Mentioning It to Students¶
When, How, and What to Say¶
Whether to Mention It at All¶
This is your professional judgement, and this document does not push you toward a particular answer.
Vestigia is likely to be useful to your students if:
◆ your project module expects some form of reflective practice, decision justification, or process documentation
◇ your students work in groups and are individually assessed on contribution or reflection
◆ your students will need professional portfolios, showcases, or interview preparation after graduation
◇ you have observed that students struggle to explain the thinking behind their project work — not just what they built, but why
Vestigia is likely to be less relevant if:
◆ your project structure is heavily prescribed and students have little latitude in how they document their process
◇ the project is short enough that real-time recording would feel like overhead rather than support
◆ your students are already well-supported by a reflective practice framework that serves the same purpose
If any of the first group resonates and none of the second group is a strong disqualifier, mentioning it to students is unlikely to cause harm and is reasonably likely to be useful.
When to Mention It¶
Timing matters considerably.
The most effective moment — before the project begins¶
Mentioning Vestigia in a pre-project briefing, orientation session, or first supervision meeting gives students the opportunity to use it from the start. The early weeks of a project — problem definition, scope decisions, first architectural or methodological choices — are the hardest to recover from memory and the most worth recording at the time.
Students who hear about Vestigia before their project starts can open Guide A, read Foundations and The Guide, and begin a first entry before their first meaningful work session. The barrier at that point is close to zero.
The second-best moment — early in the project¶
Even if the first week has passed, mentioning Vestigia in the first supervision meeting or the first few weeks of the project semester captures enough of the project to be worthwhile. The decision reasoning and early reflections will be partially lost, but everything from that point forward is capturable.
Late in the project — Guide B may still be relevant¶
If students are already well into their project or approaching completion, Guide A is of limited use — there is not enough project remaining to benefit from the recording practice. However, Guide B may still be highly relevant: students who have any accumulated material, even informal notes, can use Guide B's extraction framework. The result will be thinner than if they had used Guide A from the start, but it is substantially better than approaching a professional showcase from a blank page.
In this case, introduce Vestigia via Guide B directly, and note that the extraction process works with any source material — formal artefacts, informal notes, memory — not only Vestigia records.
Do not introduce Guide A at project completion
Introducing Guide A to students who have just submitted or are in their final week creates false expectations — there is no project left to record. If the timing is late, go directly to Guide B and be honest with students that a portion of the benefit requires earlier engagement. This sets a realistic expectation for them and avoids the frustration of discovering a tool they cannot fully use at the point they encounter it.
How to Frame It¶
The framing you choose will significantly affect how students receive Vestigia.
Frame it as professional preparation, not assessment¶
Students respond better to Vestigia when it is positioned as something that helps them — for interviews, portfolios, and professional conversations — rather than as an additional academic requirement. The latter framing often generates resistance. The former tends to generate genuine interest, particularly from students who are beginning to think about what comes after graduation.
A simple framing that works: "This is a tool that helps you keep track of the thinking behind your project while it's happening — so that when you need to explain it later, in an interview or a portfolio, you actually have something specific to say."
Frame it as optional and lightweight¶
Vestigia is optional, and saying so clearly is more persuasive than hedging. Students who feel coerced into additional work rarely engage with it meaningfully. Students who feel trusted to decide for themselves whether it is useful are more likely to try it genuinely.
A framing that respects this: "This is not something I'm assessing or collecting. It's there if it's useful to you. Some students find it genuinely helpful. Have a look and decide for yourself."
Connect it to something they already face¶
The most effective moment to introduce Vestigia is when it addresses a problem the student is already experiencing or anticipating. Reflection submissions that are due, upcoming interview preparation, the struggle to write individual contribution statements in a group project — any of these is a natural entry point.
"If you're finding it hard to write the individual reflection section [of the report], this is the kind of thing that makes it easier — but only if you start now rather than at submission time."
Suggested Language for Specific Contexts¶
The following are illustrative phrasings, not scripts. Adapt them to your own voice and context.
Pre-project briefing or orientation¶
"Before you dive in, I want to mention something that some students find really useful for managing the thinking behind the project work. It's called Vestigia — it's a framework for keeping brief, honest records during the project, and then turning those records into something professionally useful at the end. It's entirely optional, doesn't get assessed, and doesn't require a specific tool or format. Have a look at the site before your first work session and see if it fits how you work."
First supervision meeting¶
"One of the things I see consistently is that students do a lot of good thinking during the project that never makes it into the final report or presentation — it just disappears. There's a framework called Vestigia that's designed to help with that. It takes about five minutes per entry, you keep it private, and it makes a real difference to how specific you can be when you write up reflections or talk about your work in interviews. It's not compulsory, but I'd encourage you to have a look."
Mid-project, when reflection or documentation has been raised¶
"The reflection section [of the report / the individual contribution statement] is something a lot of students struggle with. The honest reason is usually that they didn't record anything at the time, so they're trying to reconstruct it from memory. There's a tool called Vestigia — it's still worth starting now, even if you haven't used it from the beginning. Have a look at Guide B especially, which is designed for exactly this situation."
Subject documentation or project handbook¶
If you want to reference Vestigia in writing — in a project handbook, a subject guide, or a supplementary resource list — a short neutral paragraph works well:
Vestigia is an optional open educational framework that supports students in recording, reflecting on, and presenting their project work. It is available at jesselsookha.github.io/Vestigia. Students are welcome to use it as a supplement to project documentation requirements. It is not assessed and does not replace any subject requirements.
Questions Students Typically Ask¶
"Do I have to share my records with you?"
No. Vestigia records are private and individual. You are not asked to submit them, share them with supervisors, or produce them as assessment evidence unless you independently choose to. What you write in Guide A belongs to you.
"What format should I use?"
Any format that works for you — a markdown file, a notebook, a document. The only requirements are that entries are dated and written while the work is fresh.
"How long should each entry be?"
As long as it needs to be and no longer. A paragraph is often enough. The goal is a record that your future self can understand and use — not a performance of thoroughness.
"What if I've already missed the first few weeks?"
Start now. The project still has time remaining. You will not capture everything, but what you capture from this point is better than nothing. Guide B can work with what you have.
"Is this the same as the reflective journal [our subject requires]?"
Not quite the same purpose. Your subject's reflective journal has specific requirements and is assessed. Vestigia is private, optional, and structured around what you find professionally useful rather than what is required. They may complement each other — some students use Vestigia records as source material when writing formal reflections.
"What's the difference between Guide A and Guide B?"
Guide A runs during the project — it's about recording the work as it happens. Guide B begins after the project — it's about making sense of what you recorded and presenting it professionally. Guide A feeds Guide B. If you only have time for one, Guide A is where the long-term value is.
Continue to Assessment and Integration for considerations on how Vestigia connects to existing assessment structures.