Work Based Learning
Case Study C: The Learner as a Teacher

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The Learner as a Teacher - Learning through Leadership

Essential facts

Another of the characteristics of learning through work is that the learning experience of each student is unique, since each learning environment is different.

According to Gerber¹, there are eleven different ways by which workers learn;

By making mistakes and learning not to repeat the them
Through self-education on and off the job
Through practising personal values
By applying theory and practising skills
Through solving problems
Through interacting with others
Through open lateral planning
By being an advocate for colleagues, for example through committee work
Through offering leadership to others
Through formal training
Through practising quality assurance

Learning outcomes

Through this approach, the student demonstrated that (s)he was able to:

Identify the relationship that carbon and alloy additions have on the classification and end usage of a wide range of ferrous alloys.
Identify the range of stainless steels, their chemical compositions, microstructures and mechanical properties.
Establish the importance that heat treatment and change of chemical composition has on Metallurgy, Mechanical Properties and Engineering Applications of these ferrous alloys.
State and discuss how microstructures develop and change with composition and heat treatment and select alloys for differing industrial applications.
Demonstrate what applications, uses and industrial requirements the various categories of steel have with reference to corrosion resistance, microstructure, and mechanical properties.

Case Study

A much more open approach to learning is to provide the student with a copy of the syllabus for one or more modules and ask him/her to describe how the theory and principles listed in the syllabus are applied within the organisation for which they work.

Since each student has a different working environment, the opportunities to learn and apply the academic knowledge will vary from student to student. Using this approach, therefore, the learning must be negotiated, and the use of learning agreements may be beneficial^2,3.

This approach can work successfully with a mature student, who has significant work experience but lacks an understanding of the processes, procedures and products with which they are familiar. The relevance of the learning is immediately obvious, and this assists student motivation. This is important, because the lack of rigid structure inherent in this approach may leave the student feeling isolated within the learning process.

Details

A third example was provided by a student who demonstrated and developed his knowledge by writing a technical manual for the company. This was designed to be a training aid for process operatives within the manufacturing operation, so there were expected to be company benefits as well as personal educational benefits to the student.

The manual covered:

Mechanical Testing
Definitions Of Steels And Alloys
Crystal Structure Of Steel
Alloy Steels
Secondary Phases And Strengthening Mechanisms In Steel
Classes Of Stainless Steel
Steels Used At (Company)
Processing Alloy Steels At (Company)

Company reference sources were used to support the development of the manual as well as academic text books.

Benefits

There was an unexpected additional benefit from this work. In carrying out background reading for the manual, the student developed an increased awareness of the benefits of process control to the quality of the product. The student was able to disseminate his improved understanding to the workforce and product quality levels improved as a result.

References

Gerber, Rod (1998) in 'The Learning Organisation', vol 5, No 4, p168
Doncaster, Kathy (2000) in 'Education & Training, vol 42, No 6, p349
Laycock, M and Stephenson, J (1993) in 'Using Learning Contracts in Higher Education' (Kogan Page, London)

Work Based Learning Case Study C: The Learner as a Teacher