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Some challenges for learners and teachers include meeting halfway, in the hospital the students play an integral part in patient care but we must balance this with their learning so that the treatments form part of their application of knowledge, rather than "labour". For the teachers, there is also a constant requirement for patient care and procedures. Teachers must balance their educative role with patient duties.

Student roles are clearly defined in the hospital to allow smooth running of procedures/in-patient care. Teacher roles are more fluid and case-based to allow flexibility of learning, students are made aware that learning styles may differ from hands on to more passive teaching depending on day to day case load. I feel this promotes successful learning in both contexts, though a more hands on approach may not suit all students as it requires consistent engagement and active learning skills.

At the end of the day I am usually exhausted! Teaching can be draining on top of other responsibilities. It is a challenge to balance all components of the working day.

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Learning in the workplace answers. Specific challenges that both learners and teachers face in the workplace are time constrains/limitations for a learning task. This can be due to the student having other planned responsibilities that are scheduled into their daily timetable, meaning they can only devote a set time period for learning. It can also be due to the teacher having time restrictions due to Laboratory room bookings and needing to accomplish both the demonstration and practical learning elements and waiting for a group of students to each feel individually ready to volunteer for their assessment element. This does not always leave enough time for students to re-take their assessment within this same session if needed. It can also be due to unplanned workplace events occurring, with the teacher having to be flexible and balance their responsibilities between students and other workplace services, such as diagnostic Laboratory clients or research. Student roles and teacher roles are clearly defined within the teaching technician team. Students will be assigned to specific teachers and technicians, will have clearly defined inductions of work area's and environments, adequate supervision of tasks, approved Health and safety risk assessments and standard operating procedures. I believe that learning in this environment is successful, but I am mindful that individuals learn at different paces and occasionally with bigger groups of students there may be some individuals that may have felt that they needed more attention and time. At the end of the day I can sometimes feel stretched and have a workload that spills over into the next day. There are a variety of workplace responsibilities that need attention, each with different priories that need balancing (Michelle J).

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Learning in the workplace answers. Specific challenges that both learners and teachers face in the workplace are time constrains/limitations for a learning task. This can be due to the student having other planned responsibilities that are scheduled into their daily timetable, meaning they can only devote a set time period for learning. It can also be due to the teacher having time restrictions due to Laboratory room bookings and needing to accomplish both the demonstration and practical learning elements and waiting for a group of students to each feel individually ready to volunteer for their assessment element. This does not always leave enough time for students to re-take their assessment within this same session if needed. It can also be due to unplanned workplace events occurring, with the teacher having to be flexible and balance their responsibilities between students and other workplace services, such as diagnostic Laboratory clients or research. Student roles and teacher roles are clearly defined within the teaching technician team. Students will be assigned to specific teachers and technicians, will have clearly defined inductions of work area's and environments, adequate supervision of tasks, approved Health and safety risk assessments and standard operating procedures. I believe that learning in this environment is successful, but I am mindful that individuals learn at different paces and occasionally with bigger groups of students there may be some individuals that may have felt that they needed more attention and time. At the end of the day I can sometimes feel stretched and have a workload that spills over into the next day. There are a variety of workplace responsibilities that need attention, each with different priories that need balancing (Michelle J).

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Some Challenges both learners and teachers face include balancing workloads and learning when there may be limited time available e.g. between meetings.

The student roles can vary between lab groups depending on how much help is needed and how often the supervisors are around. Then the students may also be teachers for less experience students.

The teacher roles can also vary as they have to adapt to how much knowledge and lab/project management experience the students already has. Those with more experience in leading their own experiments wouldn't need as much help and guidance. So these roles aren't that clearly defined, the amount of teaching needed and tasks can vary a lot day to day.

Learning is relatively successful in this environment as long as the student highlights when they need more help/guidance. As otherwise they may not receive as much as they may need. The teachers must also try and gauge how much experience the student has already to help achieve this. Then it can also help students to consolidate what they have learnt if they then end up teaching another student these skills.

At the end of the day students/teachers may feel tired as there can be more work then there is time in the working day.
- Emily Y

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One issue I found, and that has been expressed by a current student, is feeling like a burden. When learning practical skills, lots of support and reassurance is needed. Sometimes the student can become self conscious about the number of questions/ hands-on-time they are asking/ need. Worrying they are taking up too much time. Inhibiting them from asking additional questions. I found/ find re-assurance that they can come to you helps. Additionally, setting clear time allotments when they have your full support should alleviate concerns.

Working in a lab where people have different expertise can be difficult if there is a clear hierarchy. The roles can become intrenched and the teacher may be resistant to learning of the student. In such situations it may be beneficial to have the roles less clearly defined.

Working practically and in real-world settings is my preferential way of learning/ teaching. It allows you to spend one to one time with someone and more fully understand the problem/ way of working/ workplace culture. Admittedly this can be very tiring! For both the learner and teacher. Lots of breaks and down time are needed throughout the day.
-Chris

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In a lab environment, everyone has different skillsets, and confidence in performing certain protocols, which can often blur the line between 'teacher' and 'learner'. There is often a more experienced person and a less experienced person, with the more experienced person typically acting as the teacher, and often providing both knowledge and emotional support to help the learner grow and develop their own skills and confidence. This leads to difficulties with time management for the teacher, as the learner will often need a mix of independence to just get on and do the task without someone hovering behind them and the presence of the teacher to provide reassurance or answer any questions. The teacher will generally try and do their own tasks so as to give the learner their independence, but this can lead to the learner not wanting to interrupt the teacher when they have a question. It is difficult for the teacher to get a balance between doing something that is useful for them, while not appearing so important as to prevent interruptions from the learner.
Additionally, if someone is teaching something they are experienced in to someone that has no experience, they can easily misjudge the amount of time to set aside for the task to be completed, as it is very easy to forget how long a protocol takes when learning how to do it, as opposed to when it is second nature!

Ultimately, learning in a hands-on, practical setting is a good way of more fully understanding the reasoning behind the process and why things are done the way they are, which facilitates both learning of the process and an understanding of the way a technique can be used in multiple different ways. This can be very mentally and physically tiring, as both the teacher and learner are constantly 'on', but hopefully everyone also feels satisfied too.

-Anna

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What are the specific challenges both learners and teachers face? time constraints, patient welfare, money, conflicting interests, learning styles

Why is this? Each person has their own schedule, they will have their their views/agendas, they will have their own teaching/learning style

What is the overall experience of the students? What about the teachers? Are these roles clearly defined? Usually a good experience, depending on the workload and cases. Teachers usually enjoy it as more practical and real-life scenarios. Role can sometimes be less clearly defined as workign colloboratively on tasks/cases.

How successful is learning within this environment? Usually very - mroeso for practical aspects

How do you feel at the end of the working day? How do the students/teachers feel?  Can be very tiring

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What are the specific challenges both learners and teachers face?

Unstructured time for learning/teaching sessions

Why is this?

Sessions happen in between workload which fluctuates

What is the overall experience of the students?

Exciting to learn on the job, although it might be an intimidating setting in which to ask questions

What about the teachers?

Opportunity to engage with future colleagues, though quality of the sessions tend to vary

Are these roles clearly defined?

Yes. Students might have different levels which might make teaching an heterogeneous group more difficult.

How successful is learning within this environment?

Depends on the nature of the lesson, group size. In general is a good way to learn about day-to-day problems in the workplace.

How do you feel at the end of the working day? How do the students/teachers feel?

Depends on the session.

(Adriana)