case study reflective learning

Reflection in Motion: A Case Study of Reflective Practice in the Composition Classroom

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Establishing a foundation for reflective practice: A case study of learning journal use

A key role of higher education and one of the measures of its effectiveness is how well graduates can engage in critical and reflective thinking and apply these lifelong learning skills to problem solving in complex real world situations (Johnson, Levine, Smith, & Stone, 2010; Schön, 1983; The World Bank, 2003). The use of learning journals to encourage students to become more reflective and action oriented in their learning is not a new concept.

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Reflective practice, both within education and the professions, can support learners in engaging with and learning new content, solving problems, and better understanding their individual learning process. To support students in developing a practice of reflection, however, educators must skillfully incorporate techniques for encouraging and developing critical and reflective thinking within the classroom. This case study describes the design and implementation of reflective learning journals as a tool for establishing reflective practice within a Foundations course at the graduate level. The paper begins with a review of the literature in regards to definitions of reflection, the importance of reflection, strategies for encouraging reflective thinking and practice, and finally, techniques for assessing reflective learning journals. Next, the paper discusses the design of the reflective learning journals and how these journals are used within the Foundations course of the Master of Distance Education E-learning (MDE) program to establish a basis for reflective practice as students begin their graduate studies. The case study also includes student perceptions of the use of the learning journals in terms of the pedagogical value of the reflective learning journal (wiki) in terms of their cognitive and meta-cognitive thinking processes.

Journal of Management Education, 2008

This article examines learning journals as a method for developing self-awareness within a business education context, exploring “how can effective design and assessment of reflective journals assist the development of students' self-knowledge?” The authors describe three different approaches to learning journals, with each case study outlining the purpose of the course and the learning journal within it, the design and assessment of the journal, and an evaluation of this experience. The authors' aim is to illustrate how journals can be implemented in management education. Although each case study is distinct, three interconnecting themes also emerge that underlie why this approach to learning is important: finding the subjective voice that enables students to access their inner learning; accepting that learning is mutually constructed within a cocreative space rather than something “done to the student”; and that a more reflective self-awareness engages a higher sense of pe...

This paper considers the efficacy of using reflective learning journals to encourage critical thinking, both for English speaking background (ESB) and non-English speaking background (NESB) students. The paper is a preliminary study into 122 journals based on qualitative research into some 750 learning journals completed over the past seven years for the first year Faculty of Economics and Business unit of study 'Communication and Critical Analysis'. This course centred on critical analysis from the perspective of history and philosophy of science and the language used to express such analysis in English. It was found that there was some difference in the level of reflection between the ESB and NESB groups but no definitive conclusions could be drawn from this because of the skewness of the sample. However, reflective journals were found to be a useful learning and assessment tool when students had sufficient motivation.

Front. Psychol, 2022

Reflective journal (RJ) writing has been recognized as an effective pedagogical tool for nurturing students’ lifelong learning skills. With the paucity of empirical work on the dimensionality of reflective writing, this research sought to qualitatively analyze students’ RJ writing and design a generic reflection scheme for identifying dimensions of reflective thinking. Drawing on the theoretical scheme, another aim was to design and validate a questionnaire to measure students’ perceptions of their reflective writing experiences. The last aim was to quantitatively measure the link between perceived reflective writing and students’ tendency to use RJs in their future careers and personal lives. This exploratory sequential research included the following steps: First, experts’ review and analysis of 1312 RJ entries were attained. This step led to the design of a theoretical scheme of reflective writing and a 31-item questionnaire, used to gather data from 171 students (second-year pre-service teachers and third-year health managers). Partial Least Squares analysis corroborated the structure suggested by the theoretical scheme: two timelines–reflections regarding the current course assignments and those related to the student’s future development. Students’ tendency to use reflective skills in their future professional lives was highly connected to their long-term reflections, including learning experiences linked to academic, professional, personal, and multicultural development. The current study’s suggested validated generic scheme can be adapted and integrated into different curricula, thereby possibly increasing the potential of infusing RJ instructional strategies into higher education curricula, improving the quality of reflection in student journals, and promoting lifelong learning skills.

Reflective Practice, 2014

Practitioners and students are increasingly asked to reflect upon practice within higher education (HE). Reflection is used in both formative and summative settings. Learning journals are recognised as a significant tool in promoting active learning and regularly used among students and teachers. Current research suggests that the effectiveness of journaling is inconsistent. In representing the use of journals as a process within reflective practice, the purposes of this study were to consider if journals were an effective way in which undergraduates could engage in reflection. This study adopted a constructivist interpretivist position and employed the action research approach. Participants (n = 3) were male, firstyear undergraduates on a Foundation Degree in Sports Coaching at a college in the North West of England. Data collection was over a six-month period. At the end of each month, participants were required to submit their e-journals, consisting of five academic themes of their choosing. Summative feedback was offered to the students after each submission which identified their levels of reflection in relation to Bloom's Cognitive Taxonomy. In total 43.09% of entries analysed were written in the lowest three levels of the taxonomy; 56.87% were written in the highest three levels, of which evaluation, the highest level, totalled 28.66%. Findings suggested that journals may be used effectively, with all students recording high levels of critical reflection throughout a six-month period. Students made remarkably quick progress in becoming critical in their reflections and Bloom's Taxonomy provided a vigorous means for assessment. Strengths and limitations of the research process are discussed as are recommendations for future practice.

Croatian Journal of Education, 2014

The efficacy of reflective writing in stimulating critical thinking and developing metacognitive awareness has been widely recognized; yet, in spite of the clear benefits provided by reflective tools such as learning journals, the ultimate success of such activities largely depends on whether or not learners are receptive to their use. In the Turkish educational system, where a student-centred, constructivist approach to learning is still a novel practice, it may be especially difficult to implement reflective writing successfully. Thus, in this action research project, the investigator decided to explore the attitudes of Turkish graduate students in an English Language Teaching Methodology course towards the use of learning journals as a reflective tool. The findings indicate that, after some initial resistance, most of the participants found reflective writing to be an effective learning strategy. In light of the participants’ views, some suggestions are offered concerning the implementation of reflective writing in contexts where students may not be familiar with the process of reflection.

This paper provides a summary of research undertaken to derive a critically informed but learner sensitive framework for facilitating the presentation and evaluation of reflective learning. The fascination with this topic arose in the context of teaching final year business undergraduates through the medium of learning journals. Initial research was undertaken to derive an analytical and empirical basis for orienting students and lecturers, to some of the key processes involved in reflective learning and the ways these can be displayed. This entailed journeying between the highly formalised language of theorists such as Van Maanen (1977, 1991) and Barnett (1992,1997) and the more loosely structured, everyday language of our students. The techniques of template analysis provided us with a methodological tool for deriving a framework, which is sensitive to both languages. An analysis of students’ learning journals deploying the framework enabled the learning and teaching to be develop...

Croatian Journal of Education-Hrvatski Casopis za Odgoj i obrazovanje, 2014

The efficacy of reflective writing in stimulating critical thinking and developing metacognitive awareness has been widely recognized; yet, in spite of the clear benefits provided by reflective tools such as learning journals, the ultimate success of such activities largely depends on whether or not learners are receptive to their use. In the Turkish educational system, where a student-centred, constructivist approach to learning is still a novel practice, it may be especially difficult to implement reflective writing successfully. Thus, in this action research project, the investigator decided to explore the attitudes of Turkish graduate students in an English Language Teaching Methodology course towards the use of learning journals as a reflective tool. The findings indicate that, after some initial resistance, most of the participants found reflective writing to be an effective learning strategy. In light of the participants’ views, some suggestions are offered concerning the imp...

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