Supermentoring —CTL Aarhus BSS tests new supervision methods
Originally posted in the Cultivate webmagazine ed. 04, February 2014
The Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at Aarhus BSS, Aarhus University, is at the moment trying to establish whether a one-off visit by an experienced instructor can help new lecturers just as effectively as a mentor scheme running over a longer period. The concept is called supermentoring, and the provisional feedback is so positive that CTL now considers developing a prototype for the method.
Associate Professor Ole Lauridsen observes and gives feedback to the teacher
“The fact of the matter is, that many of our young assistant professors probably know a lot about how you should teach, but when standing in front of a class, it is not uncommon for them to actually feel rather unsure of themselves”
Ole Lauridsen
Associate Professor Ole Lauridsen is employed at CTL, and he is the person behind the concept of supermentoring. Basically, it involves him observing a single teaching session conducted by an assistant professor or postdoc, and then sending the person in question up to six pages of written feedback that focuses on the technical aspects of the teaching: What is good and worth retaining, and what can be improved.
“It’s not that I’m saying the teaching is generally bad, far from it, but even teaching which is good and solid can be improved, and when it happens, the pleasure you derive from your teaching is even greater.” Ole Lauridsen
Along the way, Ole Lauridsen addresses many different aspects, which can have a bearing on how much the students derive from the teaching, such as:
- The lecturer’s gestures and facial expressions
- The lecturer’s interaction with the students, questioning techniques, and eye contact
- Whether the lecturer manages to retain the students’ attention
- How the teaching is structured
- The lecturer’s voice and pronunciation, the latter if s/he teaches in English
- How the PowerPoint presentations are laid out in terms of text and images, font sizes, and colours
- How the lecturer uses the board
“It is a formative assessment, which provides a snapshot of what works and what needs to be developed. It is not an assessment of the assistant professor’s ability to teach, but an aid to make something, which is often good, even better,” explains Ole Lauridsen.
From theory to practice
For the past seven years, Ole Lauridsen has supermentored about 120 assistant professors and postdocs from all the university’s faculties, and right now, supermentoring is something he offers everyone on the teacher training course for assistant professors as well as his own course for ‘experienced’ lecturers (associate professors and professors).
Those taking up the offer have been very enthusiastic, especially because supermentoring helps transform concepts from the course into very concrete practice.
“Ole showed me exactly, and step by step, how I could apply the teaching methods, concepts, and theories we learned on the course for assistant professors. We obviously discussed it on the course, but it is completely different if someone is able to sit in on your lecture and show you – almost live – how you can apply this method here and that concept or theory there,” says Sae Oshima, assistant professor at the Department of Business Communication.
See the interview with Sae Oshima (in English):
She is backed up by Caroline Adolphsen, a postdoc and PhD at the Department of Law.
I thought it was sheer luxury that a man came along for the sole purpose of helping me. Afterwards, Ole gave me a long written report with numerous tips and tricks and a wealth of positive, constructive, and critical comments, and I think that it has been wonderful. At the moment, I am attending the assistant professor course where there are lots of us, and it is not nearly as in-depth, even though the instructors do what they can, says Caroline Adolphsen.
See the interview with Caroline Adolphsen (in Danish):
From positive feedback to research
Ole Lauridsen has heard such positive responses before, but now he wants to move on from positive feedback to a more scientific examination of whether supermentoring is an effective way of developing so-called teacher efficacy among lecturers at the university.
“Teacher efficacy is the belief you have as a lecturer that you can go out and teach. That you can cater for all levels in a group, ensure that people learn something, and handle any crises along the way. The fact of the matter is, that many of our young assistant professors probably know a lot about how you should teach, but when standing in front of a class, it is not uncommon for them to actually feel rather unsure of themselves,” says Ole Lauridsen.
Therefore, he has started to collect data from a number of assistant professors and postdocs for whom he acts as a supermentor.
“Through interviews and questionnaires before, during, and after my intervention, I hear how the assistant professors feel about this, and whether it has any effect in the long term,” says Ole Lauridsen.
Supermentoring for all
If the survey shows that supermentoring contributes positively to teacher efficacy, Ole Lauridsen will start prototyping his supermentoring model and look at what to prioritise so people other than himself can use it.
“In future, it could be interesting to offer supermentoring in other areas as well – for example for all experienced lecturers,” says Ole Lauridsen.
“In fact, I think it should be obligatory, because it takes so little to improve the teaching,” he says, adding:
“It’s not that I’m saying the teaching is generally bad, far from it, but even teaching which is good and solid can be improved, and when it happens, the pleasure you derive from your teaching is even greater.”
He makes a point of saying that he always welcomes feedback on his own teaching, even though he has been teaching for many years. You should never stop learning!
See the interview with Ole Lauridsen (in Danish):
