The role of collaborative podcasting in developing student engagement and reflective practices

Reflective practice enhances professional development and competencies (McLeod et al., 2020) and influences individuals' perspectives on thinking and decision-making (Mann et al., 2009;Ng et al., 2015).Social media can transform education, stimulating learning and enabling learners to own their education while extending their professional development (Purvis et al., 2016; 2020).For example, social media can create a rich, collaborative, interactive learning community space that is freely available and accessible to showcase their work to the wider disciplinary field (Beckingham and Nerantzi, 2015;Middleton and Beckingham, 2015) and enhance their employability for graduate readiness after university (Beckingham, 2023).This research explored students' confidence in reflecting on practices in a Level 5 module through co-creating a podcast.Students studying Obesity and Weight Management (n=29) participated in a module-long activity to assist their summative reflective practice assessment.A collaborative podcast episode was created weekly, with students invited to curate the content based on the weekly topic.Students' identities remained anonymous, and ethical approval was obtained from Solent University.Results highlighted a mixed engagement response.However, among those who actively participated and a majority who assumed a passive role as podcast listeners, their reflections benefited positively from this pedagogical method.While some students faced challenges in grasping the connection between the podcast and professional development, the reflection at the end of the semester highlighted the benefits of incorporating social media to enhance student engagement and learning. SumThe role of collaborative podcasting in developing student engagement and reflective practices