Unpacking the perceptions and experiences of student facilitators in interprofessional education: a qualitative study.

Enhancing health professional students' effective learning and collaborative practice requires a deep understanding of strategies for facilitating interprofessional learning. While faculty members and clinical preceptors are recognized as facilitators in interprofessional education (IPE), there is limited knowledge about the impact of student facilitators' engagement in IPE. Accordingly, this study aims to explore the perceptions and experiences of student facilitators in IPE. Thirteen student facilitators were recruited to lead an interprofessional learning program, and they were subsequently invited to participate in one-on-one interviews. An interview guide was developed to explore their motivations, expectations, engagement, effectiveness, and achievements in IPE facilitation. Thematic analysis was conducted using MAXQDA software to analyze the student facilitators' experiences and perceptions. Eight interviewees from various disciplines, including Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Speech and Hearing Sciences, and Social Work, took part in the study. The findings revealed that student facilitators highly valued their IPE facilitation experience, which aligned with their expectations and led to the creation of social networks, increased confidence, improved understanding of other professions, and the development of lifelong skills. Furthermore, the student facilitators demonstrated cognitive and social congruence by establishing a relaxed learning environment, displaying empathetic and supportive behaviors, and using inclusive language to engage IPE learners in group discussions. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the role of student facilitators in IPE, contributing to the evolving literature on IPE. A conceptual framework was developed to explore the entire facilitation experience, encompassing the motivations and expectations of student facilitators, their engagement and effectiveness, and the observed achievements. These findings can inform the development of peer teaching training in IPE and stimulate further research in identifying relevant facilitator competencies for optimal delivery of IPE.

Knowledge Construction in Problem-Based Learning: A Lag-Sequential Analysis of Teachers' and Students' Discourse Moves.

Phenomenon: Problem-based learning (PBL) has been widely adopted in medical schools across the globe. However, the dynamics of discourse moves in time sequences during such learning remain underexplored. This study investigated discourse moves used by PBL tutors and tutees to facilitate collaborative knowledge construction, and adopted sequential analysis to unpack the temporal dynamics of such moves during PBL knowledge construction in an Asian context. Approach: This study's sample comprised 22 first-year medical students and two PBL tutors at an Asian medical school. Two 2-h PBL tutorials were video-recorded and transcribed, and notes were made about the participants' non-verbal behaviors, including but not limited to body language and technology use. Descriptive statistics and visual representations were used to discern participation patterns as they evolved over time, and discourse analysis was applied to identify specific types of teacher and student discourse moves within knowledge construction. Lastly, lag-sequential analysis (LSA) was adopted to understand the sequential patterns of those discourse moves. Findings: The PBL tutors mainly used probing questions, explanation and clarification, compliments, encouragement, affirmation, and requests when facilitating PBL discussions. LSA revealed that discourse moves had the following four major paths. Teachers' content-related questions elicited both lower- and higher-level thinking from students; teachers' statements mediated between students' thinking levels and teachers' questions; there were relationships among teachers' social-facilitation discourse, students' thinking modes, and teachers' statements; and there was a sequential relationship among teachers' statements, students' facilitation, teachers' process-related discourse, and students' silences. Insights: This study revealed the importance of using probing questions to facilitate students' knowledge construction as they proceeded from lower- to higher-level thinking. This study also fills a gap in the current literature by adopting the innovative LSA methodology to explore teachers' and students' discourse move sequences in PBL. The results have important practical implications for PBL tutors regarding when and how to facilitate their students' collaborative knowledge construction.