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LEARNING BY TEACHING: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF UNDERGRADUATE MENTOR EXPERIENCES IN THE IBEARS PROGRAM

Abstract

This qualitative study aims to investigate the ways in which undergraduate science majors reflect upon “learning by teaching” during their time as mentors in the iBEARS (Inclusive Biologist Exploring Active Research with Students) program, a project-based learning experience. Our research question inquires if undergraduate mentors implicitly or explicitly reference learning by teaching in their weekly reflections after teaching, and if so, what themes are the most prevalent in the reflection. The undergraduate science majors serve as mentors, virtually guiding K-12 classrooms through creating a research project over 15 weeks utilizing project-based learning. The constant comparison method was used to identify explicit and implicit references to the “learning by teaching model” made by undergraduate mentors. One classroom was observed, with three undergraduate mentors assigned to instruct the virtual class sessions. The preliminary results of our study suggest that undergraduate mentors both explicitly and implicitly reference learning by teaching in their weekly reflection videos. Explicitly, undergraduate mentors acknowledge ‘recognition of the state of knowledge’ and ‘adjustments in teaching approach/ pedagogy’. Implicitly, the undergraduate mentors recognize the importance of ‘collaboration’ and ‘modeling’. Our preliminary results reflect important constructs from “learning by teaching” literature while informing how this critical reflection of pedagogy has impacted the undergraduate mentors. There is also a distinction between the hard and soft skills needed by mentors. The mentors explicitly referenced the need for hard skills while implicitly referencing the need for soft skills also. Future research is needed to further investigate the development of this pedagogy practice in the context of the iBEARS program.

Acknowledgements

Center for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship, Augusta University; iBEARS Program, Baylor University

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