A must to practise

Peer group-based self-learning concept:

P I Keerthisinghe Additional Director, College of Technology, Galle

This is an article based on own experience and research regarding a new method of education which will be published in five instalments starting from this week.

Sri Lankan youths who are products of the present education system are severely criticized for their lack of original, creative, innovative and analytical skills when they join the workforce. Even the present day graduates belong to this category. Educationists have identified heavy dependence on private tuition as one leading cause for this phenomenon which has led to high expenditure and an unbearable burden on family income of low and middle income groups.

It is needless to say that a family can subsist on a small income as the Minister of Education seems to believe which has become impossible due to this heavy expenditure. One mother of a low income family told me that they were unable to have a square meal due to the expenses they have to bear because of their children's tuition classes. This menace can be controlled to a great extent by introducing 'Peer group based self learning concept' in schools and other tertiary educational institutions in Sri Lanka.

The procedure followed is based on my experience as a Lecturer in English in technical education institutions which can be extended to other fields of study as well. Students were highly appreciative of this method and they improved very fast. The theoretical support for this method can be found in the philosophical and psychological foundations of education which will be discussed in parts II, III, IV and V later.

This system can run concurrently with individual assessment system such as term tests or final evaluation procedures. The best group can be selected and a certificate can be awarded to the leader and the members of that group as the best Physics group, Chemistry group, English group etc. The teacher-in-charge of the particular subject should keep the assignment files and at the end of the year allocate marks or grades for each group assignment and total the marks and average them and select the group that has the highest average to award the certificate. This will benefit the slow learners as well as fast learners of low and middle income families who cannot afford private tuition.

This method can be introduced in universities as well. Since graduates of today have lost the standards expected of them to survive and thrive in the labour market, most of them fail to survive in private sector due to the parroting system of training. They cannot face any challenges and leave their jobs before the scheduled period of time. Besides, there is a lot of disharmony among the student population and their behaviour is becoming increasingly violent. By training them to work together as members of study groups, more comradeship can be promoted, they can exercise their free thinking instead of the heavy dependence on lecture notes. At present there is little use of the library and internet which has led to this poor quality.

Acquring the skills

In aesthetic studies, this method is of great importance as it provides more opportunities to allow the students exercise their own talents. They can get into groups and compose songs and melodies rather than merely practicing musical compositions that their teachers give them and pass exams and in literature too. The students can write stories and poetry instead of merely cramming the critical appreciations given by their teachers to pass the exams. When we watch TV programmes we can see the poor quality performances of present day artists. They hide their bankruptcy by producing carbon copies of the artists of the past. They cannot even produce meaningful lyrics for their songs.

Most teachers train their students to ape them like parrots. It is better to train them to acquire the skills needed to attain success in their chosen subject area. The Lord Buddha possessed the skills' the 72 kinds of wisdom, that led him along the path to the sublime bliss. In order to gain these skills there were ways and means of how to train oneself. In a similar manner the students following various courses of study can be trained to acquire the study skills needed in their subject areas.

In the study of physics, the students should have the cognitive skills to comprehend the concepts presented in various laws and relate them correctly to the formulaic expressions that symbolize them and solve problems by applying this knowledge with the relevant mathematical calculations if they want to pass that subject at examinations. If a student wants to be a performer in the field of music, i.e. an organist, he or she must be aware of the balancing of harmony, the melody and the supporting chords. By encouraging them to form peer groups they can help one another in this process and only if they fail they can seek for teacher advice. No teacher is an 'all knowing god'.

In his sphere he has relatively a higher knowledge than that of his students. Sometimes some students have brighter ideas than their teachers. It is unfortunate that when teachers go wrong the students are never given the opportunity to correct them. The teachers maintain unquestionable authority over the students. By chance, if a student questions the teacher about the veracity of his statements, that student has to leave the educational institution. Peer group learning and self learning can reduce the 'helplessness' of the student community concerning this hopeless teacher domination especially observed in private tuition. Now, let us see how we can organize peer group based self learning concept in educational institutions.

1. A placement test is conducted at the commencement of the course or at the beginning of the academic year.

2. The students are graded according to the marks and the studnets who score high marks are chosen as leaders.

3. The marks scored are ranged as 0-10, 10-20, 20-30, 30-40, 40-50, 50-60, 60-70, 70-80, 80-90 and 90-100. The leaders are selected from the highest range. If the required number of leaders cannot be found within the highest range, the students who fall within the next highest range are selected for the remaining positions. For example, the required number of leaders is ten but there are only six who fall within the highest range (60-70). Then the ones who have scored the highest in the next range (50-60) can be selected for the remaining four positions.

4. The number of groups per each class depends on the class size. However, each group should not exceed five members including the leader. For example, if there is a total of fifty students there will be ten groups. If the total is less or more or if the total number is not divisible by five the teachers-in-charge will use their discretion and decide on the exact number of groups and the number of members for each group.

5. The leader of each group has to maintain a file and an attendance register for the group. The letters of the English alphabet are used to identify these groups as Group A, B, C and D etc.

6. Each study group will then decide on a date and time when they can meet regularly to plan their weekly activities. The leader will mark the attendance of the members on that day. If the leader is absent due to unavoidable circumstances the duty will be assigned to another participant member in the group.

7. The leader and the members will discuss the activity they wish to be engaged in, during the course of the week. The leader has to decide on the activity after consulting the group members and taking into consideration the suggestions of all the members. The activities can be completed during teacher absence or after the sessions are over.

8. At the end of the week, the leader has to hand over the completed activity along with the weekly attendance of the members. The leader has to submit a monthly progress report of the group's activities at the end of every month.

9. The teacher keeps the group files in the cupboard and whenever the leader wants to have a look, the file can be given. The teacher has to check whether the file is returned without fail.

10. At the end of the year the marks are totalled and the average is calculated and the best group (one with the highest average) can be selected and awarded certificates.

Peer group activities

I tried this method in Technical Colleges from 2002 to 2009 with the students following the NCE (National Certificate in English) course and found that the student attendance improved, the dropout rate decreased and the performance level went up.

There were several advantages that the students gained by being involved in a 'continuous study group programme.' They can be both subject related and non-subject related.

In the subject related area, I found that the students were compelled to use print media, books, newspapers and journals and electronic media, radio and TV to improve their knowledge of English. They used the library extensively for reference to gather information for their activities. This improved their general knowledge and their worldview widened. They could expand their vocabulary by referring to the dictionary and enhance their language proficiency.

They consulted friends, teachers, older siblings and even their neighbours. This was interesting because there was community participation. They translated Sinhala songs and poetry into English and vice versa. Such activities could cut off the cultural barrier and the psychological distance between the learners and the second language in a creative manner. Peer group activities were helpful in learning English in a natural way.

They spoke to their friends on many topics of their choice and recorded those conversations and soon were able to speak in English without fear. Group reading helped them to collect more facts faster.

In the non-subject related area, the students said that they learnt to work according to a time schedule. They all had to be present on the date and time their leader fixed for planning and discussion. This improved student attendance as finding time did not become an excuse because this kind of learning was a joint effort and could be done in a relaxed atmosphere. By not idling during teacher absence they could become self disciplined too. Comradeship in education was another noteworthy phenomenon. Most members learnt to share their knowledge with the others and actively participate in the learning process by becoming teachers to the weaker ones, inert and inactive could progress to some extent by seeking help from the brighter ones in the group and remain without dropping out in frustration.

Teamwork

Teamwork was another interesting experience. The members had to listen to the leader and lend a helping hand to organize the activity, to achieve their common goal. Sometimes the members suggested the activity and the leader agreed. When everyone had suggestions the leader selected the best, thus contributing to collective decision making. Each member was assigned a task that could be completed during college hours or at home.

When everyone had finished his or her part of work which was assigned, the overall activity was completed. The responsibility of completing the activity was shared among all the members. It was a good experience in time management too.

Leadership in education was another benefit. The leaders expressed the view that they had to play the role of a mentor to lead the team. The leader had advised, instructed and guided the team and allocated different tasks to the members. This was an exciting opportunity. They discussed the problems and suggested remedial action which helped them to develop their problem solving capacity.

The students' interest was maintained right throughout the year. They had a great sense of achievement comparable to passing a competitive examination. The competitive spirit was healthy and they gained great satisfaction due to their enthusiasm. All the students agreed that they had never had such a continuous study programme in their schools although they had sporadic assignments which they had wholesale downloaded from the internet or copied from others.

It should be noted that some students do not like to work in groups or share their knowledge with the others and prefer instead to work alone and do the assignments individually.

This should be discouraged from the start and the leaders should report if there are any members who do not cooperate and then the teachers in charge can advise such students. Continuous teacher supervision, guidance and control are absolutely necessary to make this endeavour a success and no teacher should ever think that peer group learning and self learning are opportunities to idle.

Learner based activities

In English education programmes too, teachers complain that many students cannot construct meaningful English sentences correctly after attending several tuition classes and thirteen years of schooling. Spoon feeding the students and making them cram sentential information has led to this situation. Graduates face the same dilemma after following intensive courses and public servants who pass the exam which makes them eligible to draw the language allowance also failed to write clear sentences independently.

The main reason is that, all these categories of learners are not aware of the skills needed to improve sentence construction on their own and copy others' sentence. They hardly make an effort through self learning. Anyone who wishes to master a language should develop the ability to identify units that make up a sentence and learn how they are arranged in a logical order to transfer information meaningfully. Unfortunately, this does not seem to happen.

In technical education, it was revealed that, the students lose a considerable amount of instruction time due to teacher absence. During this period of time most students idle away their precious time, disturb the other classes in session or are requested to go home by college authorities. In order to prevent this situation, student centered group activities can be organized. Students are advised to plan their own learning activities and engage themselves in learner based activities during the absence of the teachers concerned.

In technical institutes it is not possible to combine classes or appoint relief staff due to the constraints in timetables and payment. This method helps students to initiate the learning process and take responsibility regarding their studies. This method can reduce incidents of indiscipline among the students, enhance comradeship and enjoyment from their studies, boost their creativity and originality and encourage free thinking and also lower teacher dependence in education. Finally, it can be concluded that peer group based self learning concept is a must in any educational institution whether it is a school, technical college or a university.

In the remaining part of my article I wish to find support for this new method of education with a discussion on the philosophical and socio psychological foundations of education.