I was reluctant at first - how dare they ask us to change our lifestyle! ... may have been confronting for some, but it was

an invaluable experience for a bunch of future health-care professionals who will be advising others re behaviour change - the issues raised will be applicable across a range of behaviour change areas, and making the whole thing a personal experience was a great teaching tool that I benefitted from greatly. The more indepth / conceptual research analysis in assignment 2 added even more to what was learned, and assisted in developing a deeper understanding of the issues. The experience was very worthwhile, and I hope it 's repeated - much more interesting/relevant than last year 's assessment activities, according to feedback I got from fellow-students who did this unit last year (2006).

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New Assessment

Outcomes: Student feedback 2

“Well final entry!!! I have decided I am going to continue keeping a journal as it really makes me think about things in more depth and follow through with my plans and strategies. Once I am happy with the change in my smoking behaviour I am going to choose another unhealthy behaviour to try and change as there I so many I can choose from!!!

I have learnt so much about myself and just how much control I really have. I picked what I thought would be my hardest behaviour to change so I now know that I can change other unhealthy behaviours. I have also learnt so much more about others around me (friends and family) and who I can trust and go to for support.”

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New Assessment

Outcomes: Student feedback 3

I thought that it was fantastic. It was active learning which made it fun and exciting as well as being personally significant. The journal also helped in making the learning easy as we can relate what we have learned in the semester to how we coped in changing our health behaviour.

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New Assessment

Enablers of success…

Managing Unit

– Support from school– Committed tutors– Effective mentoring and monitoring of

tutors

Managing students– clear guidelines re content & style

(“dear diary”)

– regular feedback– supportive learning environment

Background

Enablers

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New Assessment

Ballard, B & Clanchy (1991) Teaching Students from Overseas, Longman Cheshire, Sydney.

Biggs, J. (2003). Teaching for quality learning at university: What the student does (2nd ed.). Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.

Brown, S & Glasner, A (1999) Assessment Matters in Higher Education: choosing and Using Diverse Approaches, Open University Press, Buckingham.

Brown, S, Race, P, & Bull, J. (1999) Computer-Assisted Assessment in Higher Education, Kogan Page, London.

Brunning, H (2006) Executive Coaching: Systems-Psychodynamic Perspective, Karnac, London.

Claridge, M & Lewis, T. (2005) Coaching for Effective Learning: A Practical Guide for Teachers in Health and Social Care,  Radcliffe Publishing, U.K.

Cranton, P, (1997) Transformative Learning in Action: Insights from Practice, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco.

Farmer, M, Riddick, B, Sterling, C (2002) Dyslexia and inclusion: Assessment and Support in Higher Education, Whurr Publishers, London.

Grant, A. (2003). The impact of life coaching on goal attainment, metacognition and mental health. Social Behavior and Personality, 31(3), 253-264.

Hadikin, R. (2004) Effective Coaching in Healthcare, Elsevier Science, London.

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New Assessment

Kolb, D. (1984) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey.

Mezirow, J 1997, ‘Transformative learning: theory to practice’, New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, no. 74, summer, pp. 5–12.

McDowell, (1996) Enabling student learning through innovative assessment’ in G. Whisker and S. Browns (Eds) Enabling student Learning: Systems and Strategies. London: Kogan Page, SEDA.

McGill, I & Beaty, L (2001) Action Learning, Kogan Page, London.

Northedge, A (2005) Enabling participation in Academic discourses in Shaw, G. (Ed.) Tertiary Teaching and Learning Dealing with Diversity, Charles Darwin University Press, Darwin.

Skiffington, S & Zeus, P. (2003) Behavioural Coaching, McGraw Hill, Sydney.

Yancey, K, (1998) Reflection in the Writing Classroom. Logan, Utah.

Yates, L. (2004) What does Good Education Research look like? Situating a field and its practices, Open University Press, England.

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice. Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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