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Facilitation: Frequently Asked QuestionsDoes a facilitator have to be a subject expert? Does the way one interacts with students have to change to become a facilitator? What does a facilitator do while sitting with a group? What if a student says something which is incorrect? What if a group has difficulties working together? Facilitation is the method by which the tutor, group leader, or teaching assistant promotes the learning, process, and cohesion of the PBL group. People who perform the process are usually called facilitators, but some prefer to use a different title (such as tutor) while still facilitating the group. Here, we will use the word facilitator to avoid confusion. Students who have had a lot of experience with PBL may well need little facilitation or can self-facilitate, but this is not true for most groups. In general, a facilitator should ease the group’s progress through a problem not by giving the information needed away freely, but by enabling the group to get the best out of the discussion time spent together. Most models of PBL have more time where the students work on their own, so the time they spend with a facilitator is valuable for guiding the problem, picking up areas or learning paths that the students may have missed, reviewing the significance or relevance of their research, and keeping to task. Many descriptions exist of what facilitation involves and how to do it well. Facilitation is often thought to be both the key to PBL and one of its more difficult aspects. Facilitators use their experience of interacting with students to promote a ‘learning environment’ within the group. Success will be dependent on confidence in the group situation and understanding of what is important in promoting group work. Does a facilitator have to be a subject expert? Several PBL experts say that being a good facilitator is more important than being a subject expert. Even some medical schools use non-expert facilitators. However, most opinion seems to suggest that enough subject knowledge to understand the potential of the problem in hand is desirable in a facilitator. Sometimes, having subject knowledge can actually be a problem: experts are more likely to guide the group straight to a solution without exploring the problem fully and can be prone to turning the PBL session into a ‘mini-lecture’ after a student asks a direct question or if the group seems ‘stuck’. Does the way one interacts with students have to change to become a facilitator? A frequently heard PBL maxim says, ‘Be the guide on the side, not the sage on the stage’. Moving ‘to the side’ involves relinquishing a certain amount of control (but not responsibility), talking less frequently, and listening to what the students are saying to each other. Imagine a good tutorial group session. It is probably one where the group arrives prepared, asks the tutor and each other lots of questions, and discusses complex points with each other. The students demonstrate their engagement in the subject, and the tutor enjoys watching understanding grow and links being made. Perhaps the tutor makes provocative comments to widen the discussion, or asks unexpected open-ended questions which raised deeper issues. This is the type of atmosphere at which PBL facilitators aim – most lecturers have probably already experienced and enjoyed it before. What does a facilitator do while sitting with a group? The facilitator watches how the group is working and checks that every member is included; that everyone understands what has been decided; that previous knowledge or experience, perhaps from outside interests or reading, is recognised and shared; that difficulties are not developing within the group; and that everyone understands appropriate behaviour. Sometimes, a facilitator may spend long periods of time without needing to say anything. This time can be used to make (mental or written) notes for process assessment, if this is one of the facilitator’s duties, and to think about what feedback can be given to group members about interpersonal and communications skills. What if a student says something which is incorrect? Lecturers do not check the lecture notes that students have written to make sure they are correct and demonstrate an understanding of the relevance of the key points you made. PBL facilitators watch over the learning in their PBL groups at first hand – but does that mean that they must jump in and correct a student if they say something which is wrong? Usually, a facilitator would be more inclined to see whether any of the group members disagree with the incorrect statement, and if not, would challenge the group with questions so that they go back a step and explore where the wrong assumption occurred. What if a group has difficulties working together? Sometimes, students will turn to their facilitator for help with conflicts within the group. In general, it is better to prompt the group to deal with conflicts at an early stage, rather than let them continue. Frequently, asking the students to review the ground rules they set up for working in the group will be enough for issues to be brought forward and discussed. Students will probably realise that their process marks, or personal development marks (if given), will be enhanced by a mature approach to differences of opinion, character clashes, and conflict resolution. Promoting and praising a calm, professional attitude in students will be beneficial in the long term. PBL aims to introduce students to real-world issues, and these include working with people they do not like or who do not seem to work as hard. ‘Stuckness’ is a common state in PBL, and should not be feared. Acknowledging that one is stuck can be a difficult thing to do at first, so students may become silent, fearing to say that they can’t see what they should be doing. Later, students should be armed with a variety of experience-gained techniques to overcome the feeling of ‘stuckness’, for example:
A facilitator may suggest any of these techniques if the group seems unable to move on: but make sure they have been given time before intervening. Back to PBL home This content is based on the Project LeAP Practice Guide to Problem-Based Learning in Physics and Astronomy, eds D J Raine and S L Symons, HEA Subject Centre for Physical Science, 2005, available here |
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