Work based projects in the humanities : autonomous learners and satisfied students?

This paper will present the successes, challenges and key lessons learnt from the year-long Work Based Project modules (WBP) in the Humanities. the findings are based on a research project which was funded in the academic year 20109-10 by the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Sheffield Hallam University. This project studied and evaluated second and final year undergraduate Humanities students' learning experience on WBP. The research focused specifically on the students' perceptions of how the WBP experience impacted on their development as autonomous learners, their awareness of skills and attributes in relation to employability, as well as the effect of reflective learning diaries and logs on their personal development processes.