Post Placement Analysis Promoting Tools for Reflection

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Post Placement AnalysisPromoting Tools for
Reflection

• Angela Tomkins
• University of Gloucestershire
• 20th October 2006

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Context

• Metafrom PDP to CPD
• Enabling students to think more critically about
  themselves and their experiential learning
  through PDP and student peer support
• Fund for Development of Teaching and Learning
  Phase 5

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3 key themes for discussion today

• To optimise experiential learning
• To facilitate reflective thinking on this
  experiential learning
• To promote tools to encourage reflective
  thinking and writing

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Employers perspective

• Employers used to ask potential employees what
  they had done implicitly, what skills they had
  acquired. Now they ask what it is that students
  have learned from their experiences and,
  implicitly, how well equipped they are to learn
  and continue learning.
• Universities UK (2002) cited in Scottish Funding
  Councils for Further and Higher Education (2005)

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Student Employability Profiles

• Leisure take responsibility for own learning
  and continuing professional development and
  reflect critically on what is required to work in
  leisure (page 99)
• Hospitality be reflective and self critical and
  perceive self in relation to others (page 91)
• Sport know how to learn, adapt to changing
  circumstances, self appraise and reflect on
  practice (page 132)
• Student Employability Profiles A guide for
  Higher Education Practitioners (2005) The Higher
  Education Academy, CIHE Graduate Prospects

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The common theme is

• Reflection
• The art of reflecting is one which causes us to
  make sense of what we have learned, why we
  learned it, and how that particular increment of
  learning took place. Moreover, reflection is
  about linking one increment of learning to the
  wider perspective of learning heading towards
  the bigger picture.
• Race, P. (2002) Evidencing reflection putting
  the W into reflection (ESCALATE Learning
  Exchange) http//www.escalate.ac.uk/exchange/Refle
  ction

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The Meta model

• Developing a model to enable student
  progression in self awareness through
  experiential learning
• metacognition!

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Level 1

• Self management
• giving students time management skills and
  confidence in academic and planning skills for
  coping with learning in Higher Education

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Level 2

• Self identity
• building on skills audits, identifying
  strengths and challenges and beginning to develop
  skills in reflective writing and understanding of
  how ones own learning occurs

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Level 3

• Self authoring
• enabling students not only to know and
  understand themselves but also have the ability
  to articulate their skills and competencies in
  the employment market

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Stages of reflection

• Thinking about doing something (preparing for)
• Doing it reflection in action Schon (1983)
• Reflection on action Schon (1983)
• Thinking about the future (employability)
• (non linear)

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Meta model

• Introducing the idea of a profession and what
  this means for undergraduates (LR103)
• . Employers forum comprising a series of case
  studies written by employers to highlight skills
  required in specific workplace scenarios (in
  progress)
• . Delivered using WebCT and class based
  discussions
• . Contributes to formative assessment
  (encourages reflections on case studies in
  relation to professional requirements of the
  industry)
• http//www.hlst.heacademy.ac.uk/projects/employ_bu
  swell.pdf

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Tools for reflection

• Learning diaries
• Critical incidents
• R cards
• Learning sets
• Storytelling

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Level 2 Mid Placement Briefing

• Improving reflective writing skills

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Our experiences of students diaries

• Some students
• dont know what to write
• see it as a tick box exercise
• see it as a waste of time
• dont see the value of learning through
  reflection

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Trialling R cards - a tool to support
Reflective Learning

• In busy work environments R cards give
  students a tool which helps them to reflect on
  real issues and to structure their learning
• Fast
• Focused
• Frequent
• and easy to use
• With thanks to the Institute of Reflective
  Practice
• http//www.reflectivepractices.co.uk

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Reflective Learning

• Capturing the moment
• The reflective card
• carried around day-to-day at work
• A business size card carried around with you and
  filled in live
• Concentrates on reflecting on COMMUNICATION
  skills

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Communication Skills

• Focusing on communication skills
• Written communication e.g. emails, reports,
  business letters, marketing materials
• Verbal communication skills e.g. dealing with
  customers, making an oral presentation

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How does it work? Stage 1 Reflection in Action

• You capture a real event not something seen
  through a retrospectivescope e.g. dealing with
  a customer complaint
• What to capture (refer to Communication
  Competency sheet)
• Visualise this scene!

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Recording Your Immediate Responses
Positive Experience

• Was this a positive or negative experience for
  you?

Low motivation
High motivation

• How far do you feel motivated to learn from or
  ignore (deal with it and forget about it) this
  situation? In other words are you highly or lowly
  motivated to change in this particular scenario?

?
?
?
Negative Experience
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Further immediate responses
In line with my values

• How far did you feel confident or inexperienced
  in this situation?

?
Feel inexperienced

• Has the event made you question your values, or
  has it reinforced them? E.g. I feel it is
  important that the customer has a good
  experience, or I dont care.

Feel confident
?
?
Made me question my values
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Stage 2 Reflection on Action

• Single side of A4
• What have I learned about myself
• experience/motivation and values/confidence
• How I learn
• What action am I going to take?
• What would I like to discuss with my tutor?
• How will this impact upon my Personal Action Plan

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Post Placement Analysis towards self
authoring

• At Level 3 students build on this reflective
  thinking and planning, and demonstrate clearly
  what they have learnt and what they have to
  offer
• ?to prospective employers
• ?to Levels 1 and 2 students using a variety of
  peer support methods
• This helps to develop a very sharp and focused
  skills-based CV and to show what they understand
  about themselves and how they learn.

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Storytelling as a tool for encouraging reflective
writing

• Rationale
• Listening to stories that reveal how experienced
  practitioners (in this instance post placement
  students) work with complex situations can
  provide insights into practice realities as
  appropriate responses are shared and the skills
  needed are identified
• Mc Drury, J. and Alterio, M. (200386) Learning
  through storytelling in Higher Education London
  Kogan Page

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Creating social environments to encourage
reflective thinking and peer support

• Meta Mingle
• Learning sets
• New Mentoring module beginning February 2007

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For more information

• Contacts
• Angela Tomkins (module tutor for those modules
  discussed today) atomkins_at_glos.ac.uk
• John Buswell (Meta project director)
  jbuswell_at_glos.ac.uk
• Sue Watkins (Meta project manager)
  swatkins_at_glos.ac.uk