Tutor performance in a problem-based Hospitality Management curriculum

Abstract

Tutors are of crucial importance for student learning in problem-based learning (PBL). They facilitate the development of students' self-directed and collaborative learning skills, and support students during their learning processes. The tutor's ability to understand students' learning needs and to further student learning is a prerequisite for successful facilitation of student learning. It is generally assumed that a short introduction to problem-based learning will suffice for qualified teachers to fulfil their role as a tutor. However, the necessary competencies and responsibilities of a tutor differ greatly from the role of a teacher in a conventional, lecture-based educational system. Participant observations of tutors in PBL sessions show a great variety of interpretations of the tutor role. Beginning tutors in particular feel the burden of uncertainty due to lack of experience in tutoring PBL groups. Therefore, we designed a training course for beginning tutors that focuses on the development of tutor competencies aiming at the facilitation of constructive, self-directed, contextual, and collaborative learning in PBL groups. In this study, students evaluated tutor performance in PBL groups and we compared the performance of beginning and experienced tutors.