TUTORED VERSUS TUTORLESS GROUPS IN PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING

Small group, self-directed problem-based learning is often arranged so that a faculty tutor is a member of each group. Courses with limited faculty resources use learning groups that are tutorless. For such sit uations, the students are trained and empowered to manage such ''proce ssing skills'' as problem solving, change management, group process, c ritical thinking and self-directed, interdependent learning skills. Ou r experience has been primarily with such tutorless groups. The proces sing issues have completely different priorities for tutorless groups than one encounters with tutored groups. In tutorless groups, the issu es are frustration because not everyone appears to do their fair share of the work, attendance, building trust and reliability, personal dif ferences in learning and the need to be accountable by writing reflect ive journals. In tutored and tutorless groups ten additional issues ar e listed. Suggestions are given on how to cope with each of the fiftee n issues.