The personal in the professional: A Q-methodological study of the students’ subjective experience of how Experts in Teamwork facilitates the development of personal competence

Abstract

The purpose of this study has been to explore students’ subjective experience of learning and development in Experts in Teamwork (EiT), with a focus on personal competence. The basis for the study has been the question of research; How do students experience Experts in Teamwork facilitating the development of personal competence?

This research is a Q-methodological study, where 36 participants have conducted a Q-sort. This means that they did a sort of 36 statements on an array from most agree (+5) to most disagree (-5), in a qu asi-normal distribution form. The statements were obtained from a research design based on Fisher ’s balanced block design. The participants Q-sorts were the basis for the factor analysis.

The factor analysis of the data set, conducted by PQ-method-2.11, gave a four-factor solution founded on statistical and theoretical criteria. The different factors represent the most prominent point of views that were present amongst the participants. The different factors were; Factor 1: Personal development, feedback and group experiences are valuable to me. Factor 2: I trust the system to facilitate my learning trough theory-based learning. Factor 3: I want feedback and group work, but I don’t trust the system . Factor 4: Theory-based learning is what I prefer. Group work is scary . In the thesis these findings are discussed in relation to the theoretical frames; personal competence, experiential learning, mindset and selfunderstanding.The aspects that are highlighted are what I have found to be most prominent and that could contribute to give a holistic picture of the data set.