Online peer-led group reflective practice in higher education: a seminar-based project evaluation

ABSTRACT

This study explores the effects of online Peer-Led Group Reflective Practice (PLGRP) on students undertaking their master’s degree in the UK, during the Covid-19 pandemic. First, it provides an overview of the online seminar-based project called Holistic Academic and Research Reflective Practice (HARRP) which fostered the PLGRP pedagogical approach presented and evaluated here. Next, it delves into the reflective pedagogical approaches that informed the project design, before looking at its effects on students. A qualitative methodology enabled the implementation of an open-ended questionnaire which helped capture students’ thoughts on the project. Results of a thematic analysis suggest that online PLGRP provided opportunities for students to develop their academic and researcher reflexivity, researcher competence as well as their independent and interdependent learning skills. Issues around lack of time to attend seminars and lack of familiarity with working in peer-led reflective groups enabled further suggestions and improvements to the HARRP project. The contribution of this study lies in the way in which PLGRP approach is designed and operationalised with the purposes of helping students make sense of their academic and research journey individually and in groups. This study also shows how individual and peer-led group reflective practices shape one another.

KEYWORDS:

• peer-led group reflective practice
• researcher reflexivity
• online seminar-based projects
• reflective practice
• higher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2022.2116567

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nahielly Palacios

Nahielly Palacios is a Lecturer in Education at the Manchester Institute of Education at The University of Manchester. She specialises in the areas of academic and research reflective practice, researcher reflexivity, teaching and learning online as well as language learning and technology. Her research interests involve teacher professional development, reflection, narration and intercultural sojourns.

Rumana Rafique

Rumana Rafique is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. She teaches in the areas of English for academic purpose (EAP), academic writing, and practicum for pre-service teachers. Her research interest includes the use of learning technology in higher education, CALL teacher education, and reflective practice.

Felix Kwihangana

Felix Kwihangana is a Senior Tutor in Digital Education at the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester. He teaches in the areas of digital education and communication, language learning and technology, qualitative research methods and academic skills development. His research explores language teacher education and development, digital teacher identity and educational technology in under-resourced contexts.

Xian Zhao

Xian Zhao is a PhD student at the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester. Her research interests are intercultural communication, intercultural education, narrative inquiry, and TESOL.