Postgraduate placement-based dissertations in School of Social and Political Science
Reflective diaries help keep track of personal and project development in placement-based dissertations.
Summary
Students from 16 of the MSc programmes in the School of Social and Political Science can apply to do a placement-based dissertation. The placement happens over the summer after semester 2 and usually lasts for about 8-10 weeks.
When on placement, students will complete a fortnightly reflective diary entry and send this to their academic supervisor and the placement coordinator. These entries may receive formative feedback where necessary. Students are provided with examples of past diaries and a set of areas to touch on while reflecting. At the end of the placement students will hand in their 15,000 word dissertation, of which 3,000 words is a reflective report compiled from the diary entries. The entries can be altered for the final submission
The majority of students who engage with the process generally see the value in it, as it allows thinking differently about their experiences and recognising challenges and issues.
Takeaways may include:
- Reflective diaries with rolling deadlines can support both student development and help to ensure a placement is on track.
- Require and help facilitate time and space for reflection as it might not happen otherwise.
- Be ready and willing to support students who find it hard to reflect.
- Examples of past successful diaries can be a good support for students.
| Location of practice: |
Placement dissertation (60 credits) for 16 Masters programmes in the School of Social and Political Sciences. |
| Reflectors: |
MSc students who undertake a placement-based dissertation. Around 100 students did the placement dissertation in the 2016/17 academic year. |
| Facilitators: |
Student development officer/Placement coordinator and students’ individual dissertation supervisors. |
| Context: |
While undertaking 8-10 week placements, students write fortnightly reflective diaries. The entries are sent to the placement coordinator and the students’ dissertation supervisors. |
| Time commitment: |
The placement coordinator spends about 5 minutes per entry, and supervisors spend a little longer to provide brief formative feedback and ensure that issues, if any, are dealt with appropriately. On average a student will spend about 1.5 hours to complete one diary entry. |
Context overview
Graduate students on selected MSc programmes can apply to do a placement dissertation. The placement takes place with an external local or global organisation for 8-10 weeks. During their placements students will undertake specific, short-term research projects, which will be the foundation for their MSc dissertation. Previous students have produced briefing papers, literature reviews, policy documents and much more. These practical experiences are excellent opportunities for students to experience theory in a real world context, while developing their employability and a range of valuable skills and abilities.
Reflection in context
Throughout the placements students will submit fortnightly reflective diary entries. The project diary has always been a part of the course and serves multiple purposes.
- It allows the supervisor and placement coordinator to see if the student is on track with the project progression plan and is doing well.
- It allows the student to explain and describe issues that may arise. This can be beneficial in the marking process, especially for the external marker, to demonstrate how engaged the student has been with the process.
- Lastly, it allows students to reflect on their development and consider appropriate behaviour in the placement environment. This can include the ability to realise and act according to workplace norms, and being aware of one’s positionality (gender, culture, nationality, etc) in relation to the people the student is interacting with or interviewing.
Introducing and implementing reflection
The project diary is highlighted on the course descriptor so students are aware of it prior to signing up for the placement. During information sessions students are reintroduced to the diary. Students also receive email support with anonymised examples of diaries from past students, as well as being guided to past dissertations for inspiration. All students receive a pre-departure document where the expectation of the project diary is broken down. The diary works well to support the development of skills and keeping the project on track during placements. Students are asked to:
- Track the development of the project and how their actions fit into the overall aims of the placement, commenting on methodological and ethical issues.
- Report on their personal development.
- Identify specific skills that are being developed.
- Analyse any obstacles encountered and how they have attempted to overcome them.
- Lastly, write a description of what is going well.
The placement team is very cautious not to prescribe a ‘right way’ of reflecting and therefore does not provided any required templates or models for reflection. The idea is that students can write the diaries as they wish and seek inspiration from past reports if they need support. If there are clear gaps in their writing, this will receive formative feedback from the supervisor.
Staff note that students seem to be very honest in their reflections but also quite harsh on themselves initially. Throughout the placement the students come to realise how much they have learned.
Some advice the placement coordinator has identified for others implementing reflection within their initiatives includes:
- Create a designated time for reflection. If people don’t have a specific time to do it then they won’t.
- Be ready to help students if they struggle with reflection.
Response to reflection:
Generally, the students find value in the reflective diary. Students mention how it allowed them to think differently about their experience compared to writing the academic aspect of the dissertation. Student report how it forced them to actually reflect, something they otherwise would not have done and how it made them realise challenges and issues, which they then analysed in the dissertation.
However, there is a small proportion of students who don’t seem to engage with or enjoy the process. They say that it adds to the stress of the dissertation, and they don’t see they value in documenting each step.
Assessing reflection
The fortnightly diary entries are expected to be between 500-800 words. When reviewing them, the supervisor will make comments and help with action plans for any issues that might affect the academic aspect of the dissertation. If the diary does not engage critically with reflection, the student may receive formative feedback on their writing and process of reflection.
The 15,000-word dissertation makes up 100% of the course’s mark. Of the 15,000 words, 3,000 is a reflective report built from the diary entries. The students have a chance to edit their entries before the final submission.
Historically, the diary made up 20% of the mark. This was changed as different programmes would attach different importance to it. Now it is a part of the overall impression of the work and the markers can weigh it differently.
While the diary currently does not have any formal assessment criteria, a good diary entry should set the context through a brief description and then move onto reflections about consequences, feelings, implications, and learnings. The diary should be personal and written in the first-person. Although a student may include references if they wish, there is no explicit need to use references as these should be covered in the report. However, in the eyes of the assessor it is more likely that the diaries become ‘too factual and descriptive’ than ‘too emotional’.
Conclusion
The placement dissertation is a unique opportunity for MSc students to take their theoretical knowledge outside the world of academia and use it in practice. The reflective diary is a great way to support students in identifying and developing new skills as well as ensuring students’ projects are on track.
Further information:
Placement-Based Learning (School of Social and Political Science, with links to MSc Placement-Based Dissertations)
Key contacts:
Student Development Office, School of Social and Political Science