Phase J—Taking stock

Goal

"To feed into my future learning and other work, I have taken stock of what has been working well and what needs changing."

Background

Reflective practitioners in any profession pilot new practices, take stock of outcomes and reflect on possible directions, and make plans to revise their practice accordingly. This phase is listed last because it is important not to move on from a project (or meeting, workshop, etc...) without making time to take stock of where you have come and what you might take into the next project. However, taking stock should occur throughout the project.

Processes

Taking stock of your process over the course of the project in order to feed back into your future learning (and other work), including

Feedback to oneself on progress through the sessions/phases
Discussion about the group as a support & coaching structure
Mid-project (mid-semester) self-assessment
Sense of Place map
Written evaluation, beginning with self-assessment
Written self-assessment of goals achieved and further work ahead
Process review, including annotations and cover note

Note: Most of these also contribute to the advisors (instructors) taking stock of how you have learned in order to feed back into their advising (teaching—and their future learning about how students learn).

during the course of the project ("formative evaluation")

Although the self-assessment with respect to Goals of Research and Engagement should be prepared and submitted with your final report, it is also useful to undertake this self-assessment along the way and to attach the latest version with each submission. If there are discrepancies between the advisor's assessment and what you record, this can be noted in their comments on the submission. The discrepancies can be discussed and a shared understanding arrived at.

Discussion early in the project about the group as a support and coaching structure
Individually and as a group, you already know a lot about research and engagement. You can learn a lot from each other and from teaching others what you know. One way to pursue this is to address the question: By what means can the group function as a support and coaching structure to get most participants (students) to finish their reports by the target date (end of the semester)?

Mid-project (mid-semester) Self-assessment

• (This brief self-assessment of your project can be expanded to encompass a report on the gap between where you are and where you would like to be in relation to research organization—both on paper and on your computer—and research and study competencies.)

at end of project

Standard evaluation forms are not very conducive to the participant taking stock of their own process(es). This can, however, be achieved in other, complementary ways:
Sense of place map
Written evaluation of the process or course that begins with a quick self-assessment (as distinct from the extended self-assessment below).
Process review including annotations and cover note

Self-assessment at the end with respect to two sets of goals:

• I. Phases of Research and Engagement; and
• II. Developing as a reflective practitioner, including taking initiative in or through relationships

In the +Δ mode, you should describe two things for each goal:

• one that reflects what you have achieved well related to this goal, and
• one you have struggled with or need more help on or want to work further on.

(Even though you may have many examples for some items, one is enough.)

Optional: After you have written something for all the items, mark in the left margin beside each goal either

• ** [= "fulfilled very well"],
• OK [= "did a reasonable job, but room for more development"], or
• -> [= "to be honest, this still needs serious attention"]

If there are big discrepancies between the advisor's assessment and yours, you should discuss the discrepancies and try to come to a shared understanding about them.

Follow up

Follow up for Phase J is obvious. During the course of the project, you refer back to the Plus of the Plus-Delta to reassure you about the progress you have made and the Delta to remind yourself of changes to be made or tasks to be undertaken. After the end of the project you can do likewise as well as ponder the Sense of Place Map that you might have pinned on the wall above your work area. Gradually the thinking that went into the pictorial elements of that map may be lost to you, but that is nothing to worry about. Perhaps it is simply time to draw a new Sense of Place Map.

All Phases