The development of self-regulated learning as a threshold concept: From the learning coaches’ perspective

Background: One of the central tenets of Programmatic Assessment for Learning (PAL) is the development of the student as a Self Regulated Learner (SRL). Last year, we presented a short communication at AMEE on 'Programmatic assessment for Learning as a Threshold Concept' where we looked at how the students’ reflections in the portfolio demonstrated their progress towards
understanding PAL and becoming a SRL, when viewed through the lens of Meyer and Land's work on Threshold Concepts (TC). One of key resources within PAL is the Learning Coach (LC) whose role is to guide the student in their development as a SRL. The LCs read their allocated students reflections in their portfolios and then meet with them 2-3 times a year to discuss their progress. This current study continues from our work last year and looks at how the LCs perceive their students’ progress in this journey and what they identify as enablers and barriers in this development. Summary of Work: Flinders University has a 4 year Graduate Entry Medical Program. PAL was introduced for year 1 students at the beginning of 2017. LCs who started in either 2017 or 2018 were invited to join a
focus group. A series of questions about their perceptions of the students’ progress as SRLs and their perceptions of the barriers and enablers were asked and the responses were analysed through the framework of TC. Summary of Results: The LCs were able to describe the students’ development as SRLs with clear evidence of them passing through the stages of TC. They described great variability in when students crossed the threshold and highlighted several key factors as enablers including previous life and educational experience.
Discussion and Conclusions: SRL is a TC and the awareness of such can also be viewed as an enabler to its development. Take-home Messages: Acknowledgement of SRL as a TC assists staff and LCs to support students in their development as SRLs. The goal is the development of the student as a practitioner who is a life long learner.