Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
one's activity (for the tutor) or to question them (for the apprentice
taking part in a tutoring situation), and not to become 'locked up in
the action'. Thus, a tutor noted, at the end of the exercise: 'We tend to
think that there are lots of things we do through force of habit, but
in fact, habits don't just turn up…. It questions the habits we have
behind each gesture, which in fact we don't do out of habit. This is
just because some things have been formed in the mind. That is, we
practice our work this way and that, for this and that reason. From
there, we might ask ourselves whether there might be another way
of doing things that would be more practical or more comfortable'.
Each viewing of the film, each retrospection on their activity
with the ergonomist, is an opportunity for workers to transform
their point of view and to understand differently the organization
of their actions (Six-Touchard, 1999).
Later use of auto-analysis in tutoring interactions in the workplace
Later effects of auto-analysis by the participants in the training session
(tutors and apprentices) were identified in the development of formative
interactions in on-the-job situations of transmission. These effects were
highlighted by the comparative analysis of two video recordings of inter-
actions in the training sessions, both in the kitchen and in the seawater
therapy facility. Interactions were recorded before the training in auto-
analysis of work took place, and the other took place afterwards.
Two elements transforming conditions of learning can be directly
attributed to workers taking ownership of the tool of auto-analysis.
One element is the enrichment of the contents of interactions between
the tutor and the apprentice. Following training to auto-analysis, trans-
mission is strengthened from the didactic point of view, through a greater
decomposition of gestures by the tutor and through greater precision
regarding the gestures and evaluation criteria that are required to guide
the apprentice in carrying out the task. This quantitative enrichment of
interactions is doubled over by a qualitative enrichment. Most tutors ver-
balize more rules of action when involved in a situation of transmission.
The second element of transformation that was observed is the rein-
forcement of the interrogative form of exchanges, encouraging a reflection
on the actions at hand. The increase in the number of questions posed
by the tutor to the apprentice (and vice versa) is significant, and one can
also note the appearance and development of sequences of questions and
answers that are similar to those developed in the auto-analysis train-
ing. For example, after having uttered the action 'You add 6 L of beer to
the dough', the tutor asked the apprentice: 'Aren't you going to ask me
