Developing reflective practitioners online : How can anticipatory reflection support an internship?

Walter, Cvetanka and McArthur, Jan (2021) Developing reflective practitioners online : How can anticipatory reflection support an internship? PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

This thesis explores students’ experiences with the online reflective tool Competence Pass (CP) during an internship abroad. Students’ perceptions of CP are important for gaining understanding about how online anticipatory reflection facilitates students’ learning from experience and their competence development during the internship. Adopting a constructivist world view, a qualitative case study design with mixed methods of analysis was utilised. Data was gathered from three sources: interviews, forum posts and journals. The uniqueness of the study comes from: 1) it not being subject-bound, 2) studying a neglected form of reflective practice: reflection-in-anticipation, 3) its focus on the online journaling, and 4) the context being German higher education. The study indicates that the online environment is an accepted space for keeping reflective thoughts and that a structured approach to reflective journaling is appreciated. Engaging in anticipatory reflection can lead to students making progress on critical engagement with their internship and to co-creating their learning experience more consciously. By setting goals and a plan to achieve them, students feel more aware of their strengths and weaknesses as well as better prepared for the new situations that they might face during the internship. The proposed framework for reflection-in-anticipation for the further development of CP and its core arguments are of relevance to academics designing online reflective tools for internships in various fields. To be effective, online reflective journals should be co-created by educators and learners alike, assist learners with structured reflection, allow the user to personalise their design and content, and encourage social reflection at work. Including anticipatory reflection in the reflective practice during an internship facilitates pondering, enhances (self-)awareness, enables students to set individual goals, and to bridge the gap between their study environment and their internship.