Defining the Supporting Roles of Facilitators in Project-Based and Work-Based Learning

Abstract

It is well known that staff roles are critical in higher education. A university in the Midwest region of the United States of America offers unique student-facing support through a work-based learning program by coaching students who learn on the job while working for companies throughout the final four semesters of their undergraduate degree. Prior to the final four semesters of working on the job, students are also supported through a preparation project-based semester. The support staff in this program are referred to as facilitators. This paper aims to address the critical roles of facilitators as they directly pertain to project-based and work-based learning. The unique work-based learning model covered in this paper implements project-based learning in a way that isn’t found anywhere else in academia, and it continues to be a successful model of education. The following two questions will be explored: How are facilitators engaging in each of their job description roles? How do facilitators perceive and describe each of their job description roles? This paper will broadly define each role of a facilitator by including an analysis of qualitative reflections by a professor and a director in this work-based program. It will also include quantitative data that discusses the facilitator’s self-reported median and average values of time spent in each of the roles. This will result in recommendations to other higher education programs to begin creating facilitator positions that add value to other project-based learning models.