Introduction
Methods
Plan: improvements were planned
Act: improvements were implemented
Observe: observation data were collected, analysed and interpreted
Reflect: problems and opportunities for improvement were identified
1. Planning and acting phase of collaborative learning cases
2. Observation methods
3. Action research cycle 1
1) Plan and act
2) Observe
“I found that the utilization of a real-life scenario was particularly useful as it taught us things out of textbook scenarios.”
“The discussion of the case with the rest of the group helped me find out the gaps in my knowledge and aided in my understanding of the topic.”
“The pre-reading materials could have been made available in the form of e-book…it is impractical to expect 300 students to borrow the same book from the library at the same time.”
“ ‘The tutor could guide the students’ less, and let them discover the answers by themselves.” (Student feedback)
“ ‘The tutors were also very unprepared and they were unaware of what information was made available in the case details given to the students.” (Student feedback)
“I observed that tutors were not familiar with the pacing and organizing the session, they tend to give ‘model answer’ rather than invoking a reflective style of teaching… After a while, the session degenerated into a question and answer session, which is not collaborative learning.” (Observers note)
“ ‘…had issues as the class progressed due to lagging in wireless connectivity…Have at least two tutors on hand, as we toggle between turns, one addresses the class and the other operates the PC.”
“‘The format of giving time to discuss each part among themselves was disruptive…there were groups took longer time than others and time wasted waiting for every group to catch up. Time also wasted on doing 10 questions before starting.”
“In technical difficulties, too much time was spent on fixing and trying to get the screen to work.”
“There were some technical problems that took quite a bit of the lesson to resolve.”
“‘I think such methods of teaching are a massive waste of time and resources…Using computer was very inefficient.” (Student’s feedback)
“The padlet wall hardly utilised by the students.” (Tutor’s feedback)
“‘More group discussion should be emphasised as many of us just spent time typing on our computers instead of discussing.” (Student’s feedback)
“‘Most (students) were obsessed with typing answers to the questions rather than actual discussion; copying and pasting answers and even links to the answers instead of learning to paraphrase or assimilate.” (Observers note)
3) Reflect
4. Action research cycle 2
1) Plan
2) Act
3) Observation
“Flow of the tutorial, everything linked-up, allowed us to apply what we learned.”
“It connects many aspects of cardiovascular physiology.”
“This case has good opportunities to integrate physiology several systems. (It) was rather too rushed.”