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The Formation of the Coaching Lab Groups
While it was originally believed that a one-to-three ratio of coaches to students would maximize student learning, I soon discovered that when one or two students missed class, the lab session could not proceed as it should. Subsequently the number of students assigned to each coaching group was increased to between four and six students, reducing the need for coaches to five or six a semester. It certainly was easier to find five or six rather than eight coaches per semester. At times, I was only able to find two coaches, making the coaching groups rather large. When there are too many students in a group, there is not enough time for everyone to practice sufficiently.
To achieve maximum benefits, coaching groups should consist of four to six students, with one coach per lab group. These groups should remain the same throughout the semester to create cohesiveness, trust, and continuity. One semester an attempt was made to have coaches move from group to group. Students reported this to be confusing and shared their dissatisfaction with having to switch lab coaches. At times, a coach may not be able to attend a session, and the students from that group often join another group for the day. This has also been reported to cause anxiety and does not allow for the open learning that the intimacy of a constant group provides.
Small breakout rooms should be reserved so as to have privacy and enhance concentration. The goal is to create an atmosphere in which students feel motivated and safe to role-play situations realistically.
Role of the Coaches
Coaches should encourage every student to participate in the group by engaging in role-plays of common professional situations. Coaches must establish themselves as leaders, and the instructor should support the coach's leadership position by treating the coach as a colleague. In the past, when coaches have been either too passive or too aggressive, students have complained. The instructor must supervise regularly and ask the students during non-coaching time how the coaching process is going for them. This student feedback allows the instructor to guide the coaches to perform more effectively. Sometimes, coaches lack self-confidence and the instructor can provide the necessary positive reinforcement to strengthen the coaches' feelings of competency. Also, it is helpful to point out to the coaches that the students do not expect them to be experts and that they themselves are students in a learning process.
The Role of the Instructor
After the instructor lectures and demonstrates the skills to be practiced in lab groups, coaching begins. The coach is an assistant to the instructor, and the instructor should circulate among the different coaching groups for up to 20 minutes in each group as a way to both monitor the coach's performance and offer professional training to the students in the lab group. As the instructor joins the process, she or he can offer feedback and provide advanced skill training. Moreover, the instructor can answer technical questions when she or he joins the group so that the coach does not get bogged down with a myriad of questions during practice time. The instructor has both an indirect and direct influence on the students enrolled in the course. After every class session, the instructor meets with the coaches to debrief and offer feedback regarding their coaching process and how to coach more effectively.
Guiding the students to learn certain skills
It is best for coaches to have an outline of specific skills to be learned. The author uses a rating sheet from a textbook to guide the process (See Appendix A). The instructor prepares the students in the class about what to expect in the coaching groups, informing them that they will be evaluated by the coaches (under supervision of the instructor) or by the instructor on their proficiency after practicing certain skills for a specific time period. Knowing they will be evaluated tends to make students take the coaching process seriously; they are therefore more apt to learn the skills. This model works best when the objective of the course is to learn specific skills and when the instructor is clear about the actual skills students should learn.
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Appendix A
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