Discussion of the final aspect of findings from the
unpublished research –
Williams M, 1999, ‘Exploring the Role of the Personal Tutor
in Nurse Education, Department of Education, University of Surrey, unpublished.
The research was carried out using a sample of students and
staff from 7 campus sites. On examining the responses regarding the qualities
of a personal tutor, three main themes emerged – knowledge, communication
skills and interpersonal skills.
The earlier related
blogs are:
Personal Tutor Role in Professional Education - Quality of Student - Tutor Communication
Academic support
There is a majority response, from both students and tutors,
indicating that support of essay writing and presentation / seminar needs to
cover areas like general advice and guidance, understanding of guidelines,
presentation skills, and use of aids, to academic skills related to writing,
level of work, referencing and relevant reading to be carried out. There is no
difference noted in the needs regarding essay writing, between students from
different academic years. The numbers of students who did not require help with
content of essay and those who did not make a comment also remained consistent
in all three academic years. Some tutors from site A have elaborated on the
need for challenging assumptions / attitudes and opinions of students. The
tutors are willing to give as much support as the student needs, time
permitting, which also includes giving examples of model answers and additional
handouts, a suggestion also made by Brennan (1995). Few tutors from sites A, C,
D and F commented that they would direct the personal student to the module
operator for the knowledge base of the essay or presentation. Nevertheless,
Brennan (1995) clearly places the responsibility on the tutor to clarify, to
the students the conventions of academic discourse, in particular the language,
style, content and arguments in their essays.
Building of confidence, to carry out presentation / seminar
is also seen to be a support a personal tutor can provide, according to some
students from all sites except C and E. This is agreed by many tutors from all
sites except E. The responses of the first year and second year students
regarding support are similar. They need general advice and guidance for
content, aids, presentation skills and support for building confidence. The
number of students who would not require this support or use the module operator
and those who did not comment remains similar in the first and second years. In
the third year the number of students who require support has decreased a
little, and very few feel there is a need to build confidence. There are more
students, who do not wish for this support or would use the module operator,
because by this time the students have gained some experience. The support
would therefore be focused on the content being at degree level, so the module
operator would be a more appropriate choice. The number who did not comment
remains the same as the other two years.
Study skills
General advice / support and guidance regarding study skills
and reading of relevant literature are the most popular comments from most
students at all sites. The tutors also agree and various comments explain the
study skills the students would require guidance for, note taking, depth and
breadth of reading, appropriateness of literature and critical analysis. When examined on the basis of academic
progress, the need for general advice and support for study skills diminishes
as students reach the third year, but help regarding reading of relevant
literature increases. Again, the number of students who do not require this support
or have chosen not to comment remains the same overall. This is a fairly high
number. Some tutors from sites B, C, D and F makes comments that could provide
an explanation for this. The reasons for not availing this support are the
provision of a reading list within the module guide, support from module
operator and the librarian.
Planning Study
Some students from all sites identified the need for advice
to plan study time and balance study and leisure time. This need seems to
decrease, from first year to third year. Some students stated that this support
should be provided if necessary. This was emphasised more by students of first
and third year. Probably due to the fact that students in their first year are
adjusting to studying and course work while in the third year academic pressure
increases so the need may arise again. Overall, majority of the students did
not see the need for this kind of support or did not comment on it. This could
be due to first year students either genuinely do not need support or are unaware
of this need. While in the second and third year, it is more likely that
students may have worked out their own time management rather than being
unaware of the need.
Review and Feedback
Majority of the tutors from all sites except E stated that
they could give assistance with study skills, setting up of realistic program
of learning and prioritising workload. Other comment included review of
progress to check if students are meeting deadlines. Some tutors from site C
stated that they had not been asked to provide this kind of support and so they
felt unable to comment on it. A small number of tutors from site F went on to
say that it could be viewed as interfering and condescending. This coincides
with a larger number of students from sites C and F not wanting or commenting
about this kind of support. But surely if the tutor identifies this need in a
personal student, support must be offered, and it is up to the student if they
do not wish to accept it. The offer of this service could be clarified to the
students at the onset of the relationship, making them aware of the available
support. Then the student would be free to avail necessary support without the
personal tutor being viewed as interfering or condescending.
Building confidence
Some students from all sites except E feel the personal
tutor through reassurance, praise, encouragement and positive feedback can
build their confidence. The first and second year students are more in need for
this than third year students are. There is a small rise in the number of
students stating this, from the first year. This could be due to the move of
students from Common Foundation Program to Branch Program and increasing hours
of clinical practice in the second year. Few students from site A, B and C
state that it may be necessary to build confidence but they can get this
support for others, a feeling which definitely increases among students as they
progress from first to third year. Many first year students make no comment or
have not wanted any support, maybe because they are still new to the program
with more time spent in the classroom so there is a limited awareness regarding
what support is needed and is available. The numbers stating this support is
not required and those making no comments remain the same in second and third
year.
While the tutors have been much more expansive on how
confidence can be built. The most popular responses are by being supportive,
giving time to the students, listening to the students and encouraging
independence of thought and ideas, act as an advocate while allowing the
student to develop autonomy through discussion, showing regard for their ideas
as well as providing constructive criticism. Many tutors from sites B, D and F
feel this is central to supervision and to the personal tutor role. However,
some tutors from sites B and C acknowledge that building of confidence can be
difficult as it is dependent on the individual student and generally it should
come with increasing knowledge, understanding and maturity.
Information Giving
Other comments made by the students relate to information
giving and advice on the process of the course and university, advice on health
matters, career advice, help to fill job application forms at the end of the
course. Students in third year also wished for support to complete their
learning log, particularly as in the third year the log has to be written at degree
level and is also a part of the assessment.
Summary
During the discussion the views of the students and tutors
have been examined and comparison made with the available literature. The
reasons for the views held by the students and tutors have been explained.
There is a general agreement on the need for having a choice of personal tutor.
The qualities of the student – tutor relationship and those expected of the
personal tutor are in congruence with the available literature. The one
specific disagreement is that counselling should not be the role of a personal
tutor. The emphasis on the personal tutor being a role model for learners and
use of learning contracts to facilitate learning have not been raised by any
respondent.
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