Abstracts - Earli

O 1501 September 2007 08:30 - 10:30Room: 0.100BSymposiumPostgraduate peer learningChair: Olga Dysthe, University of Bergen, NorwayOrganiser: Olga Dysthe, University of Bergen, NorwayDiscussant: Kirsti Lonka, University of Helsinki, FinlandThe aim of this symposium is 1) to present research based knowledge of good practices ofpostgraduate peer learning in Higher Education contexts and to discuss advantages and problems,2) to discuss similarities and differences of such practices in different European contexts and 3) tocontribute to a retheoretization of postgraduate education that takes into account the communityand interactional aspects of learning. Scientific and educational relevance: Internationally there hasbeen an increasing policy focus on the importance of the postgraduate sector as vital in deliveringthe ‘knowledge workers’ that future societies will be more and more dependent upon. Evaluationstudies of postsecondary education have revealed, however, that high drop out and slowcompletion rate is a problem in most countries. At the same time, the number of postgraduatestudents is increasing, and the universities are under pressure to provide teaching and learningenvironments that enable more students to complete high quality studies within the given timeframes. The pedagogical answer to this has largely been to focus on improving individualsupervision. In this symposium we present a different answer: more focus on peer learningpractices and on building a community of learners and researchers. The four contributions to thissymposium document different aspects of communal learning at postgraduate level. There is aneed to reconceptualize postgraduate pedagogies both theoretically and in practice in terms ofsupplementing individual supervision with more community based approaches. In addition, peerlearning activities are not only crucial to the students’ academic development but also to theirfuture working life, where team work is required.Three cases of postgraduate peer learning practices – crucial factors of successAkylina Samara, Department of Education and Health, NorwayOlga Dysthe, Department of Education and Health, NorwayThis paper presents three case studies of how Ph.D. candidates from various disciplines at theUniversity of Bergen in Norway engage in peer learning practices of different kinds. In the firststudy, candidates from the Department of Social Sciences participated in interdisciplinary writinggroups with the purpose of giving feedback on each others’ texts. The second study investigatedthe interactions over a year in an interdisciplinary Ph.D. Research School at the Faculty of Arts.The third study followed up two Ph.D. Biology candidates in a research group at the Faculty ofNatural Sciences. The paper discusses these three cases from the perspectives of communities ofpractice (Lave & Wenger, 1991) and peer learning (Boud & Lee, 2005). The findings indicate thatparticipation in peer learning activities is beneficial to the candidates’ research and writingprocess, and that it enables the development of supervision and communication skills. In addition,peer learning practices create a professional and social community for the candidates. However, inorder to enable the candidates’ enculturation into the discipline, active engagement of the seniorstaff members and especially of the candidates’ supervisors is required. Peer learning practices thatare not supported centrally from the department, or where the supervisors do not contribute– 808 –