Beyond the E word: looking at students' experience of writing reflectively on Work Based Projects in the Humanities. Examining a practical model, guidance and reflective learning diaries to think beyond 'doing employability'.

Abstract

This study builds on the questions raised by Stibbe (2012) in the National Teaching Fellowship extended case study of the Work -based Project Humanities module at Sheffield Hallam University. Using the methodology of an enhanced module evaluation to gather qualitative student responses this paper will consider students' understanding of reflection and how this affects their learning on this module. It will examine examples of reflective diary entries and have direct comment from a second year student, Christina Anderson. It will discuss the unpublished reflective model developed for classroom use by Dr Dave Hurry drawing upon the work of Coldron and Smith (1999). The value and use of reflective writing will be discussed in the context of greater understanding of the employability agenda from both the student perspective and the prevailing attitudes within academia. Through preliminary exploration and information gathering this investigation will frame and inform a future action research study.