Teaching Health Professionals Online

Sherri Melrose, Caroline Park, Beth Perry

• Publisher: AU Press
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781927356678
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Inclusive Education

Teaching Health Professionals Online is a must-read for professionals in the health care field who strive to deliver excellence in their online classes. Intended for a wide range of professionals, including nurses, social workers, occupational and radiation therapists, chiropractors, dietitians, and dental hygienists, this compendium of teaching strategies will inspire both new and experienced instructors in the health professions. In addition to outlining creative, challenging activities with step-by-step directions and explanations of why they work, each chapter in the text situates practice within the context of contemporary educational theories such as instructional immediacy, invitational theory, constructivism, connectivism, transformative learning, and quantum learning theory. The authors also address other issues familiar to those who have taught online courses. How can a distance instructor build teacher-student relationships? How does one transform the assumptions often held by students in the health fields from the confines of the virtual classroom? Most importantly, how can the instructor support his or her students in their future pursuits of knowledge and their development as competent professionals? By considering these and other concerns, this handbook aims to help instructors increase student success and satisfaction, which, the authors hope, will ultimately produce the best possible patient care.

1

Instructional Immediacy: The Heart of Collaborating and Learning in Groups

Exemplary teachers generally have one thing in common: their classes bustle with activity as students connect and interact with one another. As teachers who love what we do, we want students to share our excitement and to become fully engaged members of our class community. We know how connections among students can sustain motivation and deepen understanding of course material. But we also know how full life can be for students and how stretched their time is as they juggle family, work, and study commitments. Looking through the eyes of adult learners, we can see that carving out time to collaborate with classmates in an online course may not stand out as a priority. How, then, can we begin to foster the kind of collaboration that our students need in order to fully engage in online courses?

Albert Mehrabian’s explanation of the construct of immediacy, together with theories of how groups work, offers important directions. This chapter explains instructional immediacy, provides a primer on how groups work, and suggests ways to invite students to collaborate in groups by modelling their achievements. Instructional immediacy is at the heart of collaborating and learning in groups. Teachers must demonstrate what intentional commitment to collaboration actually looks like before they can expect students to interact in meaningful ways with their classmates.

BACKGROUND THEORY

An Explanation of Instructional Immediacy

Understanding the construct of instructional immediacy is foundational to effectively fostering collaboration among students. Encouraging learners to engage in collaborative activities with one another begins with communicating our own availability, friendliness, and willingness to connect in personal ways with our students. As technology offers increasing possibilities for electronic communication, teachers must not lose sight of the basic feelings and responses that we know exist within the teacher-student relationship. Teachers who demonstrate immediacy in their classrooms, whether face to face or online, engage students and invite them to risk looking at the world in new ways.

The construct of immediacy was introduced in the 1960s by social psychologist Albert Mehrabian, who defined immediacy as an affective expression of emotional attachment, feelings of liking and being close to another person (Mehrabian, 1967, 1971; Wiener & Mehrabian, 1968). Immediacy, in other words, is a sense of psychological closeness. In the context of face-to-face university classrooms, the definition of instructional immediacy was further developed to include nonverbal manifestations of high affect such as maintaining eye contact, leaning closer, touching, smiling, maintaining a relaxed body posture, and attending to voice inflection (Andersen, 1979). Verbal expressions of immediacy include using personal examples, engaging in humour, asking questions, initiating conversations, addressing students by name, praising students’ work, and encouraging students to express their opinions (Gorham, 1988). Links among teacher immediacy, student motivation, and affective learning have consistently been documented (Baker, 2010; Christophel, 1990; Christophel & Gorham, 1995; Gitin, Niemi, & Levin, 2012; Witt, Wheeless, & Allen, 2004).

However, in electronic learning spaces, where nonverbal cues may be less clear or even nonexistent, establishing instructional immediacy, or psychological closeness, can be challenging, but it is not impossible: research has demonstrated links in online learning environments between instructors’ immediacy behaviours, on the one hand, and student satisfaction and instructional effectiveness, on the other (Arbaugh, 2001; Hutchins, 2003; Walkem, in press; Woods & Baker, 2004). The experience of liking and feeling close to instructors can lead to positive effects in online classrooms (Hess & Smythe, 2001), and correlations between immediacy and affective learning have been identified (Baker, 2004; Russo & Benson, 2005).

In essence, instructional immediacy online refers to the extent to which teachers are able to project an affect of warmth and likeability in their communication with students (Melrose, 2009). In online learning environments, one-way immediacy can be demonstrated through word choice. For example, online teachers who refer in their messaging to “our” class and indicate a willingness to work “with” learners through their word choices signal qualities that may prompt immediacy. Words that communicate a genuine interest in getting to know each class member as a unique individual can create a feeling of safety. This equips instructors with the foundation needed to encourage learners to extend that teacher-student immediacy toward collaboration in the class group.

Research with online health care graduate students that explored their perceptions of instructional immediacy showed that learners value instructional behaviours that model engaging and personal ways of connecting, that maintain collegial relationships, and that honour individual learning accomplishments (Melrose & Bergeron, 2006). Examples include instructors posting self-introductions that include pictures and appropriate personal and professional information, creating a course document incorporating biographical information for each member of the class, and choosing words with gentle connotations (Melrose & Bergeron, 2006). By projecting an affect of warmth and immediacy in our own communication, we can begin the process of creating an engaged and appealing online learning environment where learners feel recognized as individuals and experience a sense of belonging to a vibrant class group.

A Primer on Groups and How They Work

In addition to intentionally projecting an affect high in warmth to strengthen individual relationships with learners, instructional behaviours that communicate immediacy also set the stage for nurturing student-to-student relationships within the learning community. Here, an appreciation of how well-functioning groups work is important. Individuals who join together in a group for a specific purpose such as engaging in a learning activity can be expected to progress through predictable stages. Social psychologists Bruce Tuckman, David Johnson, and Frank Johnson provided seminal frameworks. Tuckman (1965) and Tuckman and Jensen (1977) assert that functional groups move through five stages: forming (characterized by anxiety and uncertainty about belonging), storming (characterized by competition, individuality, and conflict), norming (characterized by attempts to resolve earlier conflicts and clear expectations of behaviours and roles), performing (characterized by cooperation and productive work), and adjourning (characterized by termination and disengagement from the group). Johnson and Johnson (1997, 2009) identify seven stages through which functional groups progress: defining and structuring procedures and becoming oriented, conforming to procedures and getting acquainted, recognizing mutuality and building trust, rebelling and differentiating, committing to and taking ownership of the goals of other members, functioning maturely and productively, and, finally, terminating.

In online classroom environments, functioning groups are expected to progress through similar stages (Jaques & Salmon, 2007). Gilly Salmon (2000) identifies five stages of online group development: access and motivation (characterized by welcoming and encouraging), online socialization (characterized by familiarizing and providing bridges between cultural, social, and learning environments), information exchange (characterized by facilitating tasks and supporting use of learning materials), knowledge construction (characterized by facilitating process), and development (characterized by supporting and responding). In addition, Salmon emphasizes that the ability to guide online groups is more important than making polished instructional presentations.

Melrose and Bergeron (2007) link the three overarching stages of group development, beginning/engagement, middle/encouragement, and ending/closure, and suggest specific online instructional approaches to facilitate progress at each stage. For example, in the beginning/engagement stage, learners value knowing that their instructors are available “if you need me” and that it is “safe” to contact them. In the middle/encouragement stage, learners appreciate personal help with networking and with managing conflict, particularly in relation to participation and marking. In this middle stage, students also value individual private feedback from instructors. And, in the ending/closing stage, learners need opportunities to debrief and reflect.

Implementing teaching actions at the most opportune time, such as intervening promptly when the expected conflict emerges once a group has entered its working phase, offers important reassurance to students. In contrast, implementing a teaching action at an inopportune time can have the opposite effect. For example, during the beginning phase of group work, introducing activities that encourage over-long reflection (which leads to inaction) can inadvertently communicate teacher abandonment. Knowing that learners value debriefing time in the ending stage of their group work leads educators to consider ways to ensure that this time is available. Furthermore, introducing supplementary content or tasks not required for course credit is more meaningful in the beginning rather than the middle or ending stages of a class group’s developmental trajectory.

No primer on groups and how they work would be complete without considering the seemingly obvious point that a group is a collection of individuals. Group members each bring their own distinct needs to any collaboration in which they participate. In efforts to support interaction and collaboration among students, educators must bear in mind that each student is an individual learner as well as a member of a learning group.

Individual Support of Learners in Groups

Learning groups differ substantively from other groups in that the designated formal leader, the teacher, ultimately determines learners’ grades. Given the critical importance of grades in higher education, working collaboratively and sharing the same grade can be perceived as threatening. During course activities when students work in groups, learners need continued assurance that the teacher will remain present and attentive to their needs as individuals.

If we empathize with students, we can easily appreciate how the threat of achieving poor grades or even failing might have a dramatic effect on their willingness to collaborate with fellow students in group projects. Abraham Maslow’s (1982) well-known “hierarchy of needs” indicates that an individual’s survival needs (physiological needs for air, water, and food, and safety needs for security and protection) must be fulfilled before the psychological needs for esteem, belonging, and self-actualization can be met. In the high stakes environment of higher education, learners need passing grades in order to survive. Given that students need to feel safe individually before they can be expected to engage in social activities such as belonging to a group, maintaining one-to-one communication with students takes on new significance. Simply sending regular private emails to each student, addressing students by name in written communication, and offering timely evaluative feedback on submissions can unobtrusively communicate the instructor’s presence. This sense of presence provides learners with reassurance and feelings of security that are foundational to full group participation.

Group members have varying needs that their group can help satisfy (Beebe & Masterton, 2011). While some learners may have a high need for safety within a group, others may have a strong need for esteem and respect from the group. When specific individual needs are not met by the group, participants may dominate conversations, withdraw from participating, or introduce distractions. These dysfunctional behaviours slow the group’s progression through the expected stages. Members may feel uncomfortable and dissatisfied with the collaborative process. Negative past experiences with groups can leave students reluctant to risk working together in future projects.

Online educators can play important roles in preventing negative group experiences. For example, intervening promptly and efficiently when the needs of an individual begin to interfere with a group’s functioning is critical (Bergeron & Melrose, 2006). By monitoring collaborative work and requiring groups to attend to their own group process, teachers can remain well prepared to intervene when necessary. For instance, requiring groups to establish and submit their own “rules of engagement”—ground rules or guidelines—at the first meeting ensures that these will be available when needed. Contingency plans delineating consequences for not attending sessions, not submitting contributions, and not respecting members’ time need to be clearly articulated in these group rules. Some groups may want group members to be graded individually. Others may wish to have input into the grades that their colleagues receive. Opportunities for progressive self-evaluation need to be built into the group’s task timelines. The exercise of creating these rules, consequences, and self-evaluations, coupled with the formal requirement to submit a document that explains the rules, emphasizes the importance of group process in collaboration. In turn, this emphasis on process can communicate further assurance to students that they will be respected for their individual accountability during their involvement with collaborative work.

William Schutz’s (1958) classic theory of interpersonal behaviour postulates that when individuals form and interact in groups, they all have needs for inclusion (feeling recognized and included, and reaching out to make others feel included), control (feeling in control, contesting issues, vying for leadership, and resolving conflicts), and affection (giving and receiving emotional support). Teaching actions that foster a sense of belonging, such as communicating that participation in group work is essential and ensuring that students are competent in the use of required tools such as the Internet and the learning management system, will begin to project a message that inclusion is important. Similarly, instructions phrased in a welcoming manner (“Let’s make sure no one misses the chance to join a group”) will invite students to pay attention to principles of inclusion.

Teaching actions such as allocating marks for participation, requiring group guidelines, and normalizing the experience of conflict as a natural part of a group’s progress will help learners feel that they can maintain personal control during their experience as group members. The phrasing of instructions is important, as it models an underlying attitude. For example, “Reach out and let me know when things aren’t going well” communicates that a designated formal leader (the teacher) is available and that group members will not be abandoned in managing issues they cannot resolve.

Teaching actions such as providing models of positive feedback during class discussions, writing genuinely encouraging comments on assignments, and affirming learner effort illustrate affection. Instructions such as “Showcase your leadership skills by offering help and encouragement when your group needs it most” communicate that offering emotional support is a valued behaviour in the class.

TEACHING ACTIVITIES AND STRATEGIES CONGRUENT WITH INSTRUCTIONAL IMMEDIACY THEORY

The strategies and interactive activities described below are affiliated with promoting instructional immediacy and can be adapted to a variety of online learning environments.

Projecting Immediacy

INTENTIONAL INTRODUCTIONS

Facilitating intentional introductions among members of a class is often overlooked as an important teaching activity. Student questions related to course content and the tasks that need to be done can dominate dialogue when students first meet one another in online courses. However, inviting students to thoughtfully introduce themselves has important implications for successful collaboration later. In groups of more than thirty learners, creating small subgroups for this introductory activity provides the opportunity for more meaningful in-depth initial sharing. Teachers who model a self-introduction that provides appropriate personal and professional information—including a photo, if desired—will establish an invitational tone. Such teacher introductions also role-model the appropriate level of self-disclosure. Identifying specific elements to include in the introduction—such as geographic location, employment, particular areas of interest within the course, time constraints, and hobbies and interests—provides the class with the opportunity to discover commonalities that facilitate connections and future conversations.

Another approach to facilitating introductions is to have students introduce each other. While this may work most efficiently in synchronous environments, it can be adapted to any learning experience. In face-to-face groups, dyads for introductions can be assigned by having students turn to the person sitting next to them. In online learning environments, dyads can be assigned by the teacher. Imposing a time limit and providing clear direction will keep the process moving smoothly. Usually, members of a dyad engage in private chat (either within the learning platform or using social media) and then introduce t...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 Instructional Immediacy: The Heart of Collaborating and Learning in Groups
• 2 Invitational Theory: Developing the Plus Factor
• 3 Constructivism: Building on What Learners Know
• 4 Connectivism: Learning by Forming Connections
• 5 Transformational Learning: Creating Attitudinal Shifts in Online Learners
• 6 Quantum Learning Environments: Making the Virtual Seem Real in the Online Classroom [by Katherine Janzen]
• Conclusion: Rethinking Online Course Design and Teaching