Encouraging reflective practice in periods of professional workplace experience: the development of a conceptual model

Abstract

It is common in many professional subject areas for students to undertake periods of work-based experience as part of their studies. Research suggests that by reflecting on their experience, student learning can be enhanced. As a result it is common for students to produce reflective diaries, journals, logs or eportfolios during their placements. The paper reviews literature on reflective practice and relates it to the findings of a number of small scale studies investigating students' perceptions of recording and reflecting in the built environment professions, principally architecture and construction management. The findings suggest that the levels of reflection that students achieve are likely to be influenced by their individual propensity and willingness to reflect, the focus of reflection that students perceive they need to adopt, and the structure and support students are provided with to help them reflect. The paper concludes by proposing a hypothetical model that relates these issues. Brief Biography Dr Andrew Roberts is a lecturer in the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University. He is also Deputy Director for Architecture and Landscape at the Higher Education Academy, Subject Centre for Education in the Built Environment. His research interests are in the area of Architectural Education, particularly in the learning that occurs whilst students are undertaking work placements. His Ph.D was on the subject of cognitive styles and architectural education.

Supporting the Collaborative Construction of a Shared Understanding About Work with a Guided Conceptual Modeling Technique

“…Externalizations serve multiple purposes in this context, but most notably they support the individual articulation and reflection of one's view of their own work contribution (Seel 2003), serve as a boundary object between the collaborating actors when aligning their views , and provide a persistent point of reference usable during work implementation or future reflections (Adamides and Karacapilidis 2006;Kaghan and Lounsbury 2006;Roberts 2009). …”

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“…Los estudiantes producen periódicamente diarios, revistas, registros y portafolios electrónicos para reflexionar sobre su experiencia (Roberts, 2009). Los portafolios de enseñanza se han utilizado en programas de formación de profesores como una herramienta para organizar y presentar el desempeño de los maestros y fomentar su reflexión (Granberg, 2010;Sung et al, 2009) y la autoconciencia (Cimer, 2011 habilidades de reflexión de los estudiantes (Fox, White, y Kidd, 2011) y animarlos para estudiar más regularmente (Cimer, 2011).…”

“…Las orientaciones guían a los estudiantes a enfocarse en conceptos críticos y estrategias de resolución de problemas (Kim y Hannafin, 2008), fomentar una reflexión más profunda y proporcionar retroalimentación sobre la reflexión. Si no se le proporcionó información, los alumnos luchan por saber qué escribir, obteniendo un resultado descriptivo (Roberts, 2009) y aprenden más cuando se les pide que reflexionen sobre las respuestas correctas (Moreno y Mayer, 2007). Las preguntas orientadoras ayudaron a los participantes a tomar conocimiento y preocupación por ser visible y explícito (Yaffe, 2010).…”

ePortfolios beyond pre-service teacher education: a new dawn?

“…It may therefore be that in trying to provide an easily accessible electronic 'place' for digital artefacts articulating experiences, achievements and learning that reflect the development of professional identity, to then add an additional layer of assessment may simply not be appropriate and may restrict the continued development of the ePortfolio once qualified. Thus the view of Roberts (2009) and D'Aoust (1992, in Falchikov, 2005, discussed earlier may better reflect the purposes of an ePortfolio for qualified teachers and reflect the use of ePortfolios across Europe where assessment of competencies differs to the UK.…”

“…Developments with technology enable ePortfolios to be owned by individuals who can share artefacts, critical reflections (Kolb, 1984;Hatton andSmith, 1995 Moon 1999;Jay and Johnson, 2002;Roberts, 2009;Boulton and Hramiak, 2012) and so onprofessional development for 'collective learning and knowledge sharing' (Lorenzo and Ittleson, 2005, p. 4). Others such as Mason, Pegler and Weller (2004) acknowledge the adaptation from the traditional 'portfolio' into the electronic domain.…”