project based learning reflection essay

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8 methods for reflection in project-based learning

It’s where the learning is.

So, what can this look like? Here are 8 methods for reflection in project-based learning.

Reflection in project and service based learning is often where the big learning happens. Dewey even said, ” We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.”

What are we looking for in a reflection?

Think about having students describe (as inspired by the questions posed on this post at The University of Minnesota):

WHAT happened
and NOW what.

Reflection can cover some pretty wide ground.

They can do this in many different ways. This post links the reasons to the Experiential Learning Theory and provides many ideas for how to help students reflect.

1. Exit Tickets

This can be a simple as a notecard where a student quickly responds to a prompt. These are often used as a formative assessment, but can also be used for reflection. The prompt can be content-based, such as drawing an equilateral triangle, to assessing how your group is working at a team (or not). You can also use the exit ticket to have students constantly reflecting back to the driving question. If done regularly, you’ll get to see progress over time.

2. Journals

This old school but very effective tool can be used for a regular reflection activity. Weekly during PBL, students can answer questions such as:

What have you learned about yourself as a learner this week?
How can you connect what you are learning to your life?
And what new questions do you have based on your work this week?

A lot of PBL work is grounded in or draws from a strong STEM background. If this holds true for your PBL project, think about presenting the journal idea as a “lab notebook”: what pieces of data do you want learners to capture, and more importantly, what do you want them to extrapolate from that data?

Students can reflect in the form of a short video that they take themselves on a Chromebook, or with their own devices. You can supply the prompt and students can start talking!

To structure the interview above, the student was asked to answer five questions:

What’s your project about?
What has been the most challenging thing about working on this project so far?
What has been the most satisfying thing about it?
What advice would you give teachers who want to do this project with their students?
What advice would you give other students just starting on this project?

When you watch the video, you can see this learner articulate ideas about her learning style as she responds to the prompts. Powerful!

Reflection is not only the written word. It is easy to get stuck into thinking reflection has to be paragraph and pages of text. The student can do a sketch or other piece of art that reflects their feelings, new learning, and how the group work is going. Collages, sewing (paper circuitry?) or painting all offer opportunities to create a reflection on PBL work.

5. Sketchnoting?

Speaking of art, students can sketchnote their reflections. I personally adore this mode of thinking and reflection (as you can see one of my sketchnotes here ). Sketching helps me process and organize new information in a way that writing notes just with words does not.

6. Blogging

Students can write blog posts about their weekly PBL work and include videos, pictures, and link to sites and their work. It can be part of their PLPs, can serve as formative instruction, and can communicate about the project with parents. Win-win!

7. Technology tools that show thinking

There are so many great tech tools that can showcase student reflection. Tools like Wordle can turn concepts into interesting shapes, and Thinglink can illustrate a concept with embedded links. Padlet can show brainstormed or linked topics, and students can make mind maps in Coogle or Prezi.

8. Gallery Walks

Once students have some part of their project completed, gallery wants are a great tool. Students set out their work and peers walk by in rounds, placing sticky notes on or near the work, reflecting about what they liked and still wonder.

The Buck Institute has a great guide as to exactly how to structure a gallery walk around project-based learning .

How do you help student reflect regularly in project based learning?

What works for you? Or what questions do you have?

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Katy Farber

Farber joined TIIE after 17 years as a classroom teacher in central Vermont. She is passionate about promoting student and teacher voice, engaging early adolescent students, sharing the power of service learning, and creating inclusive communities where joy, courageous conversations and kindness are the norm. She lives in central Vermont with her husband and two daughters and loves being outside with family and friends, listening to music, writing about the world, and jumping into Vermont ponds and lakes.

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The closing and/or reflection is one of my weaknesses. I chose this to help and have been given several ideas. I like the thought of asking the students, “What has been the most challenging?”

What do you think? Cancel reply

Support Student Reflection, Critique, and Revision in Project-Based Learning

Let’s go deeper into the key elements of project-based learning and explore strategies to support student reflection, critique, and revision.

Have you ever spent hours of time reflecting on student work? Have you critiqued an assignment or assessment and provided feedback that some students perhaps ultimately never looked at, internalized, or used to make revisions to their work? When students only reflect and receive feedback at the end of a project, this is exactly what happens. Why would students go back and revise anything when the grade is already in and the changes don’t seem to matter? Why reflect on something if the reflection doesn’t result in some type of change?

Project-based learning (PBL) provides an authentic reason for students to actively reflect on what they are doing, seek and provide critique and feedback, and then use that information to revise and change their project in order to improve it. In PBL, reflections, critique, and revisions are not just between a single student and the teacher at the end of the project; students are working together in groups and creating a public product, not just something for themselves. Reflection, critique, and revision are key components of PBL that should be utilized throughout the process, not just at the end.

In PBL, reflection is not just done at the end of a project. We should reflect on where we started, where we ended, and everything in between. In other words, reflection should be ongoing and done throughout the entirety of the project. There are many reasons why reflection is so important in PBL. Below are just a few of the ways in which reflection allows for deeper understanding for students.

Reflection in PBL allows for deeper understanding. Reflection can happen authentically and multiple times in project-based learning because students have the opportunity to work on answering a driving question over a long period of time. Students are allowed multiple opportunities to reflect, critique, and revise their thinking and work. This allows for much deeper reflection because all of the smaller components relate to the bigger picture or driving question.
Reflection provides students an authentic opportunity to analyze information, problem-solve, and make decisions. In other words, the reflection matters and will be used to critique and then make revisions. This skill helps prepare students for their careers and future.
Students are able to identify and explain why they are doing what they are doing and how it is supporting their final project, how they need to change their path so that they are able to achieve their final product, or how they may need to modify their final project. Once again, the reflection leads to critique and revision.
Students are able to make personal connections to the work they are engaged in, making it more authentic and increasing student ownership and engagement. When students are reflecting on their own work and the work of their group around a public project they are creating, they develop a personal connection to the work and will almost always be more engaged in the project.
When students reflect on how they were able to persevere and solve a problem that at first seemed so large and complex, they develop perseverance and skills, strategies, and confidence to tackle large (and small) problems. Students have to figure out how to break apart problems into more manageable pieces, ask the right questions to solve the problem, and then design and execute a plan to gather credible information to answer the questions or solve the problem. For more ideas on how to support students searching and seeking information, consider reading the AVID Open Access article, Search and Seek Credible Information: Step 3 of the Searching for ANSWERS Inquiry Process .

When planning out PBL, you should always allow and encourage reflection after any significant learning or creation of work. You can try and preplan these opportunities as much as possible, but remember to also be flexible in creating and encouraging reflection opportunities when appropriate. You and your students might use a project assessment map to identify points of reflection. Consider creating and allowing students to practice specific reflection processes. Below are several ideas that you might consider using with your students.

Google Docs
Microsoft Word
Microsoft OneNote
Google Slides
Microsoft PowerPoint
Google Sites ( Tips )
Seesaw ( Tips )
Seesaw Blogs
Give students an opportunity to reflect on what they used to think as well as how their thinking has changed as a result of inquiry. They can capture this thinking in their learning journal or blog, or they can share their thinking with a partner or small group.
Use Google Forms , Microsoft Forms , or SurveyMonkey to gather student reflections or have students use one of these programs to gather and organize their own reflections.
The teacher presents a topic or question, and each student in turn shares something that they have learned about that topic or question.
In pairs or groups, one student pretends that the others have no idea about a topic and shares or explains what they have learned.
The teacher asks a reflection question and gives 1 minute for students to think of a response. Then, students are given time to write down what they are thinking. Lastly, students share their thinking in partner pairs or small groups.

Critique and Revision

Reflection becomes more meaningful when it leads to action, and critique and revision are the action portions of the reflection process. However, students need to be taught how to critique work and how to receive feedback, before then using that feedback to revise their work. Teachers need to provide multiple opportunities for students to engage in this work in a safe environment, so they are able to engage in the process effectively on their own once they are in college and working in their careers. Teachers might think about providing an opportunity for students to engage in a low-stakes critique before having them critique each other’s work. For example, ask students to create the classroom layout, and then model how you might use the critique that students provide to revise the classroom layout.

Provide students with a clear understanding of what feedback looks like and sounds like. Feedback should be specific, helpful, and thoughtful. If students make a claim, they need to provide evidence to support their claim. For example, if a student provides feedback saying that something is not very appealing, require them to explain why and offer suggestions to help improve it. Below are several strategies and tools to support critique and revision in PBL.

When giving feedback, students provide the recipient of the feedback with two stars (positive feedback) and a wish (something they wish would be different or changed). You can share this Two Stars and a Wish poster, which includes sentence stems, when engaged in this protocol:

Students can either share work or present work to a peer or group of students. The students providing feedback can use the Pluses and Wishes template and are given 1–3 minutes to fill in the Pluses column of the worksheet with positive comments and feedback. Students are then given 1–3 minutes to fill in the Wishes column of the worksheet with things that they think there should be more of or less of, or things they think should be changed.
Analog and digital Gallery Tours allow students to be both givers and receivers of feedback. Consider using this article from PBLWorks to guide you through using Gallery Tours or variations with your students.
Tuning Protocol: Overview (National School Reform Faculty)
Tuning Protocol Overview Video (PBLWorks)
Students Use Tuning Protocol for Critique and Revision in PBL (PBLWorks)
There are many tools that can support students with critique and revision. Shared documents in Google Workspace (Google Docs, Google Slides, Google Sheets, etc.) and Microsoft 365 (Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, etc.) allow multiple people to access, edit, and/or comment on the same document and even at the same time.
Discussion tools can help manage the sharing of ideas and feedback in virtual conversation threads. Most learning management systems (Canvas, Schoology, Google Classroom, etc.) offer discussion tools with text, audio, and video response options. Some platforms, like Flip ( Tips ), are specifically designed to be video-based. Another example is VoiceThread , where ideas are presented in a slideshow-style format, and participants can respond with audio, text, or video comments.
Padlet ( Tips )

Throughout the reflection, critique, and revision process in PBL, create opportunities to celebrate students who intentionally reflect on their work, provide good feedback to themselves and others, and use feedback to revise their thinking and make changes to their project. As teachers, we also need to reflect, critique, and revise. We can model reflection, critique, and revision in our work for students and model how we never stop learning and growing. Make sure and provide opportunities for students to provide feedback on different aspects of the PBL process. Ask for feedback on what is going well and what needs to be changed and why. Once you receive feedback, use it to revise your project and future projects. We can continually make PBL better for ourselves and our students if we practice what we teach. For more ideas on how to support students with reflection, critique, and revision, consider reading the AVID Open Access articles or listening to the podcast episodes below:

Structure Student Reflection Activities Effectively for Remote Learning (article)
Support Student Reflection With Live Virtual Strategies and Tools (article)
Support Student Reflection With Self-Paced Virtual Strategies and Tools (article)
Develop Your Students’ Digital Organization Skills: eFiles, eBinders, and ePortfolios (article)
Develop Your Students’ Time Management Skills (article)
Learn and Manage Your Digital Learning Environment (article)
Establish a Feedback System to Keep Everyone Informed (article collection)
Collect, Reflect, and Recollect: The Power of eBinders and ePortfolios (podcast episode)
Engage Students with Project-Based Learning (podcast episode)
Teacher Insights with Annie Tremonte (podcast episode)

Extend Your Learning

Critique Protocols Strategy Guide (PBLWorks; sign up to receive this free resource)
Best Student-Collaboration Tools (Common Sense Education)
Tools for Project-Based Learning (Common Sense Education)
Critique and Revision of Student Work in Remote PBL (PBLWorks)

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PBL in the Mirror: Planning for Student Reflection

WHY should I plan for reflection?

By definition, reflection is serious thought and consideration about an idea or experience. In PBL classrooms, I’ve found the benefits of reflection are astounding! Students experience:

deepened learning , via
sharpened analytical skills and
integration of new knowledge with previous knowledge & experiences

Students who are able to explain why they are completing a task or why the activity is important to their final product are one step closer to the integration of new knowledge.

Upon WHAT should students reflect?

Reflection should be ongoing and throughout the project, not solely at the end once the project is complete. As project designers, we can anticipate many of students’ "Need to Know” questions for the project, to inform our thinking about what students can reflect on. To anticipate the “Need to Know” questions consider:

What are the necessary questions students will need to pose?
Which content-based questions do you expect, knowing your students' skill sets?
What product-based questions may arise?

Let’s look at how some BIE project planning forms can help. Planning with the end in mind is easier when we have already considered what we expect students to experience. The anticipated “Need to Know” questions:

stem from the Key Knowledge listed on the Project Assessment Map we create;
help us choose an effective question focus when using the Question Formulation Technique to spark inquiry as we gather students' questions; and
help us select standard-based checkpoints and learning targets

For example, take a look at the Medical Interns Project Assessment Map (on the BIE website here ) below:

The Key Knowledge, Understanding, and Success Skill listed for the final product are informational writing, circulatory system, and critical thinking. These are the three main areas where we’d anticipate students’ content-based and product-based questions to arise and thereby drive instruction. Herein lie the key learning experiences upon which we can plan for students to reflect. Look closely and we can notice that the key knowledge about the circulatory system is going to be formatively assessed via reflective journal writing.

Let's look deeper into the Medical Interns project design forms to explore this question of planning for student reflection.

HOW will students reflect?

Student reflection can occur both informally and overtly throughout a project. We can integrate reflection into our design:

On page 2 of the Project Design: Overview form in the Reflections Methods section, individuals, teams, and whole classes can perform any of the following strategies to reflect on the key learning experiences:
Journal/Learning Logs
Whole Class Discussions (e.g. Harkness Discussions & Socratic Seminars)
Focus Groups
Fishbowl Discussions
On the Project Design: Student Learning Guide form, Checkpoints/Formative Assessments are important for reflection planning. For each Learning Outcome/Target on the Student Learning Guide, we can strategically scaffold the final products' anchor learning targets by associating each checkpoint with a reflection strategy based on the Key Understanding or Skill.

For example, in the Medical Interns project (above sample is also here), for the Learning Outcome/Target "I can write a report to inform a patient of his/her diagnosis,” reflective journal writing is incorporated as a Checkpoint/Formative Assessment method.

We can also build the culture of our classrooms to incorporate strategies such as the Think-Pair-Share strategy. Think-Pair-Share can be employed to “breadcrumb” students through the reflection process. When given a problem or prompt, students can individually think on their reflection, pair with a partner to discuss their responses and then share aloud to the class where their reflections are similar or where they diverge.

Once the project is complete, we can use the Self-Reflection on Project Work Handout to help students look into the mirror and reflect on their experience as a whole.

John Dewey said it best: "...we learn from reflecting on experience." Creating a learning experience is all the more purposeful with strategic reflection. Happy Designing!

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Design Education Today pp 61–90 Cite as

Enabling Meaningful Reflection Within Project-Based-Learning in Engineering Design Education

Thea Morgan 4
First Online: 17 May 2019

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2 Citations

Group project-based-learning (PBL) is a form of experiential learning in which students develop tacit knowledge about creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication, in addition to deepening and contextualising core subject knowledge. Students construct this tacit knowledge by reflecting on their lived experience of meaningful group project work, or rather on their ‘perceptions’ of this lived experience, meaning their prior knowledge, worldview(s) and previous experience will have a strong influence on the outcomes of learning from group PBL. Students of engineering design are heavily influenced by the positivist learning paradigm of engineering science, and so many students struggle to learn effectively from group PBL design experiences, because the constructivist paradigm that underpins this type of learning is not in accord with their cognitive structure. Pedagogical aids to reflection are required to support learning in group PBL design courses in engineering design education. Aids that reveal the underlying learning paradigms within this subject, and their conflicting nature, allowing students to place their own learning in the appropriate epistemological context. It is proposed here that the teaching of philosophy of design , combined with use of reflective learning journals structured using a constructivist inquiry framework, might potentially allow students to access a deeper level of understanding of their own individual approaches to design, by enabling reflection at an ontological level. Philosophy of design serves the purpose of emancipating students from a restrictive worldview by making them aware of multiple paradigms of learning. This chapter presents the argument for such an approach to supporting group PBL and describes a study within a second-year PBL engineering design course, in which this approach has been trialled. The results indicate that a positive impact on reflection and learning has been achieved. Philosophy of design appears to give the students a language and a conceptual structure with which to reflect on personal design activity in constructivist terms, and the reflective learning journals provide an appropriate means to externalise and enhance this reflection through the representation of learning.

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Morgan, T. (2019). Enabling Meaningful Reflection Within Project-Based-Learning in Engineering Design Education. In: Schaefer, D., Coates, G., Eckert, C. (eds) Design Education Today. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17134-6_4

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Reflective Practice in Project-based Culture Learning: Content and Quality of Reflection

2019, English Language Teaching

Kim, Mi Kyong. (2019). Reflective practice in project-based culture learning: Content and quality of reflection. English Language Teaching, 31(4), 67-94. Culture learning (CL) needs alternatives beyond traditional teacher-transmitted approaches for reflective practice and intercultural development. This study explored the potential of project-based learning (PBL) as an alternative CL to practice reflection through student-driven inquiry. Specifically, the study examined content and quality of reflection, adapting two conceptual frameworks: focusing areas of reflection-public theory, private theory, feelings, action plan, and feedback (Bain, Ballantyne, Packer, & Mills, 1999) and reflective indicators-'additional perspectives'; 'own values'; and 'larger contexts' (Jay & Johnson, 2002). The study used three data sources from eleven students: journals, written reflections, and interviews. The results showed as follows. First, PBL helped the students focus on four contents of reflection other than public theory (i.e., non-reflection): private theory particularly while problematizing cultural topics; feelings about student-centered inquiry toward knowledge construction and insights into cultural content; action plans to pursue deeper cultural knowledge, overall language proficiency, and plans of PBL classes in future classrooms; and communication with teacher such as seeking views on cultural issues. Second, the student-driven inquiry approach helped the students gain 'additional perspectives' on learning about three areas: cultural content, English and presentation skills, and PBL as a teaching approach. Similarly, the approach fostered the students to apply their 'own values' in learning about the above three areas. The inquiry approach also promoted the students to examine their learning about primarily culture content in 'larger contexts.' (228 words)

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International Journal of Educational Research

Marie Himes

ENGLISH ABSTRACT Culture is an integral part of language study, but the field has yet to put forward a coherent theoretical argument for how culture can or should be incorporated in language education. In an effort to remedy this situation, this paper reviews literature on the teaching of culture, drawing on Larzén's (2005) identification of three pedagogies used to teach about culture within the language classroom: through a pedagogy of information, a pedagogy of preparation, and a pedagogy of encounter. The pedagogy of information takes a cognitive orientation, framing culture as factual knowledge, with a focus on the teacher as the transmitter of knowledge. The pedagogy of preparation portrays culture as skills, and aims to help students develop the sociocultural, pragmatic, and strategic competence necessary for interactions with native speakers. The pedagogy of encounter takes an intercultural approach, with an affective orientation, and aims to help students develop tolerance, empathy, and an awareness of their own and others' perspectives, and the emergent nature of culture. Using these three pedagogies as a conceptual framework, this paper reviews scholarship in support and critique of each type of cultural teaching. Because each of these three pedagogies continues to be used in various contexts worldwide, a clear understanding of the beliefs systems underpinning the belief systems of teachers and learners is essential. INDONESIAN ABSTRACT Budaya merupakan bagian integral dari studi bahasa, namun khalayak belum mengemukakan argumen teoritis yang koheren untuk Tabitha Kidwell 222 bagaimana budaya dapat atau harus digabungkan dalam pendidikan bahasa. Dalam upaya memperbaiki situasi ini, makalah ini mengulas literatur tentang ajaran budaya, dengan mengacu pada identifikasi tiga pedagogi Larzén (2005) yang digunakan untuk mengajarkan tentang budaya di dalam kelas bahasa: melalui pedagogi informasi, pedagogi persiapan, dan pedagogi perjumpaan Pedagogi informasi mengambil orientasi kognitif, membingkai budaya sebagai pengetahuan faktual, dengan fokus pada guru sebagai pemancar pengetahuan. Pedagogi persiapan menggambarkan budaya sebagai keterampilan, dan bertujuan untuk membantu siswa mengembangkan kompetensi sosiokultural, pragmatis, dan strategis yang diperlukan untuk interaksi dengan penutur asli. Pedagogi pertemuan mengambil pendekatan antar budaya, dengan orientasi afektif, dan bertujuan untuk membantu siswa mengembangkan toleransi, empati, dan kesadaran akan perspektif mereka sendiri dan orang lain, dan sifat budaya yang muncul. Dengan menggunakan ketiga pedagogi ini sebagai kerangka konseptual, makalah ini mengulas pustaka untuk mendukung dan mengkritik setiap jenis pengajaran budaya. Karena masing-masing dari ketiga pedagogi ini terus digunakan dalam berbagai konteks di seluruh dunia, pemahaman yang jelas tentang sistem kepercayaan yang mendasari sistem kepercayaan guru dan pelajar sangat penting.

The 14th International Conference on Chinese Language Pedagogy proceedings

Kaishan Kong

This paper described a Five-Dimension Reflective Pedagogy Model used in a professional development program on Chinese culture teaching. It examined impacts of the Model on teachers' attitudes towards reflection in teaching and understanding of culture teaching in Chinese as a second language classrooms. Data included pre-and post-program reflections, video-taped cultural road map presentations, daily reflective writing, and lesson plans. The Model led to teachers' positive attitudes towards the use of reflection in teaching, enhanced confidence in culture teaching, and complicated understandings of culture.

Javelo Jones

During this action research study of Algebra I teachers at a high school in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, I have presented information related to the implementation of inquiry-based learning (IBL) and the findings from classroom observations and a focus group interview. The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of IBL instructional practices on the cultural and academic environment in mathematics classrooms. I sought first to understand teachers’ perceptions of the usefulness of past professional development sessions, the climate and culture of their classroom, and their perceptions about how African American students learn. Teachers then participated in professional developments to learn to implement IBL practices effectively. After observing teachers utilizing the methods in their classrooms, teachers provided feedback on their experience and changes to their perceptions, modifications, and improvements to professional development, and providing culturally responsive...

Janet Sayers

This paper discusses the rapid internationalization (mainly by Chinese students) of a business degree and its impact on one course in that degree programme. The purpose of the course is to develop reflective capabilities in students and the paper considers how staff involved in the course reflected on their own practice and made changes to the course to accommodate the new contingent of students from outside the host country. Initial perceptions by staff of the Chinese-originating students are described, as are tensions that emerged regarding the philosophical/cultural assumptions under-pinning the course. The paper shows how staff reconsidered their teaching practices and assessment tools and reports on an empirical study conducted to explore how students experienced the courses’ teaching methods and assessment. The course’s reflective philosophy was adjusted to accommodate the new student cohort.

A Simple, Effective Framework for PBL

This plan was designed to guide teachers who haven’t had formal training in project-based learning.

Teachers trying their hand at project-based learning (PBL) may be uncertain as to how to strengthen their project ideas and make them the best possible learning experiences for students. For teachers without access to training, a research-informed framework for PBL and a few strategies for defining and organizing the student experience can considerably improve outcomes.

The High Quality PBL (HQPBL) framework , when executed effectively, provides elements like authenticity, project management, and public products for educators to use for creating the conditions for learning to stick and continue after projects.

For example, content or elective teachers can increase authenticity in projects by bringing in industry experts (e.g., engineers, environmental scientists, computer programmers, activists) at the launch to introduce the type of work that students will be learning to do.

Teachers can also help students improve their work by having them develop public products with a call to action advocating for causes they care about and instructing audiences of community members on the next steps to take.

Before diving into the framework, let’s quickly dispel two of the biggest misconceptions and roadblocks to attempting PBL that I’ve heard from educators.

Common PBL Hurdles

1. I have to prepare my students for exams (or cover lots of content) and can’t dedicate an entire school year or semester to planning or teaching this way. I agree—do not abandon the teaching practice you have carefully honed. Instead, implement one project a semester, connect it to learning in your area as best as possible, and implement it for no more than two to three weeks at a time.

2. I’m a content teacher and am not exactly sure how to make real-world projects. I admit this can be tricky the first time around. Focus on important problems in the community (e.g., health, financial inclusion, environment ). Let the kids pick the issue(s) they want to tackle and develop a plan for knowing their topic inside and out, along with solutions.

See this video example where educator Jose Gonzalez of Compton Unified School District in California implemented a terrific interdisciplinary project: allowing students to choose their path to advocate for change in their communities.

Using the High Quality PBL Framework

Established in 2018, the HQPBL framework is a consensus of both the research and the accumulated practice of PBL leaders and experts worldwide. It can be used with learners of all ages, but it’s particularly well-suited to middle and high school students who are passionate about solving meaningful problems.

The framework is designed to provide educators who have no access to formal training with resources that enable them to enact PBL practices on their own by setting the criteria for the student experience using the following six elements.

1. Intellectual challenge and accomplishment. Students investigate challenging problems or issues over an extended period of time. I recommend two to three weeks for teachers new to the process. Throughout this period, they should develop the essential content knowledge and concepts central to academic disciplines. Therefore, I encourage teachers to have students use the thinking routines and problem-solving strategies they typically use (e.g., Blooms, design thinking, scientific Inquiry, computational thinking) to think critically in their content area.

2. Authenticity. Projects focus on real-world connections that are meaningful to students—including their cultures and backgrounds . Additionally, the tools and techniques they employ mimic those used by career professionals. By inviting experts into the classroom and having students assume authentic career roles (e.g., engineer, doctor, auto technician), they can learn valuable career pathway options and see how their work and the solutions they develop impact others.

3. Public product. The students’ final products are presented to the public as a culminating event. This means the work they produce is seen and discussed with the broader community—including parents, industry professionals, other classes, administrators, and community members.

When students know that others will see their work, this may motivate them to put their best foot forward. Public products are not limited to presentation nights—student work can be displayed as public art, as exhibits, or online via social media, YouTube, and safe school websites.

4. Collaboration. Working with others is a PBL hallmark where students collaborate with both adults and their peers in a number of different ways. Adults serve as mentors and guides and can include teachers, community members, or outside experts. In teamwork between students , each learner contributes their individual skills and talents. I find that learners of all ages need good collaboration tools— team contracts and task lists are an excellent place to start.

5. Project management. Students help manage the project process, using tools and strategies similar to those used by adults. I’ve seen teachers using several tools for assisting learners in keeping their work organized—good ones include scrum boards , using design thinking during the ideation process, and maintaining important documents in Google Classroom and Schoology.

I’ve also found that some learners benefit greatly from keeping a daily schedule before attempting to help manage projects. As students’ capacity for self-management increases, teachers take on the role of facilitator, helping guide students through the process rather than directing it.

6. Reflection. The learning process is enhanced by frequent reflections that help students think about their progress and how to improve their work. I like to have them complete products in drafts and jump-start reflection through critique protocols —this helps learners retain content and skills longer and gives them the awareness of how they learn best by using reflection for metacognition. Other methods for reflection may include journaling, the 3-2-1 strategy , and the one-minute paper .

“Framework first, mindset second” is a powerful principle I use for helping colleagues understand that having good general guidelines for doing something new is the prerequisite to developing second-nature expertise. The HQPBL framework can be a good place to start for beginning to use PBL as a research-informed instructional approach.

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments

Annotated Bibliography
Analyzing a Scholarly Journal Article
Group Presentations
Dealing with Nervousness
Using Visual Aids
Grading Someone Else's Paper
Types of Structured Group Activities
Group Project Survival Skills
Leading a Class Discussion
Multiple Book Review Essay
Reviewing Collected Works
Writing a Case Analysis Paper
Writing a Case Study
About Informed Consent
Writing Field Notes
Writing a Policy Memo
Writing a Reflective Paper
Writing a Research Proposal
Generative AI and Writing
Acknowledgments

Reflective writing is a process of identifying, questioning, and critically evaluating course-based learning opportunities, integrated with your own observations, experiences, impressions, beliefs, assumptions, or biases, and which describes how this process stimulated new or creative understanding about the content of the course.

A reflective paper describes and explains in an introspective, first person narrative, your reactions and feelings about either a specific element of the class [e.g., a required reading; a film shown in class] or more generally how you experienced learning throughout the course. Reflective writing assignments can be in the form of a single paper, essays, portfolios, journals, diaries, or blogs. In some cases, your professor may include a reflective writing assignment as a way to obtain student feedback that helps improve the course, either in the moment or for when the class is taught again.

How to Write a Reflection Paper . Academic Skills, Trent University; Writing a Reflection Paper . Writing Center, Lewis University; Critical Reflection . Writing and Communication Centre, University of Waterloo; Tsingos-Lucas et al. "Using Reflective Writing as a Predictor of Academic Success in Different Assessment Formats." American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 81 (2017): Article 8.

Benefits of Reflective Writing Assignments

As the term implies, a reflective paper involves looking inward at oneself in contemplating and bringing meaning to the relationship between course content and the acquisition of new knowledge . Educational research [Bolton, 2010; Ryan, 2011; Tsingos-Lucas et al., 2017] demonstrates that assigning reflective writing tasks enhances learning because it challenges students to confront their own assumptions, biases, and belief systems around what is being taught in class and, in so doing, stimulate student’s decisions, actions, attitudes, and understanding about themselves as learners and in relation to having mastery over their learning. Reflection assignments are also an opportunity to write in a first person narrative about elements of the course, such as the required readings, separate from the exegetic and analytical prose of academic research papers.

Reflection writing often serves multiple purposes simultaneously. In no particular order, here are some of reasons why professors assign reflection papers:

Enhances learning from previous knowledge and experience in order to improve future decision-making and reasoning in practice . Reflective writing in the applied social sciences enhances decision-making skills and academic performance in ways that can inform professional practice. The act of reflective writing creates self-awareness and understanding of others. This is particularly important in clinical and service-oriented professional settings.
Allows students to make sense of classroom content and overall learning experiences in relation to oneself, others, and the conditions that shaped the content and classroom experiences . Reflective writing places you within the course content in ways that can deepen your understanding of the material. Because reflective thinking can help reveal hidden biases, it can help you critically interrogate moments when you do not like or agree with discussions, readings, or other aspects of the course.
Increases awareness of one’s cognitive abilities and the evidence for these attributes . Reflective writing can break down personal doubts about yourself as a learner and highlight specific abilities that may have been hidden or suppressed due to prior assumptions about the strength of your academic abilities [e.g., reading comprehension; problem-solving skills]. Reflective writing, therefore, can have a positive affective [i.e., emotional] impact on your sense of self-worth.
Applying theoretical knowledge and frameworks to real experiences . Reflective writing can help build a bridge of relevancy between theoretical knowledge and the real world. In so doing, this form of writing can lead to a better understanding of underlying theories and their analytical properties applied to professional practice.
Reveals shortcomings that the reader will identify . Evidence suggests that reflective writing can uncover your own shortcomings as a learner, thereby, creating opportunities to anticipate the responses of your professor may have about the quality of your coursework. This can be particularly productive if the reflective paper is written before final submission of an assignment.
Helps students identify their tacit [a.k.a., implicit] knowledge and possible gaps in that knowledge . Tacit knowledge refers to ways of knowing rooted in lived experience, insight, and intuition rather than formal, codified, categorical, or explicit knowledge. In so doing, reflective writing can stimulate students to question their beliefs about a research problem or an element of the course content beyond positivist modes of understanding and representation.
Encourages students to actively monitor their learning processes over a period of time . On-going reflective writing in journals or blogs, for example, can help you maintain or adapt learning strategies in other contexts. The regular, purposeful act of reflection can facilitate continuous deep thinking about the course content as it evolves and changes throughout the term. This, in turn, can increase your overall confidence as a learner.
Relates a student’s personal experience to a wider perspective . Reflection papers can help you see the big picture associated with the content of a course by forcing you to think about the connections between scholarly content and your lived experiences outside of school. It can provide a macro-level understanding of one’s own experiences in relation to the specifics of what is being taught.
If reflective writing is shared, students can exchange stories about their learning experiences, thereby, creating an opportunity to reevaluate their original assumptions or perspectives . In most cases, reflective writing is only viewed by your professor in order to ensure candid feedback from students. However, occasionally, reflective writing is shared and openly discussed in class. During these discussions, new or different perspectives and alternative approaches to solving problems can be generated that would otherwise be hidden. Sharing student's reflections can also reveal collective patterns of thought and emotions about a particular element of the course.

Bolton, Gillie. Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development . London: Sage, 2010; Chang, Bo. "Reflection in Learning." Online Learning 23 (2019), 95-110; Cavilla, Derek. "The Effects of Student Reflection on Academic Performance and Motivation." Sage Open 7 (July-September 2017): 1–13; Culbert, Patrick. “Better Teaching? You Can Write On It “ Liberal Education (February 2022); McCabe, Gavin and Tobias Thejll-Madsen. The Reflection Toolkit . University of Edinburgh; The Purpose of Reflection . Introductory Composition at Purdue University; Practice-based and Reflective Learning . Study Advice Study Guides, University of Reading; Ryan, Mary. "Improving Reflective Writing in Higher Education: A Social Semiotic Perspective." Teaching in Higher Education 16 (2011): 99-111; Tsingos-Lucas et al. "Using Reflective Writing as a Predictor of Academic Success in Different Assessment Formats." American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 81 (2017): Article 8; What Benefits Might Reflective Writing Have for My Students? Writing Across the Curriculum Clearinghouse; Rykkje, Linda. "The Tacit Care Knowledge in Reflective Writing: A Practical Wisdom." International Practice Development Journal 7 (September 2017): Article 5; Using Reflective Writing to Deepen Student Learning . Center for Writing, University of Minnesota.

How to Approach Writing a Reflection Paper

Thinking About Reflective Thinking

Educational theorists have developed numerous models of reflective thinking that your professor may use to frame a reflective writing assignment. These models can help you systematically interpret your learning experiences, thereby ensuring that you ask the right questions and have a clear understanding of what should be covered. A model can also represent the overall structure of a reflective paper. Each model establishes a different approach to reflection and will require you to think about your writing differently. If you are unclear how to fit your writing within a particular reflective model, seek clarification from your professor. There are generally two types of reflective writing assignments, each approached in slightly different ways.

1. Reflective Thinking about Course Readings

This type of reflective writing focuses on thoughtfully thinking about the course readings that underpin how most students acquire new knowledge and understanding about the subject of a course. Reflecting on course readings is often assigned in freshmen-level, interdisciplinary courses where the required readings examine topics viewed from multiple perspectives and, as such, provide different ways of analyzing a topic, issue, event, or phenomenon. The purpose of reflective thinking about course readings in the social and behavioral sciences is to elicit your opinions, beliefs, and feelings about the research and its significance. This type of writing can provide an opportunity to break down key assumptions you may have and, in so doing, reveal potential biases in how you interpret the scholarship.

If you are assigned to reflect on course readings, consider the following methods of analysis as prompts that can help you get started :

Examine carefully the main introductory elements of the reading, including the purpose of the study, the theoretical framework being used to test assumptions, and the research questions being addressed. Think about what ideas stood out to you. Why did they? Were these ideas new to you or familiar in some way based on your own lived experiences or prior knowledge?
Develop your ideas around the readings by asking yourself, what do I know about this topic? Where does my existing knowledge about this topic come from? What are the observations or experiences in my life that influence my understanding of the topic? Do I agree or disagree with the main arguments, recommended course of actions, or conclusions made by the author(s)? Why do I feel this way and what is the basis of these feelings?
Make connections between the text and your own beliefs, opinions, or feelings by considering questions like, how do the readings reinforce my existing ideas or assumptions? How the readings challenge these ideas or assumptions? How does this text help me to better understand this topic or research in ways that motivate me to learn more about this area of study?

2. Reflective Thinking about Course Experiences

This type of reflective writing asks you to critically reflect on locating yourself at the conceptual intersection of theory and practice. The purpose of experiential reflection is to evaluate theories or disciplinary-based analytical models based on your introspective assessment of the relationship between hypothetical thinking and practical reality; it offers a way to consider how your own knowledge and skills fit within professional practice. This type of writing also provides an opportunity to evaluate your decisions and actions, as well as how you managed your subsequent successes and failures, within a specific theoretical framework. As a result, abstract concepts can crystallize and become more relevant to you when considered within your own experiences. This can help you formulate plans for self-improvement as you learn.

If you are assigned to reflect on your experiences, consider the following questions as prompts to help you get started :

Contextualize your reflection in relation to the overarching purpose of the course by asking yourself, what did you hope to learn from this course? What were the learning objectives for the course and how did I fit within each of them? How did these goals relate to the main themes or concepts of the course?
Analyze how you experienced the course by asking yourself, what did I learn from this experience? What did I learn about myself? About working in this area of research and study? About how the course relates to my place in society? What assumptions about the course were supported or refuted?
Think introspectively about the ways you experienced learning during the course by asking yourself, did your learning experiences align with the goals or concepts of the course? Why or why do you not feel this way? What was successful and why do you believe this? What would you do differently and why is this important? How will you prepare for a future experience in this area of study?

NOTE: If you are assigned to write a journal or other type of on-going reflection exercise, a helpful approach is to reflect on your reflections by re-reading what you have already written. In other words, review your previous entries as a way to contextualize your feelings, opinions, or beliefs regarding your overall learning experiences. Over time, this can also help reveal hidden patterns or themes related to how you processed your learning experiences. Consider concluding your reflective journal with a summary of how you felt about your learning experiences at critical junctures throughout the course, then use these to write about how you grew as a student learner and how the act of reflecting helped you gain new understanding about the subject of the course and its content.

ANOTHER NOTE: Regardless of whether you write a reflection paper or a journal, do not focus your writing on the past. The act of reflection is intended to think introspectively about previous learning experiences. However, reflective thinking should document the ways in which you progressed in obtaining new insights and understandings about your growth as a learner that can be carried forward in subsequent coursework or in future professional practice. Your writing should reflect a furtherance of increasing personal autonomy and confidence gained from understanding more about yourself as a learner.

Structure and Writing Style

There are no strict academic rules for writing a reflective paper. Reflective writing may be assigned in any class taught in the social and behavioral sciences and, therefore, requirements for the assignment can vary depending on disciplinary-based models of inquiry and learning. The organization of content can also depend on what your professor wants you to write about or based on the type of reflective model used to frame the writing assignment. Despite these possible variations, below is a basic approach to organizing and writing a good reflective paper, followed by a list of problems to avoid.

Pre-flection

In most cases, it's helpful to begin by thinking about your learning experiences and outline what you want to focus on before you begin to write the paper. This can help you organize your thoughts around what was most important to you and what experiences [good or bad] had the most impact on your learning. As described by the University of Waterloo Writing and Communication Centre, preparing to write a reflective paper involves a process of self-analysis that can help organize your thoughts around significant moments of in-class knowledge discovery.

Using a thesis statement as a guide, note what experiences or course content stood out to you , then place these within the context of your observations, reactions, feelings, and opinions. This will help you develop a rough outline of key moments during the course that reflect your growth as a learner. To identify these moments, pose these questions to yourself: What happened? What was my reaction? What were my expectations and how were they different from what transpired? What did I learn?
Critically think about your learning experiences and the course content . This will help you develop a deeper, more nuanced understanding about why these moments were significant or relevant to you. Use the ideas you formulated during the first stage of reflecting to help you think through these moments from both an academic and personal perspective. From an academic perspective, contemplate how the experience enhanced your understanding of a concept, theory, or skill. Ask yourself, did the experience confirm my previous understanding or challenge it in some way. As a result, did this highlight strengths or gaps in your current knowledge? From a personal perspective, think introspectively about why these experiences mattered, if previous expectations or assumptions were confirmed or refuted, and if this surprised, confused, or unnerved you in some way.
Analyze how these experiences and your reactions to them will shape your future thinking and behavior . Reflection implies looking back, but the most important act of reflective writing is considering how beliefs, assumptions, opinions, and feelings were transformed in ways that better prepare you as a learner in the future. Note how this reflective analysis can lead to actions you will take as a result of your experiences, what you will do differently, and how you will apply what you learned in other courses or in professional practice.

Basic Structure and Writing Style

Reflective Background and Context

The first part of your reflection paper should briefly provide background and context in relation to the content or experiences that stood out to you. Highlight the settings, summarize the key readings, or narrate the experiences in relation to the course objectives. Provide background that sets the stage for your reflection. You do not need to go into great detail, but you should provide enough information for the reader to understand what sources of learning you are writing about [e.g., course readings, field experience, guest lecture, class discussions] and why they were important. This section should end with an explanatory thesis statement that expresses the central ideas of your paper and what you want the readers to know, believe, or understand after they finish reading your paper.

Reflective Interpretation

Drawing from your reflective analysis, this is where you can be personal, critical, and creative in expressing how you felt about the course content and learning experiences and how they influenced or altered your feelings, beliefs, assumptions, or biases about the subject of the course. This section is also where you explore the meaning of these experiences in the context of the course and how you gained an awareness of the connections between these moments and your own prior knowledge.

Guided by your thesis statement, a helpful approach is to interpret your learning throughout the course with a series of specific examples drawn from the course content and your learning experiences. These examples should be arranged in sequential order that illustrate your growth as a learner. Reflecting on each example can be done by: 1) introducing a theme or moment that was meaningful to you, 2) describing your previous position about the learning moment and what you thought about it, 3) explaining how your perspective was challenged and/or changed and why, and 4) introspectively stating your current or new feelings, opinions, or beliefs about that experience in class.

It is important to include specific examples drawn from the course and placed within the context of your assumptions, thoughts, opinions, and feelings. A reflective narrative without specific examples does not provide an effective way for the reader to understand the relationship between the course content and how you grew as a learner.

Reflective Conclusions

The conclusion of your reflective paper should provide a summary of your thoughts, feelings, or opinions regarding what you learned about yourself as a result of taking the course. Here are several ways you can frame your conclusions based on the examples you interpreted and reflected on what they meant to you. Each example would need to be tied to the basic theme [thesis statement] of your reflective background section.

Your reflective conclusions can be described in relation to any expectations you had before taking the class [e.g., “I expected the readings to not be relevant to my own experiences growing up in a rural community, but the research actually helped me see that the challenges of developing my identity as a child of immigrants was not that unusual...”].
Your reflective conclusions can explain how what you learned about yourself will change your actions in the future [e.g., “During a discussion in class about the challenges of helping homeless people, I realized that many of these people hate living on the street but lack the ability to see a way out. This made me realize that I wanted to take more classes in psychology...”].
Your reflective conclusions can describe major insights you experienced a critical junctures during the course and how these moments enhanced how you see yourself as a student learner [e.g., "The guest speaker from the Head Start program made me realize why I wanted to pursue a career in elementary education..."].
Your reflective conclusions can reconfigure or reframe how you will approach professional practice and your understanding of your future career aspirations [e.g.,, "The course changed my perceptions about seeking a career in business finance because it made me realize I want to be more engaged in customer service..."]
Your reflective conclusions can explore any learning you derived from the act of reflecting itself [e.g., “Reflecting on the course readings that described how minority students perceive campus activities helped me identify my own biases about the benefits of those activities in acclimating to campus life...”].

NOTE: The length of a reflective paper in the social sciences is usually less than a traditional research paper. However, don’t assume that writing a reflective paper is easier than writing a research paper. A well-conceived critical reflection paper often requires as much time and effort as a research paper because you must purposeful engage in thinking about your learning in ways that you may not be comfortable with or used to. This is particular true while preparing to write because reflective papers are not as structured as a traditional research paper and, therefore, you have to think deliberately about how you want to organize the paper and what elements of the course you want to reflect upon.

ANOTHER NOTE: Do not limit yourself to using only text in reflecting on your learning. If you believe it would be helpful, consider using creative modes of thought or expression such as, illustrations, photographs, or material objects that reflects an experience related to the subject of the course that was important to you [e.g., like a ticket stub to a renowned speaker on campus]. Whatever non-textual element you include, be sure to describe the object's relevance to your personal relationship to the course content.

Problems to Avoid

A reflective paper is not a “mind dump” . Reflective papers document your personal and emotional experiences and, therefore, they do not conform to rigid structures, or schema, to organize information. However, the paper should not be a disjointed, stream-of-consciousness narrative. Reflective papers are still academic pieces of writing that require organized thought, that use academic language and tone , and that apply intellectually-driven critical thinking to the course content and your learning experiences and their significance.

A reflective paper is not a research paper . If you are asked to reflect on a course reading, the reflection will obviously include some description of the research. However, the goal of reflective writing is not to present extraneous ideas to the reader or to "educate" them about the course. The goal is to share a story about your relationship with the learning objectives of the course. Therefore, unlike research papers, you are expected to write from a first person point of view which includes an introspective examination of your own opinions, feelings, and personal assumptions.

A reflection paper is not a book review . Descriptions of the course readings using your own words is not a reflective paper. Reflective writing should focus on how you understood the implications of and were challenged by the course in relation to your own lived experiences or personal assumptions, combined with explanations of how you grew as a student learner based on this internal dialogue. Remember that you are the central object of the paper, not the research materials.

A reflective paper is not an all-inclusive meditation. Do not try to cover everything. The scope of your paper should be well-defined and limited to your specific opinions, feelings, and beliefs about what you determine to be the most significant content of the course and in relation to the learning that took place. Reflections should be detailed enough to covey what you think is important, but your thoughts should be expressed concisely and coherently [as is true for any academic writing assignment].

Critical Reflection . Writing and Communication Centre, University of Waterloo; Critical Reflection: Journals, Opinions, & Reactions . University Writing Center, Texas A&M University; Connor-Greene, Patricia A. “Making Connections: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Journal Writing in Enhancing Student Learning.” Teaching of Psychology 27 (2000): 44-46; Good vs. Bad Reflection Papers , Franklin University; Dyment, Janet E. and Timothy S. O’Connell. "The Quality of Reflection in Student Journals: A Review of Limiting and Enabling Factors." Innovative Higher Education 35 (2010): 233-244: How to Write a Reflection Paper . Academic Skills, Trent University; Amelia TaraJane House. Reflection Paper . Cordia Harrington Center for Excellence, University of Arkansas; Ramlal, Alana, and Désirée S. Augustin. “Engaging Students in Reflective Writing: An Action Research Project.” Educational Action Research 28 (2020): 518-533; Writing a Reflection Paper . Writing Center, Lewis University; McGuire, Lisa, Kathy Lay, and Jon Peters. “Pedagogy of Reflective Writing in Professional Education.” Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (2009): 93-107; Critical Reflection . Writing and Communication Centre, University of Waterloo; How Do I Write Reflectively? Academic Skills Toolkit, University of New South Wales Sydney; Reflective Writing . Skills@Library. University of Leeds; Walling, Anne, Johanna Shapiro, and Terry Ast. “What Makes a Good Reflective Paper?” Family Medicine 45 (2013): 7-12; Williams, Kate, Mary Woolliams, and Jane Spiro. Reflective Writing . 2nd edition. London: Red Globe Press, 2020; Yeh, Hui-Chin, Shih-hsien Yang, Jo Shan Fu, and Yen-Chen Shih. “Developing College Students’ Critical Thinking through Reflective Writing.” Higher Education Research and Development (2022): 1-16.

Writing Tip

Focus on Reflecting, Not on Describing

Minimal time and effort should be spent describing the course content you are asked to reflect upon. The purpose of a reflection assignment is to introspectively contemplate your reactions to and feeling about an element of the course. D eflecting the focus away from your own feelings by concentrating on describing the course content can happen particularly if "talking about yourself" [i.e., reflecting] makes you uncomfortable or it is intimidating. However, the intent of reflective writing is to overcome these inhibitions so as to maximize the benefits of introspectively assessing your learning experiences. Keep in mind that, if it is relevant, your feelings of discomfort could be a part of how you critically reflect on any challenges you had during the course [e.g., you realize this discomfort inhibited your willingness to ask questions during class, it fed into your propensity to procrastinate, or it made it difficult participating in groups].

Writing a Reflection Paper . Writing Center, Lewis University; Reflection Paper . Cordia Harrington Center for Excellence, University of Arkansas.

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Helpful Videos about Reflective Writing

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Models of work-based learning, examples and reflections

Journal of Work-Applied Management

ISSN : 2205-2062

Article publication date: 1 March 2016

The purpose of this paper is to identify a number of different models of work-based learning (WBL) in operation at the University of Chester and provides two examples of university-employer partnership where WBL is used as the principal means for bringing about change in the workplace.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on the experience of one UK University with significant WBL provision and outlines the evolutionary development of a number of different models of WBL designed to meet the specific needs of employers and individual students.

The paper reflects on the distinctive contribution of WBL in higher education to bring about change to the culture and working practices of two public organisations, thereby improving performance and developing new ways of working.

Practical implications

It will also consider the impact of WBL on learners often giving them a greater sense of their own identity and professionalism and point to the way in which WBL challenges the university as much as it challenges employer partners.

Social implications

Widening access to higher education and increasing participation in HE.

Originality/value

The identification and description of a number of different models of WBL in operation in the HE sector.

Organizational change
Higher education
Work-based learning

Models of WBL

WBL partnerships
Work-related learning

Major, D. (2016), "Models of work-based learning, examples and reflections", Journal of Work-Applied Management , Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 17-28. https://doi.org/10.1108/JWAM-03-2016-0003

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Published in the Journal of Work-Applied Management . This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

Work-based learning (WBL) in higher education

Among the most significant changes which have occurred in UK Higher Education over the past 30 years is the introduction and development of WBL [1] into the university curriculum. While this has not been fully embraced in all universities it is, nevertheless, now recognised as a key way in which the gap between higher education and the world of work can be bridged. UK governments over the past three decades have also recognised this and have found ways of incentivising universities to develop their WBL provision. The latest initiative is the Higher Level Apprenticeship which places the onus on employer representative bodies to lead on the design of the curriculum and to work in partnership with universities for refinement and delivery.

While there is still a need to continue to “market” WBL with businesses and organisations (many of whom still do not have links with universities or appear to know of the possibilities of working with them), many are now cooperating with the HE sector and benefitting from it, especially in the areas of staff development, project development and where there is a perceived need for change management and/or cultural change. Thus, the idea of taking the university into the workplace is one that is no longer a rare occurrence but an increasingly common one and one that benefits both in terms of growth in knowledge capital and human and social capital ( Garnett, 2009 ).

The business of universities is, of course, about knowledge and learning. University research centres have always been a key way in which higher education works with industry, public service, and many other areas through knowledge transfer. In terms of learning, the emphasis has been on preparing students within the university through undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral and post-doctoral levels of learning and fitting them to enter into full-time employment. The innovation that has occurred through WBL is that the workplace itself becomes the site of learning and the subject of the curriculum. It provides the opportunity for individuals to not only develop themselves professionally but to access the opportunity to gain credit for their learning to contribute towards university qualifications. For businesses and organisations, the opportunity is given to work with the university to advance organisational aims whether they concern the benefits of having a more informed and better qualified workforce, engaging in a more concerted way with project development, or bringing about change within the organisation. The university also benefits through increasing its knowledge capital, improving its widening participation agenda and increasing its student numbers, and providing opportunities for academic staff to engage more with the world outside the university.

Universities, however, need to be flexible and malleable if they are to work successfully with businesses and organisations. They need to be able to demonstrate that they have something of real value to offer and that they can be accommodating in terms of fitting in with the employers’ needs. A one size fits all approach may not do. Hence the University of Chester has developed a number of different models for engaging with both individual learners and business sponsored cohorts of learners. It has tried to take the idea of “demand led” provision seriously, working with employers to deliver models of WBL that best suit the needs of the employer partner. While using the generic term, WBL, it does not necessarily envisage just one method for approaching learning in the workplace. It is equally comfortable with the term Work Applied Learning and/or Work-Based Action Learning which may foreground Action Research as a principal approach to learning and problem solving and bringing about change ( Abraham, 2012 ). It also sees a place for more traditional teaching methods where work-related learning (WRL) [2] may be the most efficient means of advancing learning in order to carry out a project or solve a work-based problem. Whether using WBL techniques or more conventional class-room-based teaching methods, the driving force is always the same, namely to take the University into the workplace and, through the learning of individual employees, enable the business or organisation to develop and change in accordance with the demands placed upon it.

History of WBL at Chester

WBL was introduced into the University of Chester undergraduate curriculum some 35 years ago as a four-week work placement on a pass/fail basis. In 1990 the University received some government funding to develop a model of WBL for undergraduates on non-vocational degree programmes enabling them to access academic credit for their learning through work ( Department of Employment, 1993 ). The underpinning idea for the original model was the maintenance of a dialogue between the students’ learning experiences in the workplace and the more theoretical understandings of the university in order to develop the skills of reflective practice. (This was facilitated by four days per week in the placement and one day per week in the university over an eight-week period.) For example, students would bring back observations about the different ways in which senior staff in the placement organisation managed and led. This would lead to seminars on styles of leadership and management where students would be introduced to theoretical perspectives and encouraged to reflect on their experiences in the light of the ideas, models and concepts of others. Other topics for consideration would emerge on a weekly basis. While this model operated well during the pilot stage it was difficult to integrate it into the systems of the University, to allow students the freedom to undertake placements at a distance from the University, and to satisfy employers who preferred students to be full-time in the workplace. Nevertheless, this principle of reflective practice remained and remains today as the basis of the model of learning through WBL.

In order to work within the constraints of the University and to meet employer and student expectations, what had become known as the Support Programme (the one day per week in the University) was front-loaded as a week within the University of tutor-led work-shops and seminars introducing students to a whole range of ideas that should prove useful to them during their work placement. This start to the placement period is still used today. It draws on social psychology to aid the students’ understanding about themselves and others, about team roles, and about the development of negotiating skills. It may draw on theories within the field of business and management to aid the students’ understanding of how organisations work and are managed and led but, above all, it seeks to develop in students an understanding of critical reflection and what it is to be a reflective practitioner, and generally to help them to develop their employability skills and to enhance their prospects of gaining worthwhile employment at the end of their degree studies ( Major, 2005 ).

The opportunity to undertake accredited WBL as part of a full-time undergraduate degree programme is a distinctive feature of the Chester offer and the model of placement learning established during the pilot phase continues to this day, enabling some 1,200-1,500 undergraduates each year to gain academic credit towards their level five studies.

From this understanding of WBL and, to some extent, as a result of student demand (especially part-time master degree students, some of whom expressed the view that, while they mostly enjoyed the programmes they were on, the content was determined for them and it did not always prove relevant to their professional learning needs, and attendance at the University for teaching sessions were not always scheduled at times convenient to them), further developments in WBL were considered. Students had asked why it was that, as mature adults and professionals, they could not be offered learning opportunities which gave them more control over the time, place and context for their learning.

At the same time there was also a move on the part of a small number of other universities to offer more flexible forms of learning through WBL for people in full-time employment. Through links with Middlesex University who had begun to develop their WBL provision in this direction, Chester developed a WBL framework and programmes which it named Work-Based and Integrative Studies (WBIS). The aim of this initiative was to enable mature students to have more flexible learning opportunities, giving them the power to negotiate with the University the content of their programme driven by their own perceived personal and professional learning needs. While the aim was to facilitate experiential learning through WBL it maintained the opportunity for students to elect to integrate more traditional forms of University-based study through the selection of modules from across the range of the University’s module portfolio, assuming that those selected made for a coherent programme and that the student had the necessary prerequisites to undertake the study (hence the use of “Integrative” within the WBIS framework title).

The WBIS framework and programmes was validated in 1998 and provided for the full range of undergraduate and postgraduate academic qualifications from the Certificate in HE through to full master awards.

To accommodate the development of WBL, and as a result of some further pump-priming government funding, and success in securing a number of contracts, the Centre for Work-Related Studies (CWRS) was established by the University in the year 2000. This became the principal hub for much of the University’s outreach activities with its influence also extending within the University itself where other departments began to develop their own programmes based on WBIS in order to facilitate their engagement with employers within their own spheres of expertise and practice. The number of students currently engaged on WBIS and its off-shoots in other Faculties is in the region of 2,000 making the University of Chester one of the largest centres of WBL provision in the UK HE sector ( White, 2014 ). With a strong academic team, the Centre launched in 2008 its Postgraduate Certificate in WBL facilitation principally intended for employer partners delivering in-house education and training, for Further Education College tutors delivering Foundation Degrees and other University accredited qualifications, as well as being available for academic staff from other universities and those interested in developing their understanding and expertise in the field of WBL ( Major et al. , 2011 ).

the individual model;

the distance learning model;

the in-house model;

the integrated model; and

the co-delivery model.

Individual model

This is the standard delivery model where a learner enrols on a negotiated WBL programme and has his/her learning facilitated by a University tutor. The usual starting point is the self-review and negotiation of learning module which has a part diagnostic function ensuring that the learner enters a programme at the appropriate level and is working towards an achievable award. A module introducing learners to WBL study (skills and approaches to WBL) is also offered prior to the commencement of the negotiated programme. The programme itself may include taught modules from the wide range of subjects on offer across the University, assuming that the learner meets the necessary prerequisites for the module and that the modules chosen are cognisant with the overall aim of the programme and provide for a coherent learning pathway. The CWRS also has a wide range of pre-validated work-related learning modules at its disposal. However, the principal focus on the majority of negotiated programmes is what the Centre calls Negotiated Experiential Learning Modules through which WBL tasks and projects are undertaken. If they wish, learners are able to take the Exit Review and Forward Planning Module as the last in their programme of study. Looking back on previous learning and looking forward to new learning reflects the spirit of Lifelong Learning and aids the process of continuous personal and professional improvement.

Distance learning model

By definition, WBL is almost inevitably also distance learning in that the site of learning is the workplace rather than the University. However, “distance” is a relative concept and while, with the individual model as described above, learners may live within a reasonable travelling distance of the University and, therefore, be able to visit for tutorials and attendance at lectures (should Taught modules be included in their individually negotiated programmes), those living some distance from the University or those who are European or International students, may require the full distance learning model. Given that the Centre can deliver all of its core modules (e.g. self-review and negotiation of learning, skills and approaches to WBL, etc.) through distance learning and that it also has many of its own Taught WRL modules for delivery on-line, and that Negotiated modules can be discussed and agreed through face-to-face meetings on Skype or FaceTime and through the use of e-mails and telephone, distance is overcome and learners can, in principle, be based anywhere in the world.

In-house model

The in-house model is similar to the individual model as described above but, in this case, the University provides a learning facilitator who works off-site and as part of the learning and development team within a large business or organisation. Learners are likely to be on individually negotiated programmes facilitated exclusively by the University though the learning undertaken will be negotiated with both the learner and the employer. In some cases, employers may request a rolling programme of taught modules that reflect business needs and objectives. Through this model, the Centre is able to take the University into the workplace and, in so doing, help to break down barriers between higher education and industry and help to change the perceptions of individuals as to what university study entails.

Integrated model

This is where, through a formal contract, the University effectively seconds a tutor/learning facilitator to a business or organisation to work as part of an in-house learning and development team. The early stages of such an arrangement are likely to be about consultancy in the area of staff development with a view to facilitating change within the organisation. The result may be the joint design and joint delivery of a training programme which may or may not carry academic credit depending on the decisions of the organisation. As implied, this model is normally only employed on a long-term arrangement and in cases where both parties have analysed thoroughly the costs, risks and advantages of such a partnership arrangement.

Co-delivery model

This is where a business or organisation wishes to deliver its own programme of learning and has appropriately academically qualified staff able to teach at HE level. The content of a programme is interrogated by a University tutor, negotiated with the deliverer to ensure level and learning outcomes are appropriate and presented within the University’s modular framework accompanied by a clear rationale for the programme and a written report from an external adviser with expertise in the negotiated curriculum. It is then presented to an Approval Panel (typically consisting of a senior Quality representative as Chair, senior representatives of Registry and Finance, the PVC for External Affairs or his/her nominee, an external consultant and in-house academic representation) established by the University especially for the authorisation of WBIS programmes, with academic staff of the Centre and representatives of the organisation present to answer questions.

Once approved, the staff of the organisation responsible for delivery is required to undertake a training programme provided by the University. This is a quality measure focussing on the facilitation of learning through WBL and the assessment of learners using the assessment strategies and criteria approved by the University. Once the organisation’s delivery-staff have been through this process they are made Associate Tutors of the University. This is a formal HR process which effectively contracts the deliverers to the University on an unpaid basis ultimately giving the University the right to have them removed as members of the delivery team should they not be fulfilling their duties appropriately (the UK QAA requires that universities have measures in place to enable them to “reach out and control”). Responsibility for the delivery of the programme is then handed over to the partner organisation with support from the University. First marking of assignments is undertaken by the deliverer with the University in the role of second marker and retaining full control over marks submitted to Awards Boards. A link tutor maintains regular contact with the organisation and the University has full responsibility for quality assurance ( Talbot et al. , 2014 ).

This is the model used most frequently by the University when working with businesses and organisations ( Table I ).

Examples of the integrated model and the in-house model

The examples have been chosen to indicate the depth and sustainable nature of the work undertaken with two organisations both concerned to offer professional development opportunities to their respective staff and to bring about positive change in the organisations and to address organisational aims and priorities.

Example 1: the integrated model

The first example follows the pattern of the integrated model referred to above. The University responded to an invitation to tender for work with an agency of a large government department. The agency in question had responsibility for the distribution of benefits for disabled people and their carers and the key function of a group of 1,500 employees was to make decisions about the eligibility of applicants and the amount of benefit awarded. For a number of years this process had not run smoothly with many decisions being challenged by applicants and taken to tribunals where a significant number of decisions were overturned. Audit officers refused to engage further with the service because of constant failure to implement recommendations and the matter was raised in parliamentary committee. Thus, a decision was taken to bring in a partner to work with the agency in order to improve the performance of the decision makers (DMs) and the University of Chester was selected and given a three-year contract. A significant factor in awarding the contract to the University seems to have been the fact that, at interview, rather than telling the agency what needed to be done and how the University had the expertise to do it, the Chester team acknowledged the difficulties the agency faced, admitted that they had no ready-made solution to their problems, but offered to work with them to try to improve the situation. This seemed to resonate with the agency which was not looking for someone to relieve them of the responsibility to get things right but for a partner who would work with them offering advice and insight into the problems they faced and helping them to find a way forward for themselves.

It was agreed at the outset that cultural change was essential and the first thing that was undertaken was a review of the existing training programme DMs had to undertake after appointment. This consisted of a six-week lecture programme where trainee DMs attended from 9.00 a.m. until 5.00 p.m. each day, receiving information from doctors about a whole range of medical conditions and their effects, from lawyers about legal matters, from civil servants, from expert DMs, and so on. At the end of this they were deemed to be trained and ready to take on a full case load without further interventions.

Without doubt, decision making of the sort that was required is a complex matter. Prior to civil servants being appointed to do the task, it had been done by medical doctors specially trained for the role. However, an early decision was made that practically all of the information disseminated during the six-week block training could be made available on-line and accessible to DMs as and when they needed particular knowledge of a medical condition or a legal matter. Given the attention span of an audience, plus the huge amount of information made available to them, it was agreed that lectures were probably not the most effective way of ensuring a sound basis for decision making.

After much debate, it was considered that a training programme should be devised that built on the knowledge and expertise of the workforce and aimed to focus on sharpening the DMs considerative and deliberative skills and thinking processes, especially developing in them more advanced capabilities in critical thinking and critical reflection as well as developing a greater empathetic awareness through direct contact with applicants (a move that had previously been resisted). The training programme consisted of attendance at a number of workshops, together with a programme of WBL. It was also agreed that team working should be introduced with particularly complex cases coming under the scrutiny of more than one DM. (Prior to this each DM was regarded as working directly on behalf of the government minister responsible for the department with no interventions.)

The overall aim was to develop a set of standards and to ensure that DMs had the capability to work to them, constantly seeing themselves as learners and professionals working within a community of practice. DMs were assessed in the context of real-life decision making, which required them to present cases and justify their decisions to their assessors demonstrating the process by which they had arrived at a decision. The majority of DMs qualified with a University Professional Certificate (60 credits at level 4) in Professionalism in Decision Making and Appeals ( Table II ).

While the aim was to hand over the delivery of the training programme to the agency learning and development team at the end of three years, so much progress was being made through the partnering of University and Business that it was decided that an extension to the contract should be requested. This was granted for a further two years and then, despite the collapse of world financial markets and the on-set of austerity government, two further one-year contracts were granted and the work continued until the government decided to sell off the agency to a private contractor.

This was profoundly disappointing given the huge improvements that had been made in respect of the original reasons for engaging the University in the first place. Evidence showed that far fewer cases were going to tribunal and for the majority of those the original decisions were upheld. There was also a feeling amongst the DMs themselves that they were now professionally and academically qualified to fulfil their role and this gave them a greater pride in their work and greater self-satisfaction.

As a matter of interest, the company that took over the agency was relieved of its contract following a large number of complaints about delays in decision making and the poor quality of the decisions. The company that replaced it has also discovered the challenges involved in taking on this responsibility.

In summary, it was agreed by both partners that the training programme had achieved a number of key developments. For example, it had brought about cultural change within the organisation and it had put learning at the heart of the business. Various monitoring and evaluation exercises were carried out by the agency during the seven years of the contract and these showed vast improvement in the quality of decisions, fewer cases going to tribunals and, of those that did, fewer original decisions being overturned. A key development for the DMs themselves was that they felt that the role had become thoroughly professionalised and given them a status comparable to that of other professions ( Perrin et al. , 2009 ).

Example 2: the in-house model

This follows the pattern of the in-house model described above. The Centre has been working with a large hospital in the North West of England for more than 15 years offering in-service, non-clinical, professional development opportunities for all staff including managers, administrators, nurses, midwives and, at times, doctors and surgeons. The opportunity came about when the Centre was approached by the manager in charge of education and training at the hospital. She had heard about the WBIS framework and thought it an ideal complement to their existing programme. The Centre agreed to a University WBL tutor joining the hospital education and training team on the basis of two to three days per week (depending on work-load) and were given a contract that allowed them to draw down fee income on the basis of an agreed number of module enrolments. This model (with some variations) continues today despite changes in management and budget cuts.

Essentially, with this model, the Centre works with individual learners, though each year a programme of Taught Work-Related Learning modules is agreed with the hospital so that the organisation’s needs, as well as individual learning needs, are being addressed and hopefully met. For example, the list below shows some of the most frequent requests coming from the employer as well as the learners.

communication skills;

effective workplace teams;

stress and stress management;

negotiation skills;

transition and change management; and

strategies for building effective workplace leadership.

self-review and negotiation of learning (introductory);

skills and approaches to WBL (preparatory);

negotiated experiential learning modules (work-based learning projects and tasks); and

exit review and forward planning (final module of a programme including providing a plan for further learning).

Over the years, the Centre has developed a bank of literally hundreds of WRL modules, the majority of which reflect the nature of the businesses and organisations it has been working with and the demands and complexities of daily working life. Such modules include Conflict Resolution, Organisational Structure, Culture and Change, Leading People Through Change, Team Building and Leadership, and Developing Emotionally Intelligent Leadership. Some modules, such as Action Learning Facilitation, are designed to provide a skill base for learners to form groups to solve their own workplace problems and issues.

An interesting coincidental factor is that some of these WRL modules bring together hospital staff from all walks of life. This offers interest from the point of view of group dynamics because many different cultures appear to operate within the one organisation and, to some extent, a silo mentally exists which means that the various professional groupings interact mainly exclusively. The typical delivery model for a module is a two-day workshop followed by an agreed period of WBL/experiential learning with negotiated learning outcomes leading to the completion of an assignment. Workshop sessions bring together hospital staff from all walks of life in a common cause and this really does have the impact of breaking down perceived barriers to communication between the various professional groupings.

These Taught WRL modules are widely advertised among staff who can apply for them (usually after consultation with their line manager) and use them as part of their individually negotiated programme of WBL supported by the in-house University tutor working as part of the organisation’s learning and development team. University tutors with relevant expertise are brought in to run the workshops and mark assignments.

In summary, this particular arrangement has achieved a number of key things. For example, the organisation considers that it helps them to address their business objectives and to improve staff performance. It also considers that it helps to facilitate change within the organisation and provides an important means of professional development for hospital staff. As previously mentioned it also helps to break down the silo mentality that appears to exist between the various professional groupings and, thus, improve communications.

From the perspective of the University, it widens access to and increases participation in HE (especially for non-graduate nurses, midwives and administrators and some managers) and it helps to produce a more rounded and engaged workforce through the development of key areas such as critical thinking, critical reflection including critical self-reflection and critical action all susceptible to growth and development through programmes of WBL.

Reflections

In both of the examples considered, WBL is used as the principal means for bringing about change in the workplace. This raises the important issue as to what is the distinctive contribution of this form of learning that helps to bring about change to the culture and working practices of organisations, thereby improving performance and developing new ways of working. Some preliminary thoughts are to do with the practice-based nature of WBL and the way in which it identifies alternative ways of doing things (that is what education does, namely it helps us to see things from more than one perspective). WBL also offers a form of learning that is immediately relevant to professional and working life, and it does not automatically provide the learner with theoretical answers to questions they have not asked, leaving them to work out both the questions and the answers for themselves. If working practices start to change as a result of WBL, this is the beginning of a change in culture (e.g. from individual to team working – that is a cultural shift).

Both the examples considered also yielded information about the impact WBL has on individuals raising the issue as to what is it about this way of learning that so often gives learners a greater sense of their own identity and professionalism. Again, some preliminary thoughts are that it offers a form of education that starts from and builds on to what people know (it does not start from the premise of what they do not know), for example the Chester Self-Review module, and the incorporation of credit for prior learning. Identifying what you do and what you know, and seeing how others value this, can be a very self-affirming process. WBL also puts people in charge of their own learning and allows them to work in areas that are immediately relevant to them and their learning needs. It also combines both epistemology and ontology (through growth in knowledge and self-knowledge via critical thinking, critical reflection, critical self-reflection, and critical action) which, in turn, help to define graduateness ( Major, 2002 ).

In examples such as those given, it is the case that WBL also challenges higher education and the businesses and organisations themselves. For example, university systems are generally speaking not geared up for WBL. Their comfort zone is full-time undergraduates on three- or four-year degree courses. Universities also tend to get very nervous about quality issues when engaging in partnerships of any sort and can become preoccupied with ensuring that their processes and procedures are so robust that external agencies could not possibly find fault and bring adverse publicity on their heads. There is also the interesting issue of the colonisation of knowledge outside of their expertise and control and how to deal with this to ensure maintenance of standards and full quality assurance.

From personal observations and conversations with employers over time, it would seem that for them the challenges may include issues to do with blending learning with work (after all, education is not their main concern), and how to provide a supportive environment for learning. It may also challenge the ability of businesses and organisations to cope with independent thinkers, all holding views about how to do things differently (WBL can be subversive in that it may challenge accepted conventions). Sometimes it may require a leap of faith (can a non-specialist organisation really assist my specialist business?).

The aim of this paper has been to show how one institution of higher education is forging links with the world of business and responding to the claim that university-level learning so often fails to meet the expectations of employers in terms of graduate skills and capabilities. It is also, hopefully, showing how responding to the not unreasonable expectations of government that universities have a role to play in supporting the societies and economies of the communities they serve, is possible. In particular, the paper has tried to show the importance of listening carefully to the requirements of prospective employer partners in order to respond more precisely to meeting their needs rather than presenting them with an inflexible offer. For the majority of employers the university is not the first place they will turn to if they are facing change and feel they need external help and support. Through the means of WBL, it is possible to modify the thinking of employers and their understanding and expectations of what universities have to offer them especially at times when they are facing change and uncertainty.

Summary table showing main characteristics of the models

Chart showing comparison of pre-WBL development programme with the WBL development programme

Work-based learning is defined here as fully accredited, negotiated, modules or programmes of planned learning through work delivered by higher education providers. It allows for informal learning where that learning is carefully identified and evidenced and assessed for credit for prior experiential learning as part of a planned programme of work-based learning, and where that prior learning is deemed to be relevant to, and congruent with, the planned outcomes of study. This definition implies that students are assessed using explicit assessment criteria against agreed learning outcomes and requires evidence of learning such that equals any other subject or field of study within the higher education curriculum.

Work-related learning is defined here as modules or programmes of study where aims, learning outcomes and content are designed to support the development of knowledge and understanding of matters directly related to the work context but which are taught through workshops, seminars and lectures in the more conventional environment of a class-room.

Abraham , S. ( 2012 ), Work-Applied Learning for Change , AIB Publications , Adelaide .

Department of Employment ( 1993 ), Work Based Learning for Academic Credit: A Dissemination Document , ISBN 1-870529-15-4 , Department of Employment , Her Majesty’s Stationery Office .

Garnett , J. ( 2009 ), “ Contributing to the intellectual capital of organisations ”, in Costley , G. and Workman , B. (Eds), Work Based Learning: Journeys to the Core of Higher Education , Middlesex University Press , London , pp. 226 - 238 .

Major , D. ( 2002 ), “ A more holistic form of higher education: the real potential of work based learning ”, The Journal of Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning , Vol. 4 No. 3 , pp. 26 - 34 .

Major , D. ( 2005 ), “ Learning through work based learning ”, in Hartley , P. , Woods , A. and Pill , M. (Eds), Enhancing Teaching in Higher Education: New Approaches for Improving Student Learning , Routledge , London , pp. 16 - 25 .

Major , D. , Meakin , D. and Perrin , D. ( 2011 ), “ Building the capacity of higher education to deliver programmes of work based learning ”, Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning , Vol. 2 , UVAC , Bolton .

Perrin , D. , Weston , P. , Thompson , P. and Brodie , P. ( 2009 ), Facilitating Employer Engagement through Negotiated Work Based Learning , Higher Education Funding Council for England , Bristol .

Talbot , J. , Perrin , D. and Meakin , D. ( 2014 ), “ Risk management and cultural virtue in HE co-delivery arrangements ”, Quality Assurance in Education , Vol. 22 No. 2 , pp. 109 - 124 .

White , G. ( 2014 ), On Chester on: A History of Chester College and the University of Chester , University of Chester Press , Chester .

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Reflection Paper On Project Based Learning

The main focus of my practicum was Project Based Learning (PBL). In the 113 hours logged for this practicum, I spent the majority of it in the Math/Science Partnership classes that were held by the Southeast Education Consortium led by LaCosta Potter. Throughout the course, our Oakes team, which consisted of 9 members comprised of four high school staff, and five from the elementary staff, traveled to Fargo to get a deeper knowledge of what PBLs are. Prior to the class, I had little to no experience with PBLs, other than it seeming to be one of the latest buzzwords in education . Shortly after hosting our first PBL event in Oakes, we had our first full day session on PBLs. Going into the event, we were intentionally given little information on what our expectations were and what the timeline of the day would be. This caused a lot of uneasiness in myself and my colleagues. Teachers are supposed to be prepped and have a plan to follow. This type of day was not the norm for me, or how I would typically conduct myself. Naturally, the day started off with chaos and disorganization, but eventually everyone, teachers included, began to find their roles and dig into the project. In the class that followed our first PBL, we learned that John Hattie’s “Effects” can be both good and bad. Hattie’s Effects range from the amount of sleep students get to teacher’s expectation of student success. It gave me a sense of relief that, even though our day wasn’t completely planned as

Integrated Project Reflection

At the beginning, my writing was pretty poor, I only can speak that time and I have never had good grades on writing. Integrated Project has helped me a lot to improve my writing in variety ways. For example, every class I write at least one paragraph “what have I learned today in this class”. Every day notes are becoming more and now it is more easily to write big assignment or essay. Second, this class helped me to analyze and translate information more clearly and fast. Thirdly I have learned what is “brainstorm”, and now I’m making ideas more fast than when I just came to the GIST collage. Furthermore, I started to put my sentences more carefully, because in the past my readers started to getting confuse with my assignment or essay. The

Service Learning Project Analysis

The first objective that my service learning project can relate to is objective five. This is to analyze the historically and morally necessary forces of change that brought an end to slavery and segregation, as well as second-class citizenship for women and people of color (Course Objectives, 2015). Bringing the history of slavery and segregation to the forefront may be difficult at times, but it is important to know just how far America has come. Understanding and analyzing the events that abolished segregation also allows individuals to consider racial tensions that still arise in current society.

Tstc Vs Cano

At Cano, the teachers heavily emphasized “Project Based Learning” in their classrooms. In theory, this method of teaching is supposed to help prepare students for the real world by forcing people to work with others and communicate with each other in order to get the project completed. However, in reality, most of the students didn’t care and would leave the project up to the one or two people who actually wanted a good grade. While they did nothing but play on their phones, the one or two people would be burdened with the task of completing the project by themselves. To counter this, teachers would tell their students that they would be graded on their own individual part of the project and wouldn’t have to worry about the other group members messing up their grade. What they failed to realize was that most people can’t do it by themselves. They need the rest of the group to help and do their part of the project in order to complete their own. Because of this, I spent many sleepless nights working on projects that should have been done by a team, not by one person. Cano did a horrible job at preparing me for high school. Very rarely did I ever get individual assignments or homework, so once I went to high school and saw how much work I needed to do, I wasn’t ready. At TSTC, most of the professors use individual assignments and hardly ever give group assignments. This way, I saw how I was doing as a

Change Reform Initiative Examples

The class still lacks a vision, among other weaknesses. Teachers are just barely entering into the acceptance stage of The Change Curve (nd)--a few occasionally revert back to the anger stage when frustrated by the lack of direction and planning. The principal speaks about collaboration often, but this change initiative was not a collaborative effort. Acknowledging that, the principal may have been able to better support the staff through the change by at least listening to teachers through the Denial Stage and supported them through the Doubt Stage, as advised by Gentry in “Coaching People Through the Change Curve” (nd). Time has allowed the teachers to accept that advisory is now a part of our semester. But, looking ahead to next week, we still only know which group of students will come to our room for thirty minutes on Monday and to check our emails for lesson

Implementing Mandatory Council Meeting Of All Plc Teams

One thing that is a for certain in education is changes will take place. Education mirrors the world we live in, and that is, change is inevitable. However, this process is not always accepted by the entire staff of a school and may be found burdensome to others. As a teacher leader, when certain changes in the school take place regarding a rule, the entire staff needs to come together to ensure the rule is being implemented and enforced. One such change that is happening at my school is the once a week mandatory meeting of all PLC teams. The decision to implement mandatory PLC meetings did not go over well with all teachers. When a school makes a rule or policy change, there are parts of the organization, such as the political, human resource, and cultural perspective that feel the effect.

Project Based Instruction : A Great Match For Informational Texts By Nell K. Duke Essay

“Those who have characterized instruction tasks express dismay about the focus on low-level facts and skills and the omnipresence of worksheets in American classrooms” (Blumefeld, 1991, p. 370). Whenever I think about my own educational experiences, I remember thinking how what I was learning in school was separate from the outside world. Oftentimes this made learning difficult as I found myself finding the topics uninteresting and wondering if I would ever use this information in real life. I constantly tried to learn new information through route memorization and struggled with remembering information that I had previously “learned”.

My Reflection On Hispanic American Students

In addition to band and orchestra my course load included music appreciation. While students enrolled in the electives student government, dance, art and music remained in their chosen elective for the entire year, those who did not choose a year long elective were placed on a rotating schedule of electives that changed every 12 weeks. The music appreciation course I taught was part of this rotating elective schedule. During the first session I based my curriculum on the music appreciation text approved by the district. As the class progressed I found that most of the students had little interest in the musical concepts. I tried a variety of teaching techniques to spark the students’ interests, but the result contained work hastily completed if it was completed at all. I was unsatisfied with the results of the first session and decided to change my teaching approach for the next set of

Whenever I think about my own educational experiences, especially k-12, I think about all the textbooks I read and all the tests I took. I remember thinking how what I was learning in school was a separate entity from the outside world. Oftentimes this made learning difficult as I found myself finding the topics uninteresting and would say “when would I ever use this in real life?”. I found myself constantly trying to learn new information through route memorization and struggled with trying to remember information that I had previously “learned”.

Math Success Coach Assessment

I felt that my assessment team was being rushed this semester as we were informed that our point of contact has shifted from our primary contact to a sub sequential contact in the form of two math success coaches. In the fall semester we were unable to get in contact with our primary point of contact, which caused our assessment project to stagnate coming into the spring semester. My team over came this obstacle by going to PCC and communicating with math success coach and our point of contact in person, which began to open the lines of communication for our group. The shift in points of contact to being informed that our assessment project had been assigned to an internal pair of math success coaches confused my group in the purpose of our group. I gain an understanding of patience when trying to acquire information as much of the information that we acquired from the two math success coaches conducting their own assessment of the

Carolina High School Project-Based Learning Model Analysis

Carolina High School, a school with 100% of the population on Free and Reduced Lunch, is currently in year three of the implementation of the project-based learning model. According to English and Kitsantas (2013), “The student’s role in PBL is to take responsibility for their learning and make meaning of the knowledge and concepts they encounter” (p. 131). Additionally the teacher’s role is to facilitate this type of learning through structured activities that stimulate motivation and promote reflection as well as provide meaningful scaffolding, feedback, guidance, and prompts for thinking. Through observation data, it has been noted that when asked, the students cannot articulate the purpose of each activity they are completing within the

“Service-learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities” (Learn and Serve America National Service-Learning Clearinghouse). This assignment gave students the opportunity to go outside of their comfort zone, which is typically the classroom and see what the “real world” is like. As Gandhi would say “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others” (Gandhi). I believe that this project really allowed us to appreciate what we have because many people are not as fortunate. During this service learning project I had certain expectations going into the project, but in the end, my results were not exactly as I expected.

My Practicum At Impact Early College High School In Baytown

My practicum took place on September 7,2016 from nine thirty to ten thirty. The practicum took place at Impact Early College High School in Baytown. The class I observed was Ms. Nguyen’s class of juniors and seniors that contained twenty students, seven boys and thirteen girls. The class appeared to be alert and ready to learn. Since this was their second period class they already had enough time to shake off their fatigue. The subject was Pre-Calculous and the topic was operations of functions. Students entered the classroom in a calm manner and socialized until it was time to start class. The teacher instructed the students to take their seats and take five minutes to write their assignments into their academic calendar. The teacher went

Project Management Reflection

Prior to this course, I thought that in order to manage a project you need to be a project manager. However, this course changed my perspective on project management. As I continue to read the book, I realized that I actually manage many projects, and project management is not only limited to organizations. Throughout our lives, we manage many projects from planning a wedding to building a house, some of those projects may take few days and some may take years to complete. In addition, I also learned that there are no two projects that are alike, each project has it’s own unique elements that set it apart from other projects.

The Importance Of Problem-Based Learning

The main responsibility of a nurse is to offer a various range of health care services which includes provision of health education, prevention against disease, promotion of health condition and treatment of acute illness. (as cited in Ling, Bo, Ying, Shao & Hui, 2014) They are expected to perform a wide range of clinical skills for saving patients’ lives and this requires student nurses to have solid foundation in their learnings. The problem-based learning is defined as the learning that develops from the process of working towards the solution of a given problem (as cited in Ling, Bo, Ying, Shao & Hui, 2014) and its learning approach has been the focus in the nursing education for student nurses’ academic curriculum. This essay argues that problem-based learning and self-directed learning help student nurses to develop critical thinking skills and problem solving competency. The essay also explains that both learning approaches develop student nurses to become effective team collaborators with good communication skills, which will make them grown and achieve higher in professional nursing career. Moreover, it describes how problem-based learning aids student nurses to develop their self-directed learning skills and empowers them to adopt to changes in the workplace and health care practices.

Essay On Project Based Learning

It makes more the students be interested in the topic and motivated to learn. Nowadays, it is usually used by teachers in teaching their subject. 21st century learners are techy and computer literate, the passages of information is faster. The more you used technology and unique programs, the more they listen and participate

Reflection On Project Based Learning

Show More In the completion of this project I am starting to gain more knowledge in implementing project based learning. Among the things I learned is that the project is implemented in the beginning of the unit and should dictate the flow of lesson and activities. It provides context or theme to deliver the different concepts essential for the unit . On the other hand, technology is used to reinforce the context in the form of simulation and modeling as the concepts are introduced and applied in the form of spreadsheet, research or product dissemination at the culmination of the project. I also learned that traditional teaching practices are as important as the newer innovative ways of teaching as both strengthen the delivery of the lessons. For example, my students maintain interactive notebooks to contain vocabulary words and practice solving problems. Additionally, I also set up their Office365 notebook online that contains videos of worked out examples and links to the …show more content… Our group talked to the Math chair about the resources needed such as 10-15 laptops for every class, this number ensures students are working in groups and strong connectivity to the internet. I have opened a repository of resources for every unit to ensure that every teacher can access the materials anytime they need them. I will be meeting with the Assistant Principal for Instructions to make sure that the project aligns with school and district standards and to relay the progress of the group. The Math interventionist in the district has included me in the BIE training and will pay for Mathalicious subscription. She also started a Business and Math cohort that will meet every month to develop PBL curriculum in the Business department. The first months next year will be spent attending trainings and developing second semester units designed for a 2- hour block

Burkburnett Middle School Case Study

2 Burkburnett Independent School District takes pride in being a leader in public education, it has taken on the mission to provide a quality and equitable education to ensure that every child becomes a responsible and productive citizen. Within the district is the one middle school servicing grades 6-8. Burkburnett Middle School (BMS) has a vision; It is to transform learning to inspire all students in an ever-changing world. At BMS, all students will receive an exemplary education through research-based best practices from teachers that are actively engaged in collaboration over student achievement.…

The Accelerated School Project Analysis

According to Jane McCarthy graduate of University of Nevada she states, “Indigenous peoples are spoken for, not spoken with, in regard to their dreams for the education of their children” (p. 123). Jane McCarthy and Helene Johnson tell about their experiences as an outside teacher teaching on the Navajo Nation. The schools on native nations need to ask what the outstanding educational pedagogies are for the native students and how to implement those practices into the classroom instruction. The Accelerated School Project makes changes to the school curriculum, instruction, and organization which the Navajo Nation School didn’t do so well due to the disconnection with mainstream schools. The Native communities need to come together as a culture…

Sulfur Creek Academy Summary

2.0 Sulfur Creek Academy Summary Sulfur Creek Academy (SCA) is a non-profit organization invested in providing safe, secure learning environment for private school students working on a general educations degree (GED) in rural communities in South, Texas. SCA has selected to bring the Live Oak Community Center online for private school families as a centralized learning center. SCA is a small woman owned business, which employs four staff who specializes in software development for academic applications, video courses, and creates learning events for a wide variety of age groups. SCA has a computer technician on its payroll with multiple software certifications in A+, COMPTIA, and Microsoft certifications MCTS, MCITP, Server, and Microsoft…

Kayla Delzer: A Change In The Classroom

Take a look at a typical elementary classroom, there are blank walls, straight rows of desks, and the teacher's podium is place at the front of the room to show ownership or authority. That is it. Now take a look at a 20th century schoolhouse classroom. It has the same basic feel to it as the classroom from today has. With the changing of our culture and technologies, there needs to be a change in our classroom settings as well.…

Self Reflection On Group Activities And Team Project Students

group activities and team projects students can have self-reflection on how well they put input into the work. Teachers can also reflect of what works with groups and what kind of roles the students excel at. I also learned and will implement team project processing forms. The forms are filled out by each team member and they determine how well they and their team worked together. It can also have the students come up with ways that the team can work better next time.…

Mr Thathamkulam Case Study

We extended the orientation process to 5-6 week program, with each week focusing…

New Tech Characteristics

"Phil Schlecty (1994), says students who are engaged exhibit three characteristics: (1) they are attracted to their work, (2) they persist in their work despite challenges and obstacles, and (3) they take visible delight in accomplishing their work" (Strong, Silver, & Robinson, 1995). As I read Levin & Scrum's (2012) description of New Tech High School, I could see each of these characteristics being exhibited on their campus. Kennedy et al. (2006) (as cited in Papa, 2011) stated that schools are not prepared to educate a new generation of students who are well-versed in emerging technology, and this is incompatible with current teaching practices (p. 131). The New Tech High School in Napa Valley, utilized advanced technological and teaching…

Student Growth Plan Paper

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Art-Integrated Multi-Faceted Math Workshop Model

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PLC Summary

After analyzing the data, it is evident that the school has a skeleton of a PLC. The staff is willing to hear new ideas, however, there is not a strong enough leadership to start implementing the ideas. The focus of this design will be a math PLC with three different grade levels. There will be one kindergarten teacher, one first grade teacher, one second grade teacher, one third grade teacher, two fourth grade teachers, one fifth grade teacher and one member of the ILT (instructional lead teacher). This PLC will focus on the shared personal practice that correlates with math instruction.…

Personal Statement: A Career As An Arts Educator

My vision as an Arts Coordinator is to assist in the development of and promote creativity and critical thinking by providing an engaging curriculum that challenges students. In the time I have been teaching I have taught across R-12, assisting primary and secondary teachers with Visual Arts and teaching primary drama classes. I thrive on opportunities to improve my practice and support others with theirs, this is evident through my high participation and dedication to training and development and my part time study of a Master’s in Education. I aim to promote highly effective teaching and learning pedagogies to improve student achievement and engagement through sharing my research and leading professional development workshops. High expectations…

The Importance Of Technology By Turkle

What narrative is built? Turkle builds and explains a narrative throughout her book that essentially states technology is taking away the importance of conversation and therefore our students and kids all around lack empathy. We do not need to necessarily get rid of technology to build empathy in our students and children, but we need to be able to still live our lives as we normally would have before all of this new technology, while still being able to find a happy balance between using technology and not having technology at all. Throughout the book, Turkle provides us with examples and metaphors of three different aspects of the human experience and life using Thoreau’s metaphor of three chairs; solitude, friendship and society. While…

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Jennifer Chen

Art is the Window to the Soul

Reflection on Inquiry-based learning

Since the program has started, the top three keywords heard most often are inquiry, collaboration and reflection. Inquiry-based learning has widely been used in western schools. This pedagogy is fundamentally different from what I experienced in Chinese schools, where I received knowledge passively.

There are apparent advantages of inquiry-based learning as assessing one’s prior knowledge, stimulating motivation, as well as enhancing self-learning skills, therefore potentially increasing engagement. Students are encouraged to question and provide the hypothetical answers, and test these ideas through experiments without fear of failure or making mistakes, either personally or in group. In other words, inquiry-based learning fosters students’ curiosity, deep understanding, collaboration, critical thinking, as well as social skills.

On the other hand, as educators, we need to use this teaching strategy carefully. Students should not be taught only facts, but should be made to understand and explain what they are learning. For example, students not only learn cooking according to recipes but also understand what they do and how they do it. Scaffolding plays an important role especially in teaching through experimentation. Inquiry activities are only successful if they are equipped with the skills to conduct their own study.

When students lack motivation and self-regulation, they tend to be just as happy as they pass the grade rather than be fulfilled with the process of learning. To foster a culture of inquiry, teachers should encourage students to challenge themselves to get out of their comfort zone, and create a non-judgmental atmosphere, especially in diverse and multi-cultural schools.

What I learned from the Group Presentation was:

Don’t let activity distract student’s attention away from the topic. Some activities require physical movement or vigorous actions that may make it easy for students to pay more attention to the form of activity, but neglect the content.
Don’t try to put everything in one class or make the questions too broad. Give scaffolding during the development of discussion.
Not only questions but also visual images can increase student’s curiosity and motivation towards learning.
Inquiry is just the opening. Don’t linger on the opening too long. Move to the main topic at the proper time.
Wrap up the whole section with summary and make students understand the purpose of activity and how that works to engage them into the depth of topic.

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Reflective Practice in Project-based Culture Learning: Content and Quality of Reflection

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Reflection Paper On Project Based Learning

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Tstc Vs Cano

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Project Based Instruction : A Great Match For Informational Texts By Nell K. Duke Essay