​CTL AUXIN SESSION, 26 FEBRUARY 2019held at Den Bosch, from 12h45 – 13h45

The topic of this Auxin presentation was “Using Pecha Kucha (PK) as a Psycho-Educational Facilitation Tool for School Counsellors in training". The presenters were Ms Carmelita Jacobs, Dr Lynne Damons and Dr Lorna Dreyer, who are all lecturers in the Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education. They are involved in the training of teachers and are all educational psychologists.

Ms Jacobs started off by sharing the motivation of the research project. The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) requires B Ed Hons (Educational Psychology) students to receive training in developing and presenting psycho-educational workshops. The challenge is that students often exceed the allocated workshop time. This is problematic as the gap between presentation and engagement compromises authentic learning. The purpose of this research was to introduce students to PK as an alternative form of psycho-educational presentation in the hope that it would produce presentations that are well-prepared, fast, concise, and enables interactive engagement. The research question was, “How do trainee counsellors experience PK as a facilitation tool for psycho-education with learners of varying ages in schools?"

PK was developed in 2003 by two architects. It is the Japanese term for the sound of “chit chat". PK is a 20×20 presentation format which involves 20 images, each displayed for 20 seconds, resulting in short, visually driven presentations. Images advance automatically and presenters must therefore be succinct and well-prepared. In the higher education teaching and learning context PK can be useful within the university classroom and it has been described as a solution to 'death by PowerPoint (PP)'. Compared to PP, PK is a higher quality presentation and has been rated higher than PP. It is however not suitable for all topics, and is more appropriate for a presentation than a lecture. Regardless of this, the researchers wanted to investigate student counsellors' experiences of using PK within the school environment, on psycho-educational topics.

These are some of the findings of the research project:·       Students were able to develop and implement interactive psycho-education workshops within the 20-30 minute time frame within the classroom context;·       Access to technology was a nice to have but not necessary;·       It encouraged creative reflexive praxis – in the moment responses;·       One of the challenges was finding visual stimuli related to the topic and familiar in the context;·       In order to do the a fore mentioned, students needed to speak to the learners to find out what kind of music they liked and what they were watching on television.

Overall, the researchers found the outcomes of the research project very useful as it created opportunities for collegial collaboration and for engaged scholarship. It also formed part of a Fund for Innovation and Research into Learning and Teaching (FIRLT) project which enabled them to form a small professional community, with the possibility of a publication and a short course for past students in the field of educational psychology.

To listen to a podcast of the session, please visit:http://www.sun.ac.za/english/learning-teaching/ctl/professional-learning-opportunities-for-t-l/auxin/auxin-resources

For more information about literature on the topic, feel free to contact the presenters:Jacobs, C [[email protected]]Damons, L Dr [[email protected]]Dreyer, L Dr [[email protected]]

The next AUXIN will take place on 26 March 2019.

Picture 1: Ms Carmelita Jacobs (middle, top)Picture 2: Dr Lynne Damons (left)Picture 3: Dr Lorna Dreyer (middle, bottom)