Dr David Bozward

Tag: educational programmes in entrepreneurship

  • Empowering University Students: The Benefits of an Employability-Driven Curriculum with Entrepreneurship and Experimental Learning

    Empowering University Students: The Benefits of an Employability-Driven Curriculum with Entrepreneurship and Experimental Learning

    Introduction

    In today’s competitive job market, universities have a crucial responsibility to equip students with the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed in their chosen careers. One effective approach is to provide a curriculum that integrates employability, enterprise, and entrepreneurship into the academic experience. This holistic approach not only prepares students for the challenges of the professional world but also nurtures their creativity, innovation, and adaptability. In this blog, we will explore the numerous benefits of embedding employability, enterprise, and entrepreneurship within the university curriculum, with a particular focus on experimental learning opportunities and workplace-based learning. Furthermore, we will examine some best practices from around the world that highlight the successful implementation of these strategies.

    1. Bridging the Gap between Academia and the Real World

    Traditional classroom learning often falls short in bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application. By incorporating employability, enterprise, and entrepreneurship into the curriculum, universities can provide students with a deeper understanding of real-world scenarios. This experiential learning approach enables students to apply theoretical concepts to practical situations, fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are highly sought after by employers.

    One example of best practice comes from Stanford University’s Design Thinking program. This program integrates design principles and problem-solving techniques into various disciplines, allowing students to tackle complex challenges with a human-centered approach. Through hands-on projects, collaboration with industry partners, and direct engagement with end-users, students gain valuable experience in addressing real-world problems while developing their entrepreneurial mindset.

    1. Developing a Culture of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

    Entrepreneurial skills are highly valued in today’s dynamic and rapidly evolving job market. Embedding entrepreneurship within the university curriculum encourages students to think creatively, take risks, and explore new opportunities. By engaging students in entrepreneurial activities, such as business plan competitions, incubator programs, or startup internships, universities cultivate a culture of innovation, empowering students to become self-starters and catalysts for change.

    Babson College, located in Massachusetts, USA, is renowned for its comprehensive entrepreneurship programs. Babson integrates entrepreneurship into its curriculum across various disciplines, fostering an entrepreneurial mindset in all students. The college offers dedicated centers for entrepreneurial development, such as the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship, which provides students with resources, mentorship, and networking opportunities. This approach enables students to develop the necessary skills and mindset to identify and seize entrepreneurial opportunities.

    1. Fostering Collaboration and Networking

    The integration of employability, enterprise, and entrepreneurship within the curriculum provides ample opportunities for students to collaborate with their peers, as well as industry professionals. Group projects, networking events, and industry partnerships expose students to diverse perspectives, teamwork, and the chance to build valuable professional relationships. These interactions enhance students’ interpersonal and communication skills, making them better prepared for the collaborative nature of the workplace.

    At the University of British Columbia in Canada, the Engineering Co-op Program stands out as a prime example of effective collaboration and networking. This program integrates academic study with alternating periods of paid work experience related to the students’ fields of study. Through these co-op work terms, students develop both technical and interpersonal skills while building a professional network. This program’s success lies in the strong partnerships the university has developed with industry employers, who actively participate in students’ learning and provide mentorship throughout their work terms.

    1. Building Resilience and Adaptability

    The modern job market is characterized by uncertainty and constant change. Embedding employability and enterprise within the curriculum equips students with the resilience and adaptability necessary to thrive in such an environment. Through experimental learning opportunities, such as internships, co-op programs, or simulated business ventures, students learn to navigate challenges, overcome obstacles, and embrace change. These experiences provide a solid foundation for personal growth and career development, enabling students to confidently face the ever-evolving demands of the professional world.

    The National University of Singapore (NUS) has implemented a comprehensive experiential learning program called the NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC). This program offers students the opportunity to study and work in entrepreneurial hotspots around the world, including Silicon Valley and Beijing. Through NOC, students immerse themselves in a foreign culture, work with startups or multinational companies, and gain a global perspective while building their resilience and adaptability in real-world settings. This program not only provides valuable practical experience but also expands students’ networks and opens up global career opportunities.

    1. Enhancing Career Readiness

    A curriculum focused on employability and enterprise empowers students with essential career readiness skills. By immersing themselves in workplace-based learning, such as internships, apprenticeships, or cooperative education programs, students gain firsthand experience in their chosen fields. This practical exposure not only enhances their technical skills but also hones their professionalism, work ethic, and industry-specific knowledge. As a result, graduates are better equipped to secure employment upon graduation and seamlessly transition into the workforce.

    In Germany, the dual vocational education system is a prime example of effective workplace-based learning. This system combines practical, on-the-job training with classroom instruction, ensuring that students acquire both theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience. Companies actively participate in this system, providing apprenticeship opportunities and mentoring students in a real work environment. This approach not only enhances employability but also addresses the skills gap by aligning education with industry demands.

    1. Cultivating a Culture of Lifelong Learning

    An employability-driven curriculum encourages students to become lifelong learners. By emphasizing the importance of adaptability, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, universities instill in students the desire to continually update their knowledge and acquire new skills throughout their careers. This mindset ensures that graduates remain competitive and adaptable in an ever-changing job market, where continuous learning is essential for professional growth.

    The University of Queensland in Australia has implemented a comprehensive framework known as “UQ Employability.” This initiative focuses on embedding employability skills throughout the curriculum, encouraging students to take ownership of their learning and professional development. The university provides a range of resources, workshops, and career counseling services to support students in developing their employability skills. By adopting a lifelong learning approach, the University of Queensland equips graduates with the necessary tools to navigate the evolving job market successfully.

    Conclusion

    By embedding employability, enterprise, and entrepreneurship within the university curriculum, students are provided with a well-rounded education that prepares them for success in their chosen careers. The benefits of such an approach are numerous, ranging from bridging the gap between academia and the real world to fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and adaptability. Best practices from institutions around the world demonstrate the effectiveness of these strategies in preparing students for the demands of the modern job market. By continuously evolving and incorporating these principles, universities can equip students with the skills and mindset necessary to thrive in their professional journeys.

  • The process of developing a business plan

    The process of developing a business plan

    When I look at the process of creating a new venture, I often see people forget some of the basic elements in the process of developing a business plan.

    The first three steps are:

    1. Opportunity discovery,
    2. Business modelling
    3. Business planning

     

    Opportunity Discovery

    The best idea is the one which provides the best business opportunity. Therefore we are not looking for any idea but an idea which provides the best opportunity.

    Therefore the process of ideation captures the current industry trends and the competitor in and around them. The technology innovation currently applied to this market and the outlook we see in terms of costs and market adoption trends.

    The creative problem solving can not sit in isolation and needs to be surrounded by the context for it to be applied to create an outstanding  value proposition later on.

    Business Modelling

    For most people this is filling out the Business Model Canvas, a tools which provides a powerful view of the business model. But again this is completed in isolation within a full understanding the ecosystem, actors and their behaviours.

    The process of modelling is about understanding the relationship between the key actors within the ecosystem, it doesn’t matter if its designing a new road bridge, a tv or a new products. This dynamic relationship is so important in understanding the processes and metrics to be put in place to plan the business.

    Business Planning

    The core aspects of Business Planning are risk analysis, scenario planning and financial planning. Once these are done the rest, include product design, marketing strategy and operations are secondary.

    All investors want to know you can manage this risk and act accordingly.

    The process of developing a business plan are about understanding the dynamic relationship and how to mitigate the risks they pose to your business. Its not an exercise in writing or filling out the right amount of words in the right sections.

     

    The process of developing a business plan is simple yet so many people get it wrong. Just remember to understand the dynamic nature of business and that your business startup will be connected with these and therefore needs to adjust to maintain a successful course through the early years.

  • Developing a business process diagram for your startup

    Developing a business process diagram for your startup

    As a entrepreneur, you can have a lifestyle of freedom and flexibility not offered to an employee. However, being a owner of a small business also carries greater responsibility with many more tasks to juggle. This means you need to understand the tasks required by everyone around.

    Entrepreneur

    • Planning and Strategy – You are the principal strategist and planner.
    • Finance and Accounting – Depending on the business, some owners can bootstrap and start with a smaller budget, but either way you’ll also need to set up and maintain business bank accounts, payment processing, accounts payable and accounts receivable, and taxes.
    • Legal – From forming a limited liability company to creating legal contracts. You might need to write, review and sign legal contracts and sales agreements.
    • Marketing and Sales – No matter how good your product or service is, you need marketing and sales to drive business. Depending on the business, you could be doing print advertising, public relations, online marketing, networking, cold calling and managing commissioned salespeople.
    • Customer Service – In the beginning, most entrepreneurs are responsible for conducting all of the customer service duties. These include phone calls, email messages and follow-ups concerning product delivery and quality issues.
    • Human Resources – As a small business grows, so do its hiring needs to accommodate more orders and faster growth. The entrepreneur  needs to identify human resources needs, write job descriptions, screen and interview candidates, train, manage and pay employees.

    Customers

    Nurturing relationships with your customers is a crucial part of growing a startup business. In this age of ecommerce and technology innovation, caring for your customers has never been more important.

    The easiest way to get, keep and get your loyal customer to promote your business is to:

    Interact with your customers

    Here are some simple lessons:

    • Keeping your patience is key to giving your customer the time to air out their issue.
    • Do everything in your power to provide excellent service to your customers on an ongoing basis.
    • it’s important to truly listen
    • Treat a Customer Like a Valued Partner
    • Build Trust by alerting your customers to Large Scale Changes, Good or Bad
    • Being transparent in the digital age is a must.
    • No matter the circumstance, the customer is always right.

    Business operations

    This is the core of the business, it handles everything. If you can understand what this does and how it does it, to provide an excellent customer experience each time within budget, your business has the best opportunity for success. Don’t leave any stone unturned in making your operation understandable by ALL stakeholders in the business, staff, shareholders and most importantly your customers.

    business process diagram for your startup
    business process diagram for your startup

    Financial

    Financial planning and cash management is fundamental to a startup.  Perhaps the most challenging part of building a startup is forecasting revenue targets. You can take one of two approaches; a top down and bottom up approach.

    • The top down approach involves identifying comparable companies to yours that have grown to be successful and modeling your revenue growth curve similar to these companies.
    • The bottom up approach makes use of your market research to look at how many customers you can reach, the number you can persuade to work with you and how many you can capture as paying customers.

    The final step in your financial plan is to develop your cash flows. Revenue minus cost of goods provides positive cash and operating expenses and capital expenses (purchase of assets) use up cash. Every startup must have a good view on how much cash they will need to get through each phase of the business.

  • 5 places to run your startup business, on the cheap

    What places to run your startup business?

    When starting out, you only seem to have costs and they keep coming in. The five set of fees are:

    1. Office space
    2. Utilities
    3. Incorporating and legal fees
    4. Accounting costs for the first year in business
    5. Payroll for employees

    So one of the main costs is office space and if we can reduce that we can survive for longer and hopefully last until we start making more money than we spend.

    1. Run your startup business from home. This won’t work for every business, but if it will work for yours it can save you a pile of cash on utilities and rent.
    2. Coffee Shop’s are happy to have you and have good wifi. You also get to meet like minded people and can invite people for meetings in the coffee shop.
    3.  Look out for a business incubator which helps startups by providing them space, mentors and events. These are normally free for a set period.
    4. Spare desk in someone else’s office. A lot of businesses have space and if you can use one or two desks in return for some form of payment, even your manpower it will be cheaper and more flexible.
    5. Find a co-working space where you can rent space as-needed for much less than the cost of a traditional commercial office which is normally looking for 3-5 years.

    Just remember when looking for office space its “Location, location, location.” , which drives home just how important location is when choosing a space for your startup business.

  • Entrepreneurship as a career choice – Millennial Entrepreneurs

    Entrepreneurship as a career choice – Millennial Entrepreneurs

    The Millennials are making the career choice of being an entrepreneur.

    Promoting entrepreneurship as a viable career option and supporting self-employment on an higher educational campus has both community and economic relevance. The role of higher educational campuses to nurture and develop the entrepreneurial and innovative talent is foundation to creating the next generation within our community. The trend is for millennial University students to be empowered to come out of university with an understanding of entrepreneurship, with a view that these skills and knowledge allow them to make informed life choices.

    Millennial Entrepreneurs

    Our Millennial Entrepreneurs understand how to start new businesses and take on the risk and rewards of being an founder.  Entrepreneurs are the dreamers who are fuelled by the desire to pioneer, lead, innovate and invent disruptive technologies and products. The tech savvy millennial wants to work the way then want, the hours they want make the opportunities they want.

    In the 1980s we saw a massive increase in self employed and now their children are following the footsteps or the desire of their parents and opted for a career that was decided by their elders. However, the opening up of the world economy during the 1990’s and the great advances in tech field has had far reaching impact on the way business was done world over.

    Millennial Entrepreneurs Motivation

    These momentous changes are opening up new business creation tools and unexplored business models for the young and ambitious who were not satisfied being put in a single career for their entire life. Young people are drawn towards entrepreneurship because:

    1. The desire to be their own boss and have better control
    2. The motivation to take risks in the changed global environment where unexplored new opportunities were present
    3. The ambition to develop and execute a plan right from the ground level
    4. The aim to do well financially and take their growth trajectory to unprecedented level

    New Venture Creation (NVC) Programmes are available to equip nascent entrepreneurs with the skills necessary to start a scalable business.  These university degrees have been developed by entrepreneurs to support Millennial Entrepreneurs on the entrepreneurial journey, and to develop the entrepreneur within  alongside an in-depth understanding of how to start and run a business.

    Students will be in a class with like-minded Millennial Entrepreneurs developing a strong network of entrepreneurs. Throughout the  degree, the focus will progressively move from entrepreneurial mindset, creativity, venture feasibility and marketing, to business operations, stakeholder communications, sales and growth strategies.

  • 6 ways to find a co-founder

    6 ways to find a co-founder

    Co-founders are normally people involved in the initial launch of startup companies. Anyone can be a co-founder, but frequently co-founders are entrepreneurs, engineers, hackers, funders, web developers, web designers and others involved in the ground level of a new  venture.   The first step in finding your co-founder is to map yours needs.  Make sure you are perfectly clear on what skillsets/resources will be the most important for the success of the startup, and best fill a hole in your own resume and desired management team.

      1. Friends from University – It worked for the guys at Facebook and Google, so just get out and meet other students.
      2. Former co-workers – If you’ve worked together as employees, you might be able to work together as co-founders. You have the history and know each others skill sets.
      3. People you meet over coffee – We see hot beds of startups co-locating themselves in coffee shops, just talk to the guy next to you.
      4. Former co-founders in another venture – There’s no better person to launch with than someone that has started a company before.
      5. Accelerators – Related to some of the other co-working suggestions, simply applying to a startup accelerator can lead to finding a co-founder.
      6. At meet-ups – Tech Meetups are great places to find co-founders and they are easy to find and also go to.
  • What skills do you need to be a successful Entrepreneur?

    What skills do you need to be a successful Entrepreneur?

    When starting a business, we all come at from different directions, at different ages, different backgrounds. There are so many skills required to run your own startup. Successful Entrepreneur skills, are the ones you’ll need to run everything from serving customers to preparing your accounts. Below are listed 13  core skills required in running a startup business and how you might develop your core skill set further. The successful Entrepreneur skills are:

    1. Opportunity Recognition – The recognition of new markets and opportunities, such as a new customers’ need is core to becoming a successful entrepreneur.
    2. Ideation – Ideation is the creative process of generating, developing, and communicating new ideas. Always write your ideas down in a book and come back to them when you can do something about it.
    3. Research & Analysis – This involves both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. Understanding the customers, competitors and costs structure are important in making a startup work.
    4. Resources Identification – Working out the resource requirements then leads to determining what types of resources you will need to start-up and operate your startup.
    5. Risk Analysis – This process of defining and analysing the dangers to your startup business posed by potential natural and human-caused events.
    6. Tactical Planning – As a startup the horizon is low, so focus on this process of outlining business plans for the coming year. This differs from strategic planning as strategic planning encompasses longer-term goals that reflect the company’s direction and its purpose outlined in its mission statement.
    7. Operational Design – Operational design is the first level of strategy implementation and rests upon operational art. This cognitive approach uses your skill, knowledge, experience, creativity, and judgment to develop operations to organise and employ the resources available.
    8. Business Modelling – A business model is the map of how a startup generates revenue and makes a profit from its value proposition. From this a business plan and processes may be derived.
    9. Cash Flow – In the early days of a business maintaining a healthy cash level, liquidity ensure the business survives. Cash is king.
    10. Team Building – As a new business building a team is important, which requires various types of activities used to enhance social relations and define roles within team are developed and maintained.
    11. Branding – Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business, it develops you icon and a connection with your suppliers, customers and financial stakeholders.
    12. Marketing – The communications of you value proposition should generate leads which can be turned into sales.
    13. Negotiating & Selling – Getting the right prices from your suppliers and selling at the right price is fundamental for a startup to grow. These skills go hand in hand together.
  • 7 obstacles experienced by entrepreneurs

    7 obstacles experienced by entrepreneurs

    As an entrepreneur we have lots of do, but sometimes we just do it wrong, we let obstacles get in our way. So what are the typical obstacles we entrepreneurs have to deal with:

    1. Perfectionism – For entrepreneurs, practice doesn’t make perfect; action does. You simply cannot wait until you are 100 percent ready before you take action. Think MVP.
    2. Procrastination –  Sometimes its easier to delay the decision, the action or even dealing with the problem, so each day “Eat the Frog” and take action of the real issues within your business.
    3. Fear – Entrepreneurs’ resolve is tested from the very first step of starting a business. In fact, one entrepreneur compared starting a business to jumping off a cliff and assembling your parachute on the way down.
    4. Worry – As an entrepreneur, worry comes with the territory. In fact, over a third of entrepreneurs told Gallup they worried a lot about yesterday. While worry is a quotidian experience, it is not productive. You have to make peace with the things that concern you, and not let them stop you from taking action and pursuing your dreams.
    5. Financing – Experienced entrepreneurs don’t have it easy when it comes to funding a new business, but they do have a few advantages over newcomers. They might have a pool of capital from a business they previously sold or a steady stream of revenue they can use to fund a new business’s cash flow.
    6. Team building – This is especially hard if you’ve never run or managed a team before, but even if you have management experience, picking the right team for a startup is stressful and difficult. It’s not enough to find candidates who fill certain roles — you also need to consider their cost to the business, their culture fit and how they’ll work as part of your overall team. Such considerations are exceptionally hard when you’re under the pressure of filling those positions as soon as possible.
    7. Decision-making – Believe it or not, this is probably the most stressful challenge on this list. New entrepreneurs are forced to make hundreds of decisions a day, from big, company-impacting decisions, to tiny, hour-affecting ones. Decision fatigue is a real phenomenon, and most new entrepreneurs will experience it if they aren’t prepared for the new level of stress.
  • 5 Sources of funding to start a business

    5 Sources of funding to start a business

    If you are looking to fund your startup and not sure where to start? Here is a quick guide to five potential sources of funding for your small business. I have tried to put them in order with the best way first:

      1. Bootstrapping: Many billionaire entrepreneurs find a way to grow without external financing so that financiers don’t control their destinies or grab a disproportionate slice of the business.
      2. Customers: Advance payments from customers can give you the cash you need, at a relatively low cost, to keep your business growing. Advances also demonstrate a level of commitment by the customer to your operation.
      3. Friends and family members:  If you’re lucky, friends and family members might be the most lenient investors of the bunch. They don’t tend to make you pledge your house, and they might even agree to sell their interest in your company back to you for a nominal return.
      4. Startup Loans: Start Up Loans is a government-funded scheme that fund your startup and mentors entrepreneurs. They have a series of delivery partners  who will help you develop a business plan.
      5. Bank loans:  Banks are like the supermarket of debt financing. They provide short-, mid- or long-term financing, and they finance all asset needs, including working capital, equipment and real estate. However, they typically are not the first place to look for funds for your startup.

    When taking loans to fund your startup from friends and family, banks or another you must, have a written agreement covering every last detail regarding the loan. This includes the loan amount, the repayment period, the amount of each repayment instalment, the interest rate if any, consequences of non-repayment etc.  If in doubt get a lawyer to help you.

  • Why is student led enterprise so important?

    It is universal accepted by policy-makers, businesses and academics that entrepreneurship is an essential skill for the survival and advancement of both large and small businesses. Therefore, an important skill to obtain whilst at university or college. There is also strong evidence exists that educational programmes in entrepreneurship have a positive effect on developing individuals’ entrepreneurial attributes (The Impact of Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurial Intention), raising awareness of career options in entrepreneurship and advancing a positive attitude towards entrepreneurship.

    However, its in the extra curricular activities that the students mindset is developed, through empowerment, self actualization and the further development of the entrepreneurial mindset. This is bore out with the wikipida definition of Entrepreneurship which is the act and art of being an entrepreneur or one who undertakes innovations or introducing new things, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods.

    This means that the development of the entrepreneur is through experimentation, the tried and tested process of trial and error, with reflection and fine running at each stage. Never giving up but also taking a clear judgment of the progress and opportunities. This was presented by Peter Honey and Alan Mumford’s model (based on David Kolb’s model of experiential learning  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_styles).

    This is why student led societies are so important in the development of enterprise within our universities and colleges.  If we list of attributes of an entrepreneur we can start to see why Societies are great places for the development of these skills and why employers should be looking for these students.

    1. Ambition. Society leaders not only want to be successful, they need to be successful, driven by the ambition they put in 70 hour weeks. They are obsessed by their sports, the goals of the society (RAG, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rag_%28student_society%29) and also driven to ensure they will leave the society in better shape than any previous leader.

    2. Persistence. Failure is not an option. However learning from your mistakes, failures and the continual persistence to drive forward to create a winning team. I see societies such as the Eco-House Initiative (http://www.ecohouseinitiative.org/ who gained RBS ESSA Accreditation) who are trying to fix major world problems whilst still a student society.

    3. Creativity. Solving problems is the name of the game. Developing solutions for life’s problems creates opportunities , if its trying to run five minibuses for the team, developing a speaker series (http://manchesterentrepreneurs.org.uk/events) of successful entrepreneur on no budget or organizing twenty committee members to be in one place.

    4.  Tenacity. Everyone learns to the walk the same way, you try to stand, fall over, try again, fall over again and continue with this, many many times until you get it right. You know you will succeed, everyone around you walks. So just be stubborn and get on with it. Again sports teams know this, other societies learn it over a period of time.

    5. Risk tolerance. Life is full of risks, we survive by learning to gauge, understand and control these to an acceptable level. However, it’s the tolerance to risk which is personal, some people like to take larger risks than others. So standing for president of a society may be too risky for some, as failure and ridicule are too much to handle. Others will see this as an opportunity to promote themselves and get to know a wider social circle which ensures the have a more powerful network. The management of the society also handles risk as any other business, and this learning within a society is invaluable when applied to business.

    6. Personality. People like people who like them, so developing your personality whilst at university is, some will say the only reason, the main reason to go to university. Whilst some of the most successful entrepreneurs are geeks, the majority of successful people have a great personality, which engages others. In most societies the leaders are voted in and therefore presenting and conveying your personality is important for a successful outcome.

    7. Communications. In a worlds with several social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, pin interest, Youtube..) and emails coming in from all directions, the average student is very difficult to get hold of. The importance is understanding the medium which works with your community and putting in a way your audience understands.

    8. Leadership. While an entrepreneurial leader organizes and assumes the risk of his or her society, there will likely be others who follow to help make the society a success, typically a management team. Managing members and key team members is an important ingredient for a successful entrepreneur. Motivating the team to take 400 students on a skiing trip (http://theessa.com/case-study/skum-2/#.UV6aFxlAuBU) might sound easy but the research, planning, resource allocation and responsibility can not be under estimated.

    9. Adaptability. The average society has around 200 members from numerous schools which run their own timetable. Change is inevitable and is the only constant in an evolving world. An entrepreneur leader will adapt to technology, market trends, financial pressures and their customers/members. Those that have tried to organize students will know that adaptability is the core skill.

    10. Intuition. Understanding the trends and having an idea of what people want without doing a market survey (Steve Jobs never did one market survey) will allow our entrepreneurial leader to have a vision which others can only buy-in to and also have to follow.

    This is why being part of a society is so important in developing student enterprise and also creating an entrepreneurial environment for students to learn and tune these valuable skills. Enterprise Societies can help create this space for student reflection on their extra curricular activities.