Reflections on Peer Facilitation of Graduate Teaching Assistant Training

This paper outlines a recently designed programme of training for graduate teaching assistants (GTAs), focusing on peer elements embedded in the programme. In particular, we describe our approach to co-facilitation of training, with sessions facilitated by the GTA programme lead and an experienced Peer GTA. Peer GTAs have at least one year of teaching experience and are able to provide practical, contextualised and discipline-specific input, which helps to address the challenge of balancing generic and discipline-specific training in GTA programmes. We describe a small case study of co-facilitation and reflect on the benefits of this approach for new GTAs and for the Peer GTAs themselves. The paper is co-authored by the GTA programme lead and a Peer GTA, who provides first-hand reflections on her experiences.

Exploring the Roles and Facilitation Strategies of Online Peer Moderators

Whilst peer facilitation is deemed to be a beneficial alterative strategy in an asynchronous online discussion, a review of the literature indicates that previous studies have primarily focused on the instructor as the facilitator. Inquiries into the roles that student facilitators perform and strategies they deploy to promote meaningful dialogues and participation in a student-led online discussion board have not been widely explored. Using posted messages of seven student facilitators in a peer-moderated online discussion forum, this study aimed to address the gap in the literature. Content analysis of the data revealed that the student moderators played four major roles during the discussions: 1) a knowledge constructor who actively engaged in a collective inquiry and contributed to a deeper understanding of a subject matter; 2) a team builder who expended considerable efforts to create group cohesion to achieve their learning objectives as a team; 3) a motivator who encouraged and inspired team members to engage in and contribute to the discussion; 4) an organiser who managed and monitored each phase of the discussion and orchestrated the subsequent group oral presentation. The findings suggest that assigning students to lead online discussions is an effective strategy to foster learner autonomy and nurture student leaders. The paper concludes with pedagogical implications and directions for future research.

Empowering Through Embodied Awareness: Evaluation of a Peer-Facilitated Trauma-Informed Mindfulness Curriculum in a Woman’s Prison

The cumulative effects of trauma, violence, and substance abuse both define women’s pathways into the correctional system and contribute to their unique needs within it. This research offers a case study of the implementation of a gender-responsive, trauma-informed integrated mindfulness program within a women’s prison. Applying a yoga-based psycho-educational approach, the manualized curriculum was presented in a 16-session, closed-group format with peer-facilitation and pre- and postprogramming assessments. Overall, outcomes of this study were promising. Program participants demonstrated improvements in the use of healthy coping skills, experience of traumatic stress, symptoms of anxiety and depression, self-compassion, sense of connection, ability to relate to others, emotional awareness, and self-regulation.

What if online students take on the responsibility: Students’ cognitive presence and peer facilitation techniques

The purpose of this study was to investigate: (a) the characteristics of online students’ cognitive presence in a peer-facilitated discussion environment, and (b) the peer facilitation techniques that enhance cognitive presence development. In this study, we examined 738 discussion messages. Analytic methods included both qualitative and quantitative content analysis. The findings revealed that although cognitive presence was detected in most discussion messages, they aggregated at a lower level. The involvement of peer facilitators was found to correlate with students’ higher-level cognitive presence. In addition, we found that types of initiating questions asked by peer facilitators positively affected the level of cognitive presence. We also explored the facilitation techniques used by peer facilitators that aim to promote students’ cognitive presence.

Como criar e manter interações de qualidade em cursos online?

Frequentemente em cursos online, os alunos participam em discussões que ocorrem em sistemas virtuais. Estas discussões online são muitas vezes atividades obrigatórias que contam para a nota final do curso. Mesmo que, em muitas ocasiões, os alunos considerem improdutiva a exigência de participar nestas discussões, eles participam na mesma por causa do peso que têm na avaliação final. Discussões online sem significado e de pouca qualidade são muitas vezes o resultado desta atividade. Um estudo de caso foi realizado com uma disciplina online de pós-graduação em tecnologia educativa em universidade nos Estados Unidos. Este curso oferece duas estratégias inovadoras para superar os desafios colocados pelas discussões online: (1) moderação de discussões facilitadas pelos colegas; (2) curadoria de conteúdos digitais. Este estudo de caso evidencia a eficácia destas estratégias e a possibilidade de as reusar, transferir para diferentes ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem e implementar em diferentes sistemas. Palavras-chave: Discussões online, Facilitação pelos colegas, Curadoria de conteúdos digitais. How to create and sustain high quality interactions in online courses?: The potential of peers moderation and digital curation AbstractParticipation in online discussions are often required from students while taking online classes. These are often mandatory activities that count towards the course final grade. Therefore, even though in many occasions online students find this requirement unproductive, they still participate with fear of lowering their grades. The results are often meaningless and superficial online conversations. A case study has been conducted with a postgraduate educational technology online course at a large university in the United States. This course offers two innovative strategies to overcome this issue: (1) peer facilitation, and (2) digital content curation. This case study offers evidence of these strategies effectiveness. This case study demonstrates the effectiveness of these strategies and the possibility of reusing them, transferring them to different virtual learning environments and implementing them in different systems. Keywords: Online discussions, Peer facilitation, Digital content curation.