All Ireland Society for Higher Education
| Name: | Shelagh Waddington |
|---|---|
| Email: | shelagh.waddington@nuim.ie |
| Institution: | National University of Ireland, Maynooth |
Paul Wright, Paul.Wright@solent.ac.uk
Currently, the PDP agenda is not one that needs to be stringently followed in Irish universities. Therefore, students often have no space within their learning to adequately reflect upon their skills and abilities, in order to prepare themselves for applying for jobs, or to consider the fit of their personal skill set with that required by the world of work.
This GEES funded project centres upon a unit developing methods of geographical research and enquiry to Level Two geographers at NUI, Maynooth. On-going reflection on the process was captured through on-line journals, or blogs. Final assessment in this unit takes the form of a project, and a c.v. building exercise based upon their experiences during the unit. This paper reports upon the mechanics of the project itself, and analyses a number of sets of complimentary student evaluations.
Many students reported a degree of disquiet with the reflective process. Responses suggested that there was a polarisation in opinion as to the role of the reflective process within learning. Further analysis showed that issues of clearer expectations, preparedness with regard to IT skills, and the process of reflection in general were raised. These results appear to be in contradiction of the general literature on student reflection, which tends to focus on the process being positive, affirmative in nature, and helpful to the students. Suggestions as to why this dissonance might have arisen are given.