Year Student
Laura Salmi Senior Lecturer
Laurea University of Applied Sciences Vanha maantie 9, 02650 Espoo, Finland
tel. +358 9 8868 7466 [email protected]
Learning by Developing is defined as a method applying investigative learning to authentic situations. Learning is accomplished through the process of development in a professional set- ting, while at the same time the needed knowledge and skills are acquired. It is a way for stu- dents to practise working as experts while still building their professional education. But can this method be applied in the first few months of the studies too? A solution is presented here as implemented in the Business Programme of Laurea University of Applied Sciences.
This paper focuses on the practical solutions adopted with first year students. There are ap- proximately 160 first year students, divided into six groups, in the business program of the Leppävaara unit of Laurea. The observations reported in this article are based on the experi- ences of the teacher team responsible for the first semester studies in the business pro- gramme, as well as student feedback, collected both via a survey at the end of the semester and through team and individual feedback discussions between students and tutors.
Investigative learning as a basis for LbD
Hakkarainen, Lonka and Lipponen (2004, 17) claim that learning is at best an investigative process. This means not only analytical information processing and assessment, but also practi- cal experimenting and learning from experience. Wenger (1998, 73) proposes that learning and expertise are transmitted through unofficial communities of practise. These communities have common goals, exist at work or other environments, but their members are not necessarily aware of this communal structure. These ideas – learning seen as an investigative process and communities of practice being the environments that foster learning – are the key elements behind the model presented here. One aspect of learning in a community is the sharing of the learning process and its outcomes. Sharing one’s expertise provides a forum for testing that expertise and justifying one’s viewpoints (Hakkarainen et al., 186). In collaborative problem solving the participants typically adopt different roles and serve their different viewpoints to each other, thus deepening their understanding of the problem (Miyake, 1986). To the individ- ual, the community or the group provides scaffolding, permitting the individual to perform tasks more demanding than would be possible for them by themselves (Brown, 1993, 191). Learning by Developing seeks to apply these ideas to authentic situations in working life. In such a situation, contrary to traditional educational environments, there are no known solu- tions to the problems. The solutions are always the result of a more thorough process, includ- ing the definition, analysis and description of the problem, as well as the choice of suitable
stricted to specific situations and contexts. This fulfils an important requirement of profes- sional expertise, as defined by Tynjälä (1999, 160-161).
The key concepts behind the Learning by Developing model are authenticity, companionship, an experience-based, investigative approach and creativity (Raij, 2005, 27-28). Authenticity is achieved through real-life development projects serving outside partners. Companionship means shared working, learning and responsibility. Practical experience is the medium through which learning and new knowledge is reflected upon and identified. The investigative approach is the way in which learning is organised, as described above. Creativity is seen in the adoption of new solutions and working methods.
Implementation of LbD in the first semester of business studies
A major challenge of using LbD in the first semester of studies is the inexperience of the stu- dents both as students and as representatives of their field of study. However, the main prob- lem lies in the fact that, while teaching the basics of most disciplines, teachers are dealing with large groups of students. The solutions suitable for groups of a few students working in a single project or two are clearly not applicable to groups of over a hundred. In addition, learn- ing the basics of one’s profession often involves building a general understanding of the field in question, on which a more thorough and focused expertise can then be built. Fulfilling this need for a broad base can be extremely difficult in the context of a particular development project, where the focus by necessity is usually narrowed down to a single problem or topic. Compromises are needed. For example, in the beginning the working process is more strongly guided and some control measures, such as examinations, are employed to steer timetables and work phases.
The cornerstones of our approach are a strong emphasis on team work, the providing of guid- ance to students through various media whenever needed, and a holistic view of the students’ work process, rather than one based on the traditional framework of disciplines. The students work independently in teams, on a project combining the different aspects of basic business skills, while teachers are at their disposal to provide advice if and when needed and to discuss their work progress.
Some of these ideas have been implemented on a smaller scale for several years, but a major shift in learning and teaching methods was enforced in connection with a new curriculum in- troduced for the academic year 2006-2007. The curriculum was designed to bring flexibility in structure, as well as larger units that would enable longer time-spans for the learning processes (Kivelä & Ojasalo, 2007, 125). The curriculum is composed of “themes” of approximately 30-35 ECTS credits each. The themes are divided into courses of five to fifteen credits each. In the business programme, the first semester consists of one theme, “Company and Business Operat- ing Environments”, divided into four study units, “Industries and Business Operating Environ- ments”, “Business Operations and Processes”, Professional Skills to Support Business Processes” and “English for Network Economy”. The theme is tied together by a “Theme project” that occupies most of the students’ time and covers most of the content of the four courses. The project is essentially a framework for the construction of basic knowledge about business. The students approach the matter on three levels: the business environment, the company and the individual skills needed for business. These three levels correspond to the three study units, complemented by English language studies, that form the first theme. The students choose a business cluster that they concentrate on and start by gathering information about the structure and functioning of the cluster, as well as economic development in relation to that cluster. They choose two or three companies from that cluster whose business models and networks they get acquainted with. The students familiarise themselves with a company’s processes and define a small research problem which they solve to gain a more thorough under- standing of the topic or industry they have chosen for their project. While the students work on
their project, they study topics and skills that will advance their work. Among the skills they employ on the project are computer, written communication, presentation, project and team work skills.
To support the execution of the project, theoretical and practical lectures and exercises are provided along the way. These are not held in a regular or evenly spaced rhythm, but rather at times estimated to be most useful in support of the students’ work. The lectures are more nu- merous in the beginning of the semester. Some of the exercises are meant to anticipate and give tools for the work phases in the project, some are meant to be an opportunity to discuss and process the topics and challenges encountered in carrying out the project.
To give the students a place and a time where they can work on their projects while receiving help and guidance if needed, there is a weekly “work session”, common to two student groups, i.e. approximately 50 students. Teachers visit this work session so that students can ask ques- tions and receive feedback on their work. The students are encouraged to seek guidance also at other times and through other media.
The execution of the project is supported also by several check-points and deadlines that set interim goals and permit remedial feedback to be given. One of the main ideas behind this working method is that the students do not carry out one-time assignments that will be graded and then put aside, but rather working as a process that will be guided and corrected as it pro- gresses to permit them to improve their work. This idea is implemented beyond the first se- mester. Continuity is sought from the first to the second semester and beyond, when possible, through arrangements of work distribution among teachers, planning and communication. When the same teachers work with the same students for a time period of a year or more, true con- tinuity in the learning process can be achieved.
The function of the examinations, besides being a tool for assessment, is to make sure the stu- dents acquire knowledge that they need for their work, in time for it to be useful. For exam- ple, quite early in the semester, the students are given a simple examination on the main con- cepts related to the business environment where they will operate. Learning to explain these concepts gives them the tools to speak and write about the phenomena they are investigating. Figure 1 shows an overview of the components that form the working environment.
Figure 1. Timeline of the first semester studies
Cornerstones of the approach: team work and guidance
The forming of the student teams is of crucial importance, as most of the work will be carried out in the context of the team’s chosen project and the team is responsible as a whole for the working process and for the result. For that reason, a lot of emphasis is put on guidance along the way, in team work as well as in the subjects related to the projects. Each group of students has a tutor – a teacher who is also teaching within the theme.
The students choose their teammates themselves, a couple of weeks into the semester. From the very first day, the importance of teamwork is explained. The students are told to assess their own motivation and goals in their studies and to choose their team so that the team can agree on its goal and level of commitment to the project.
A series of guidance meetings takes place during the semester to provide support to the teams, as well as to individual students. In the beginning of the semester, all students fill in a personal background form that is used as a basis for a short individual talk with the group’s tutor. On this form, the students answer questions about their reasons for choosing this field of study, plans for future and previous work or other relevant experience. The students also give their personal impressions of their own level of e.g. language, computer and presentation skills, as well as their preferred working methods.
In addition to the individual talks, the tutor meets each team at least twice: once when the team has started to work on the project and again when the project is finished and all teachers have given feedback on the team’s results. In between these meetings, the tutor will meet with the teams when need arises. Some teams find their working patterns easily and work without problems from beginning to end, solving occasional difficulties along the way, and do not need any special help from the tutor. Other teams experience difficulties or need help in finding the working arrangements to guarantee the project’s completion. Difficulties arise mostly due to inexperience in studying and working in an environment requiring independent planning and control of one’s work and that of others. The problems are mostly related to timetables, planning and difficulties in attaining the goals that the team has set itself, but
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