Effective Environments For Enquiry-Based Learning

Effective Environments for Enquiry-Based Learning Karen O’Rourke and Norman Powell The Centre for Excellence in Enquiry-Based Learning (CEEBL) The University of Manchester, UK

Abstract Enquiry-Based Learning describes an environment in which student learning is driven by a process of enquiry. The tutor establishes the task and facilitates the learning process but the students pursue their own lines of enquiry, drawing on existing knowledge and identifying their own learning needs. They seek out evidence and take responsibility for analysing and presenting their findings appropriately, usually as part of a group but sometimes as an individual supported by others. Students are thus engaged as ‘partners’ in learning. The Centre for Excellence in Enquiry-Based Learning (CEEBL) recognises that staff and students need to make transitions in adopting new approaches to learning and assessment, especially with the more open- ended approaches involved in EBL. This presentation will demonstrate the CEEBL’s commitment to the development of appropriate learning 'spaces' (to include the physical, intellectual, and social) that stimulate and support tutors and students in engaging in action of their own and in effective partnerships with each other. CEEBL activities are underpinned by reflection, review and research and we will provide an overview of the frameworks we use to evaluate and inform all areas of our work.

Introduction The creation and sustainability of effective learning environments are key features of CEEBL, one of 74 Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning awarded in 2005 by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to recognise, celebrate and promote excellence by rewarding teachers who can enthuse, motivate and influence others to do the same.

Context The nature of higher education is changing:  Widening Participation has brought students with different attitudes and expectations of learning into universities. Fewer assumptions can be made about their skills and knowledge.  Employers are demanding students with professional skills, ready to work effectively in the workplace. High level problem-solving, teamwork and communication skills are required in the modern workplace as well as the ability to put disciplinary theories and knowledge into practice.  The importance of continual learning and development throughout a professional career is emphasised by lifelong learning. Universities need to equip students not only with the knowledge of a discipline, but also the attitudes and ability to continue learning.  Emphasis is placed on the portfolio of skills and experiences that the students acquire, through their education and career. Personal Development Portfolios (PDP) and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) are gaining greater importance.  The role of university teacher is becoming increasingly professionalized. The need to balance rewards of teaching and research has begun to be recognised.

Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning It is against this background that the HEFCE developed its recent initiative to recognise, reward and foster good and innovative teaching and teachers. HEFCE sought to establish Centres of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETLs). Universities were invited demonstrate existing excellence in teaching and learning and outline how they would use funding to enhance and propagate this excellence. The funding was at one of three levels of recurrent funding (£200,000, £350,000 or £500,000 per year for five years) and at one of three levels of capital funding (£800,000, £1.4 million, £2 million). Capital funds were awarded to enable investment in equipment and to support the refurbishment, adaptation or new-build of learning and teaching facilities. CETLs were encouraged by HEFCE and the Higher Education Academy to be imaginative, even ‘bold’ in their thinking when ….enabling collaborative partnerships to capture more effectively the requirements for successful student learning in specific employment-related and professional contexts. 

Centre for Excellence in Enquiry-Based Learning The merger between The Victoria University of Manchester and UMIST in 2004 presented a unique opportunity to capitalise on existing excellence in EBL. It provided the potential to extend learning opportunities that had already provided significant benefits to students, staff and the wider Higher Education community. The establishment of a CETL in EBL was seen as an opportunity to become a focus for, and a means of, further developing and disseminating best practice in EBL. During the University’s wholesale re-development, and in line with the Estates Master-Plan, we seized the chance to use CETL funding to develop space for learning that is particularly suited to EBL. As part of the competitive CETL bidding process The University of Manchester based its case for EBL excellence on:  Length and breadth of track record  Enhanced learning outcomes, including employability and satisfaction for students  Extent of innovation  External quality assurance recognition  Funding and awards  Staff development  Extensive EBL evaluation and research, disseminated at conferences and in publications The University of Manchester was successful in gaining the highest level of funding in both areas, and CEEBL was established. CEEBL aims to promote EBL institutionally using a ‘hub and spoke’ model. A central ‘hub’ located in the impressive Sackville Street Building consists of a permanent team of staff and provides a base for other expert staff (e.g. consultants in areas such as student development, assessment and curriculum development) and a student sabbatical officer.

Figure 1

The four ‘spokes’ are supported by academic staff experienced in developing EBL in specific disciplines, seconded on a part-time basis as CEEBL Faculty Co-ordinators and part-time student interns (the diagram below is provided in more detail on our website). Figure 2

Enquiry Based Learning It is essential that our students are educated for knowledge creation, lifelong learning and leadership. They will take on important roles in their future working environments: directing change, asking key questions, solving problems and developing new knowledge. Basing learning on a process of enquiry will develop the necessary employment-related abilities and attitudes, while still taking account of an increasingly diversified student population. Enquiry-Based Learning (EBL) puts the student at the centre of the learning environment. It recognises that people are naturally enquiring beings and this questioning should be nurtured and developed during their education. It is the ability, when faced with a new or challenging situation, to be motivated and able to ask critical questions and direct the exploration towards learning and understanding that should be the most valued characteristics of our graduates. As mentioned earlier, Enquiry-Based Learning denotes an environment in which student learning is driven by a process of enquiry – students identify and pursue their own areas of research, under the sensitive guidance of the facilitator. Students are encouraged to engage as ‘partners’ in the learning process – working closely with their peer group and in partnership with the facilitator. In this way EBL …pays due respect to both student and teacher as persons with knowledge, understanding, feelings and interests who come together in a shared educational process.

Figure 3

Learning Environments The overall environment where learning takes place is constructed from an interaction of many elements, provided by different stakeholders in the community of learning:  The students bring their own individual qualities and abilities to their learning and the groups and teams they work with. Their peers provide a climate of attitudes and potential support networks;  The staff provide the context in which learning takes place through their construction of the curriculum, the structure of skills and knowledge present in the course, and the teaching, learning and assessment methods that are employed to articulate that curriculum  The institution provides the physical, virtual and technological environments for learning, and the culture and values that inform the learning environment. Taking each of these aspects in turn, we will look at how EBL impacts upon them and what CEEBL’s role is in creating and sustaining them. Table 1 provides an overview of this discussion for presentation purposes.

Student Environments

Individual EBL emphasises autonomous learning, and shifts the focus and responsibility for identifying learning needs to the individual student. The student must be actively engaged in the learning process to benefit from it. The transition from an A-level system where the syllabus is explicitly laid out and taught may require support. Group Many forms of EBL are conducted in groups or even teams, with shared aims and responsibility. This requires students to develop and use a range of communication, negotiation and team-working skills.

Intellectual Much is expected of an EBL student, in addition to mastery of content knowledge. EBL provides authentic problems and projects through which the application of theory to practice can be developed. Proficiency in searching, evaluating and interpreting information is required: that is the students must be information literate. EBL also develops meta-cogitative skills; students are encouraged to reflect on their learning and team- working. As can be seen, EBL fundamentally changes the learning experience of the student, requiring a variety of skills to be successful in an EBL environment. The development of these skills is supported by the development of complexity of the tasks and by providing appropriate scaffolding to support these activities. For students who are encountering EBL for the first time, CEEBL has provided “introduction to EBL” workshops to orientate them to this new way of learning and modelling some of the skills and processes involved. These have been run by core CEEBL staff and student interns. To sustain this activity, increasingly these workshops have been embedded into the beginning of the EBL activity and delivered by the teaching staff. This has also allowed a more disciplinary specific focus to be built into the workshops and orientation towards the specific EBL activity. Each year CEEBL recruits four Faculty Student Interns, current students who work flexibly at the equivalent of one day per week for a fixed-term, one-year contract. These interns will act as advocates for EBL amongst students in their own Faculty and will provide valuable communication channels between students, staff and the CEEBL ‘hub’. In this way we hope that the ‘student voice’ will inform our activities. Each year a new group of interns will be recruited and in this way over five years we will provide personal and professional development for at least 20 students. The student interns have their own office and meeting space to the same design specification as the CEEBL hub as a whole.

Staff Environments

Curriculum The knowledge-base of any particular discipline is exponentially growing. Attempts to keep content up-to-date can lead to an ever expanding syllabus. The learning experience can then become an intense bombardment of information, with little time or opportunities to digest, assimilate, synthesise or apply it. One of the commodities essential for EBL is to provide the student with time and space for guided enquiry. A consequent challenge for staff is being able to let go of some of the content in their syllabus, focusing on the key concepts and disciplinary skills essential for the course. Part of this is the valuing of process skills and entrusting the students to be able to master these sufficiently to find and assimilate new information as the need arises. Once students have mastered these process skills, their capacity for effective learning is tremendous, as are their confidence and ability to tackle complex and extended problems and projects. Consequently, a great deal of material can be covered when driven by a motivating line of enquiry.

Teaching, Learning and Assessment EBL fundamentally changes the role of the member of staff, from being an expert delivering information in a lecture, to that of facilitator or even co- investigator. This requires both a shift in attitude and a completely different set of skills. The nature of what is assessed and how it is assessed may change with a move to EBL. The outcomes of an EBL exercise are often the product of group activity. This raises issues of fairness and validity when assessing an individual student’s contribution to a group product. Often the students are brought into the assessment process through self or peer assessment mechanisms.

A significant part of CEEBL strategy for changing the curriculum is carrying out a large project implementing EBL in each of our four Faculties. These projects will run for 3 years with funding for staff time, student internships and help with development of relevant resources. We recognise the need to phase these projects to maximise the resources available to each and also to learn from our experience. We are also supporting individual staff in carrying out smaller-scale, one- year projects in implementing EBL (over 30 projects in our first two years of operation). This will ensure that project diversity is achieved and that a greater number of staff are rewarded and supported through project work. Facilitated action learning sets for project leaders will be established and a range of workshops will be offered to all staff to improve understanding of EBL. Successful completion of projects will include an evaluated and publishable case-study and dissemination at the annual EBL symposium.

Institutional Environments

Physical The concept of the physical learning environment in higher education is evolving. Traditionally, and for many decades, such spaces have been seen and experienced as discrete, bounded environments, geographically separated. Examples of these traditional physical learning environments are: lecture theatres, seminar rooms, tutors’ office-cum-teaching spaces, laboratories and computer clusters. The concept of physical learning environments is currently broadening to recognise that learning takes place in a variety of spaces, in a variety of ways. There is also a move to integrate these traditional spaces, drawing them together geographically and also to emphasise a continuity of modes of learning as transitions are made between these spaces. EBL requires very different physical learning environments from those required for teacher-centred activities where the focus is on the delivery of information from lecturer to student. EBL spaces must facilitate student action and interaction. Interactions between students with the lecturer adopting the role of guide and facilitator are central to the construction of knowledge in EBL. This is not to say that there is no place in EBL for the high-capacity, key (even inspirational!) lecture. For this reason there is a need for flexibility that enables physical learning environments to host a variety of activities – large lectures, small group meetings and opportunities for individual research. In addition, these activities could be discrete learning sessions or could be blended parts of a single learning session. Therefore, a variety of flexible spaces that can accommodate a variety of approaches and uses is desirable. Different disciplines also bring a variety of demands on physical learning environments. For example, science and engineering courses require specific laboratories and equipment. Other disciplines require spaces that model professional environments, from clinical consultancy spaces to design studios and board rooms. Arts, design and media students require studio and performance spaces for practice with different information technology requirements. Each discipline will have different balances of resources and activities which will evolve with changes in disciplinary, professional and teaching practice. ...[PBL] is an approach to learning that is characterised by flexibility and diversity in the sense that it can be implemented in a variety of ways in and across different subjects and disciplines in diverse contexts. As such it can look very different to different people at different times… As EBL denotes a move away from passive knowledge transmission to more facilitative methods in which students construct knowledge in dialogue with others, it is important that support for social learning, characteristic of EBL, is recognised and supported. Students are motivated to meet outside the formal, scheduled contact times and classroom locations. Work on group projects or investigations requires spaces to meet, to share ideas and plan further activities outside of timetabled sessions. Often the environments used are informal spaces, such as cafes, coffee-bars and students’ residencies. Evidence that students identify and usefully employ these types of spaces has resulted in CEEBL’s development of ‘social learning areas’ to provide comfortable, accessible locations for students to meet with each other. These spaces also facilitate the formation of informal peer support networks and communities of learning as boundaries become blurred between learning and social spaces and learning becomes a ubiquitous part of life. The physical learning environment that is CEEBL’s hub is a state-of-the-art flexible physical learning environment. It consists of  Three seminar rooms, divided by soundproof walls that can be removed and configured in different ways to include a large space accommodating up to fifty people Figure 4

 Social learning environment, furnished with comfortable sofas and coffee tables to encourage the idea that EBL, with its connections to innate curiosity and desire to explore, is a natural, creative way to share ideas and to learn. Movement between formal and social learning environments in the CEEBL is easy and positively encouraged. A pool of wireless-enabled laptop computers is available to support investigative work in the social spaces, and a vending machine has been installed to allow users to take refreshment breaks. Soft, variable lighting and the use of natural building materials make this space a very pleasant and contemporary area in which to meet, talk, share and record ideas. Figure 5  A cafe-style resource area provides a small computer cluster, networked photocopiers and circular tables for group activities. Bookshelves house relevant paper-based resources and staff and students are encouraged to contribute any useful EBL materials to this area as well as make recommendations for specific resources the CEEBL might find appropriate. This physical learning environment is used for internal and external events promoting EBL, including seminars, workshops and other staff development activities. It is also used for teaching, informal student group work and running focus groups. Four Faculty EBL spaces have been funded and are currently being developed, on course for completion and use from September 2006. Two examples of ‘work in progress’ are shown below: Faculty of Humanities Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences Figure 6 In this way we aim to align the pedagogic development activities of the CEEBL with the development of suitable physical spaces in which students and staff can undertake EBL in environments that are comfortable and meaningful to them. Some Faculty requirements were generic – for example the request for development or refurbishment of flat rooms, able to be configured in different ways for different group sizes and activities, up-to-date audio visual equipment and IT (including Access Grid nodes). Some requests were specific – lecture theatre with linked break-out rooms, resource areas, replica clinical settings etc. We eagerly await completion of these spaces and will be monitoring usage of the ‘spokes’ to see how the environments are used and how they evolve their own particular identities as students and staff begin to populate them. We hope to obtain information on what an EBL environment for, say, Engineers might look and ‘feel’ like, and how this might (if at all) differ from those developed by Historians or Dentists.

Technological and Virtual Technology provides many opportunities to enhance these spaces and provide ready access to electronic resources and communication channels. Traditionally, electronic resources have been accessed through terminal rooms, making the use of such resources a discrete activity. The increased transportability of electronic and information technology allows for a greater blending of physical learning environments and the learning activities undertaken in them. Technology provides opportunities to access information in a variety of locations. Technology also provides increased opportunities for communication between students. Many new learning environments may not be physical environments, but virtual environments. These can include Virtual Learning Enviroments (VLEs), Managed Learning Environments (MLEs) and Desktop Collaborative Virtual Environments (DCVEs) where students can interact within a three-dimensional environment through avatars. In addition, web-conferencing, video-conferencing and access grid facilities enable the interaction of geographically separated students, allowing national and international collaborative projects and learning to take place. The CEEBL hub physical learning environment is equipped with:  plasma screens  Elmo visualisers  Data projectors  PCs  DVD/Video/MiniDV playback  Freeview facilities  Wall-mounted cameras and movable microphones for event/group activity recording The hub and spoke physical learning environments are all wireless enabled and serve as nodes in the international Access Grid network.

The Access Grid is an advanced video-conferencing system which allows participants to send and receive multiple video screens and share applications such as presentations enabling effective collaboration between remote sites.

Figure 7

Cultural It is expected that the many members of staff will come into contact with EBL, either directly or indirectly, through the activities of the small and Faculty projects. These activities will be disseminated internally through seminars, symposia and a series of case-studies. This high level of activity is expected to generate snow-balling interest and engagement in EBL activities. The four academic CEEBL Faculty Co-ordinators and four CEEBL Faculty Student Interns will act as ambassadors for CEEBL within the faculties. They will promote EBL among staff and students and in many cases will be a first point of contact for a member of staff becoming involved in the CEEBL.

Sustaining Effective Environments A key strategy in the sustainability of EBL in Manchester is the constant embedding and growing of projects within the teaching and learning of the institution. This runs in parallel with the development of staff in the skills of designing, facilitating and evaluating EBL activities. This is expected to have an impact on the institutional culture of teaching and learning at all levels, as it becomes increasingly accepted as a natural and desirable form of learning. Please refer to the CEEBL website for details, including case- studies, of all projects supported so far (www.manchester.ac.uk/ceebl)

Research and Evaluation In the context of EBL and the work of CEEBL, it is more appropriate to conceptualise research and evaluation, along with scholarship, in an overlapping relationship which has enquiry at its heart. That is, enquiry motivates these activities and the same form of enquiry at times may be appropriate for research, evaluation and scholarship. Further, information gathered for one form of enquiry may by used for any or all purposes, if gathered in an appropriate manner and with all purposes in mind. For many of the CEEBL activities an action research model (Zuber- Skerritt) is appropriate. We are involved in the changing of teaching practice. Observing the effects of these changes, through evaluative tools and the collection of thick data from all the participants involved that change, can be used to shed light on the students’ learning experience, the nature of EBL and process of change itself. CEEBL will support the development of evaluation strategies and tools for those involved with its projects and other activities. This learning will feed into the continual development of the EBL activities and also the development of staff’s views and practice as a result of their engagement. It will also provide staff with an opportunity to disseminate learning from their activities as part of their research output. This provides an important reward for staff engaged with developing teaching and learning in a research-intensive University such as Manchester. CEEBL’s strategic plan and commitment to research and evaluation will provide the framework for dissemination. As our internal communities of practice expand and consolidate, we will increase our own capacity for EBL, enabling many more staff to design and deliver EBL. Promotion of EBL beyond the University will make use of our many established local and international networks and partnerships, not least the strong alliance we have forged with the cognate CETLs at The University of Sheffield, The University of Surrey and the University of Reading. The ‘Learning Through Enquiry Alliance’ has been formed to create a network for people interested in learning through a process of enquiry and will constitute a tangible expression of our commitment to facilitate the exchange of ideas, practices and pedagogic research. We want to develop new and deeper insights into what EBL means to staff and to students. Among the issues that CEEBL is keen to explore are:  the nature of EBL;  the student experience of an EBL learning environment;  the impact that that environment has on the student learning;  the effectiveness of the different EBL environments created;  the effectiveness of the methods used to create and sustain those environments;  the processes for effective peer observation and peer review Driving CEEBL’s interest in physical learning environments is their interaction with new pedagogies, in particular the range of learning and teaching approaches embraced by the term ‘EBL’. The development of learning spaces for group work in formal and informal environments and the ways in which embedded and portable technologies can enhance EBL will be a strand of CEEBL research activity. The starting point for our research will be the variety of learning spaces being developed at The University of Manchester as part of our capital investment and our developing understanding, through evaluation, of the impact these spaces have, and will continue to have, on the learning experience of our students beyond the five-year CETL initiative.

Conclusion CEEBL is an agent of change, promoting and developing EBL within the University of Manchester and sharing our learning and experience with the wider community. It aims to support the creation and sustainability of EBL learning environments, physical, intellectual and social at student, staff and institutional levels of the University. All these activities are underpinned by research, evaluation and scholarship with enquiry at its heart, to ensure that high quality learning about EBL learning environments are fed into its further development and continued sustainability.

References 1 Higher Education Funding Council for England (2005) ‘Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning’, Bristol 2 Margetson, D. (1998) ‘Why is Problem-Based Learning a Challenge?’, The Challenge of Problem-Based Learning (2nd Edition) Boud, D. and Feletti, G. (eds), London: Kogan Page 3 Savin-Baden, M. (2000) Problem-Based Learning in Higher Education: Untold Stories, Buckingham: Open University Press 4 Zuber-Skerritt, O. (1992) Professional Development in Higher Education: A Theoretical Framework for Action Research, London, Kogan Page Ltd. Learning Environments The Role of CEEBL Effect of EBL Provider Environment Creating Sustaining Ownership Value and Respect Embed values into University Individual Responsibility Autonomy culture Responsibility Introduction to EBL Embed Workshops into Group Collaboration Student Workshops disciplinary programs Teamwork Theory into Practice Authentic Scenarios Embedded as part of the Intellectual Information Literacy Engaging with Librarians learning environment Meta-Cognition Opportunities for Reflection Skills and Content Small Projects Seminars Curriculum Skill Development Faculty Projects Symposia Staff Teaching Facilitation Workshops Learning & Collaboration Support & Advice Communities of Practice Assessment Development Internal Consultants Flexible Classrooms Monitor and Evaluate Physical Integrated Spaces Hub & Spoke Learning Spaces Feed lessons into new learning Non-timetabled spaces. VLE, MLE, DCVE, STM, Institution Virtual e-Learning Technologist Sharing learning Access Grid Valuing Teaching Faculty Coordinators Wide engagement with EBL Cultural Fostering Innovation Student Interns both directly and indirectly Partnerships

Table 1: Creating and Sustaining Effective Learning Environments