Developing a Reflective Capacity

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A research project funded by the Higher Education Academy and the Charitable Trusts of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

The research project: overview

'Developing a reflective capacity within undergraduate education: the role of work-based placement learning'.

What happens when a student engages in a year-long, work-based placement? Why do many lecturers perceive a qualitative difference between placement and non-placement students during their final undergraduate year? These are complex questions for which definitive answers are not readily available. Our project focuses on one aspect of the student experience - the role of work-based placement learning in supporting the development of a reflective capacity. Within undergraduate education there is an increasing emphasis on the need for reflection as an integral part of becoming a lifelong learner. It is also an essential element within professional training. (This project is also funded by the Charitable Trusts of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.)

We draw on the work of Marcia Baxter Magolda to link the development of a reflective capacity with a student's "way of knowing". The latter is influenced by cognitive development, as well as interpersonal (how one views oneself in relation to others) and intrapersonal (how one perceived one's sense of identity) development. Thus placements, where students have to "act" in a range of roles and take a variety of independent decisions is highly relevant to examining development in these areas.

Using a questionnaire and interviews, the development of placement and non-placement business studies and accounting students is being compared. Ultimately we seek to use the findings of our research to inform the design of subject-based and work-based learning activities to support the development of a reflective capacity.

Further information

Baxter Magolda, M. (1992) Knowing and Reasoning in College: Gender Related Patterns in Students' Intellectual Development, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.