Developing student transferable skills through reflective porfolios

The development of transferable skills in students, ie those relevant to any future employment, is a common goal of degree programmes. Reflection is a mechanism frequently used in the training of medical and teaching professionals to develop self-awareness of personal skills levels that enable participants to become self-reflective practitioners. The intention in this research was to trial reflection for construction management and architecture students through a series of interventions to engage students in the explicit development of transferable skills and self-awareness. Students were required to keep a ‘diary’ or journal under specific skills headings: communication (involving active listening, conflict resolution, negotiation), team building, problem solving, report writing and presentation skills based on their experiences at university, work and in social situations. A range of learning resources were made available to assist students. The journals were analysed according to a recognised coding for the depth of their reflection . At the end of the semester, students were required to “apply” for a job description that required explication of the knowledge and skills that were intended to be further developed during the unit. In practice, few students appreciated the journaling and some were even hostile to the process, but all students demonstrated good appreciation of their abilities and skills in the job application – essentially a mechanism that required reflection. In conclusion, explicit reflection through journaling is not a universally popular practice, but tasks that appear to have some foundation in practicality that require reflection are more likely to be appreciated. Students depth of reflection was found to improve through practice.

Developing english skills through reflective portfolios in Hong Kong universities

This research concerns the use of portfolios by teachers of English (L2) to assist non-native speakers in Hong Kong universities to complete their studies in English. Portfolios as an English learning tool have yet to win converts from the ranks of language teachers in Hong Kong chiefly because of concerns about reliability and fairness. Two recent initiatives in Hong Kong have, however, prompted a reappraisal of the place of portfolios in English language learning. They include the use of learning portfolios in secondary school and ePortfolios by university students for learning and employment purposes.

As an English (L2) teacher of many years, I initiated my research to investigate the experiences of seven university students in Hong Kong in using reflective portfolios for English learning. Three research questions framed my research: 1) in what ways can reflective portfolios impact on L2 learning strategies? 2) what are the effects of reflective portfolios on progress in L2 acquisition as perceived by students? 3) what are the perceptions of university students towards reflective portfolios as a method of L2 learning?

To gain a holistic understanding of the complex phenomena under scrutiny, a case study methodology and grounded theory were utilised, the former to organise and generate qualitative data, and the latter to analyse data from three sources provided by the seven participating students: semi-structured interviews, portfolio artefacts, and weekly learning diaries.

There were two levels of data analysis. For the first level, analysis focused on coded data from portfolio artefacts, diary entries and interview transcripts as reported by students. The second level involved analysis from the Confucian and sociocultural perspectives. I pursued interpretation and continuous refinement of the data by using techniques drawn from grounded theory. The findings revealed that students generally employed a wide spread of L2 learning strategies in the cognitive, meta-cognitive, and socio-affective domain, reported increased awareness of effective language strategies, and considered portfolios a means of supporting time management and record-keeping, and a site for extended writing practice through reflection.

The findings suggest that students display a cyclical, context-specific shift in learning conception from quantitative to qualitative. Connected to this is students’ apparent ability to formulate strategic responses to externally imposed demands. It is found that such responses are culturally triggered, underpinned by Confucian beliefs. Although the Confucian tradition emphasises respect for established authority, the findings point to students’ creative re-configuration of mental schemata to engender change in role enactment and power relations, with the portfolio as a mediating tool of their experiences.

Based on the findings, I argue that my research has addressed the three research questions and contributed to two crucial aspects of L2 learning. The first pertains to the need for a balanced view of individual effort and social context in second language acquisition, corroborating the significant link between context and learner engagement. Another contribution centres on an enhanced understanding of the relationship between portfolios, reflection and L2, where students’ diaries in English and portfolio artefacts enable them to engage in critical reflection and to identify strategies for L2 improvement.

Reflective positioning : the impact of conversations in the social and cultural environment of midwifery practice settings on professional learning for students

Literature reviews on the topic of reflection and reflective practice encompassed midwifery, nursing, medicine, allied health, education and professional education. This investigation also included socio-psychological theories by leading authors such as Benner (nursing), Schön (professional education) and positioning theory by Harré and others. Positioning is a psycho-sociological ontology in which individuals metaphorically position themselves within three entities: people, institutions, and societies, where conversations are constructed and make an impact upon the social world. The social and cultural structures and interactions developed in Archer’s morphogenesis were examined in terms of the impact of possible encounters and the transformational effects of learning experiences in practice settings. These bodies of work provided the theoretical framework for the author’s research of students’ experiences in midwifery education for postgraduate students from which selected excerpts with three participating students and their supervising midwives are presented. These excerpts are related to reflective practices and the professional conversations conducted between students and midwives. It was found that reflective positioning applied in midwifery education by students can serve as an analytical tool in explaining social and cultural elements of clinical placements to influence and transform their learning. The potency of conversations that occur in everyday moment-to-moment interactions do contribute to students’ induction in professional midwifery practice and their identity formation as a midwife.

Self-reflective practice in sustainable design

A range of personal self-transformation strategies that rest on empathy and certainty were identified as critical to sustainable design practice. The dynamic influences design as both praxis and a decision making process, yet praxis, as the intuitive dimension of design is overlooked for its strategic importance to this dynamic.

Value-change and self-reflective practice in ecologically sustainable design

Ecologically sustainable design is a transformative design paradigm based on the theory of interdependence. This theory requires that the transformative agenda of design is holistic in practice. In effect, the requirement is for value-change on the part of the designer along with transformation of the built environment. This paper, based on recently completed research into design practice, argues that value-change rests on certainties that are drawn on intuitively while designing, and that this intuitive process is characteristic of design as praxis. It is further argued that design, as praxis, requires a phenomenological approach for inculcating value-change. A phenomenological approach relies on self-reflective practices exemplified by meditation and yoga that can focus on the designer’s ethical know-how. A model for this approach to value-change, the biopsychosocial approach, already exists within clinical medicine. This paper presents findings from interviews with key architects practising self-reflection and/or ecologically sustainable design. These highlight the premium placed by these architects on both certainty and empathy, and how these values influence design as praxis. Formalising techniques for closer scrutiny of these values will highlight design as praxis. Doing so will critically strengthen ecologically sustainable design as holistic, transformative practice.

Exploring the development and assessment of work-readiness using reflective practice in construction education.

It is well known that the construction industry is characterized by the need for practical knowledge and skill. However, this creates special challenges for universities in the development of work readiness in graduates. This research investigates the attitudes of students towards a course which was designed to develop work-readiness skills in construction management. The paper focuses on the distinctive issues associated with Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) using a formally assessed industry-mentored course of study. Past research shows that university degrees should promote reflective thinking since, in construction, it is necessary to make reflective judgements which deal with ill-defined problems. This is a generic capability that is needed by all graduates in knowledge-based occupations. The study utilized reflective practice to examine the perceptions of construction management students towards the development of attributes which were known to improve work skills. The students were asked to capture their reflections on their experiences in the form of reflective diaries, which were prepared weekly throughout the course. The results showed that the students expressed very positive views about their learning experiences. This occurred in spite of the challenges caused by the formal assessment processes that were undertaken as part of the course. This paper compares the student perceptions with the teachers’ reflections on the ability of traditional assessment methods to measure graduate attributes and work-readiness. The research explores the issues associated with assessing work-readiness skills in higher education. The findings suggest that student reflection is a necessary precondition to the development of effective work-readiness. In addition, the research concludes that more nontraditional assessment approaches are needed in construction programmes in order to develop the type of graduate required by the industry.

Using vignettes to evaluate the outcomes of student learning : data from the evaluation of the new social work degree in England

This paper reports the use of vignettes as a methodology to analyse the extent to which the new social work degree programmes enabled students to develop their analytical and reflective capabilities. Two vignettes, which focused on children and families and adult social care respectively, were developed for the study. Students were asked to respond in writing, from the perspective of a social worker, to a standard set of questions at the beginning (T1) and end of their degree programme (T2). Considering the responses to all questions across the two vignettes, a series of scales was developed to measure the key themes which had been identified by qualitative analysis. These included ‘Attention to process of relationships’ and ‘Social/structural/political awareness’. Responses were also rated as ‘descriptive’, ‘analytic’ or ‘reflective’.

Students from six universities in England participated. From an original sample of 222 students, it was possible to match 79 T1 and T2 responses. Analysis of variance demonstrated statistically significant increases in nine of the 11 themes and increases in ratings for analysis and reflection.

In conclusion, vignettes can be used to produce both qualitative and quantitative data in respect of changes in students’ acquisition of knowledge and skills over time.

Transition from clinical manager to university lecturer : a self-reflective case study

This paper is a case study exploring the author’s use of reflective practice to facilitate the transition in role from a clinical manager with teaching responsibilities in a critical care unit to university lecturer. The similarities and differences in the roles with respect to learner characteristics, teaching contexts and effective teaching strategies are discussed. Brookfield’s model provides the methodological framework for the process of critically reflective practice undertaken to support and inform the transition. This case study describes a novice academic’s reflection through the four lenses of autobiography, the theoretical literature, student feedback and the perspectives of colleagues as she seeks to optimise student engagement and learning using the large lecture as the teaching and learning activity. The author suggests that the use of a framework such as Brookfield’s model that supports critical reflection may be of significant benefit to accelerate the personal and professional growth of new academic staff in their teaching practice.