7.10 “If I had my time again”

Students rarely re-examine their project progress and ask how they might have done it differently with improved (or different) outcome.

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This bundle makes explicit reflective activity a deliverable by asking students to note opinion on the whole project process.

The way it works is to require a section of the project report to address the question "How might the work have been conducted differently?". Some element of guidance is necessary when encouraging answers to this, to prevent responses being at a superficial or purely technical level.

It is possible to ask for other questions be addressed as well - "What have you learned?" is a good example.

It works better if there has been genuine reflection on the whole project process, perhaps, but not necessarily, conducted within a supervisory session. It is even better if this is conducted in company with other students of the same cohort, since this encourages them to see differences and similarities in their individual experiences.

It doesn't work unless the reflective practice is genuine. This can easily be undermined of, for example, the responses are seen as part of assessment, in which case formulaic phrases from earlier years that are seen as "successful" may well be delivered instead of true opinion.

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So: devise ways to make students answer the question "What if I had done it differently?"