Reflective practice and international students

The aim of this session is to share the authors’ experiences of a case study that looked at the student learning experience using reflective practice both as a formative and summative assessed component in a postgraduate marketing module with an internationally diverse student body. As part of the Higher Education policy in developing personal development plans (PDPs) and transferable skills, students were asked to reflect on their learning at different points throughout the module. Reflection and PDPs are concepts with which many international students are unaccustomed. There are also cultural stereotypes attached to international students regarding their ability to reflect. When teaching on the module first began, students did not understand what ‘reflection’ meant, were not sure what was required of them, and were apprehensive about sharing personal reflection. The aim of the study was to introduce reflection, practice reflection, and improve reflection as part of the learning experience and ultimately incorporate this into the PDP. Students were given the opportunity to practise reflection at key points within the module both on an individual and group basis and were given appropriate feedback. At the end of the module, students prepared a reflective statement on learning as part of a group project, which was assessed. The session will explore the main findings, what enabled practice to work, challenges faced and lessons learned