Structured Reflection

One of my favourite assignments when I was doing the Master of Teaching and Learning was keeping a reflective journal. In the beginning I could not understand how an assignment like that can have the potential to add value to my learning experience. How will it be marked? Coming from a math and science background, it was indeed mind boggling! Eventually, towards the later half of the course, it dawned on me that I was not only learning so much more in this setting, exploring issues that interests me and connecting those to the learning that was taking place but I was also enjoying myself while at it. In fact, writing reflective journals is one example of 'assessment as learning'. Now, I definitely appreciate this particular assessment and strongly believe that it has a place in the current teaching and learning realm.


A few semesters ago, I decided to ask my students to compile a reflective journal for the Advanced Functions course that they were taking with me. It was meant to be formative in nature from the start and I used the reflective cycle to explain the assignment to them. I encouraged them to write about what they learned about in each topic, how the concepts in the topics relate to their daily lives, the difficulties they faced, how they eventually moved forward, things to share with their friends and so on. Sharing was the theme. However, what they write must be about the current topic that we were doing.

The intention was for the students to look within themselves and in doing so, know when to look outside for help when the need arises. To make sure that they were serious about the assignment, a small percentage of marks was given. My students were appalled - wondering aloud what reflections and emotions have to do with a subject like mathematics!

                     What I was assessing -

   

                     I was assessing to confirm that the students know:

                   - the key concepts in the chapter of study and their applications to the real-world.

                   - the grey areas that they still need to work on.

                   - how to search for resources that will help them.

                 

                    How I ensured the quality of my assessment process -

            To ensure the quality of my assessment process, I

            gave my students a timeline to follow. For example

            telling them that by a certain date, they should have

            their blog up and running and share the link with me

            and by the next date they should have written their

            first post and so on.The rubrics for marking followed.

            I tried this with another cohort but the difference was

            this cohort was not given an official timeline and rubrics.

            They were reminded of the timeline verbally and the

            rubrics were simplified into a briefly written explaination

            of what they needed to include in their reflections.

            The outcomes were vastly different. The group which

            was given the official timeline and rubrics produced

            reflections that were far more superior comparatively.

           

            I am not certain if this was due to the different ways

            I approached the matter or to the motivation of the

            students themselves. Looking back, I certainly talked

            about the assessment process with the first group more

            often, giving them advise, reminding them about

            deadlines, helping when they could not get started, ...

            Perhaps, by doing that I showed that I cared about

            their work. Well, that certainly says something,     

            doesn't it?

          

             

  

            What the outcomes were -

            I was pleasantly surprised by what they shared...videos,

            interactive exercises. poems, quotes, songs about

            Mathematics, resources, things they found meaningful

            and liked, their fears and ... themselves. Some blogs

            even have background  music to add to the magic.

           

       

           I saw Mathematics.

           I saw Art.

           I saw Freedom of Expression.

           I saw Inspiration.

           ... and for sure, I saw

               ...a labour of LOVE.

         

       

           My favourite reflections were compiled by some of my
           very talented students, Warren Kang, Ying Ling, Niv and
           Sheryl. Please click on  Warren,  Sheryl,   Niv or Ying Ling
           to visit their respective reflective blogs.

         How I used the information from the assessment process -

     -   I shared it with my colleagues...

         I was excited and wanted to share the students' work 

         with my colleagues. After all, the theme was 'SHARING'.

        

    -   I had my students share their reflections

         with their peers... and also used that for 

       giving feedback on their course work

        At first the students were not confident enough to

          show their friends what they had written. To help

          them, I showed them the reflections of a few of

          their classmates which I thought were very 

          creative and insightful. 

          Now, after doing this course, I realized that I 

          should have asked their permission first before 

          showing their work to the class as a mark of 

          respect. I suppose I thought I was the boss!

          After showing the students their friends' reflective

          journals, what I got was MORE good work! I

          suppose they just needed to see and know

          what good work looks like.

          I wanted them to see how others who are more

          'successful' than themselves learn and the

          resources they found enriching. Ultimately,   

          I would like to believe that they were proud of

          themselves.

            How I would do it differently the next time -

         -  explain the rationale of the assessment and why

            it is crucial that they (the students) do a good job

         -  make everything official (in black and white)

         -  have examplars ready

         -  talk about the assessment process 

            while encouraging and giving feedback

            on a more regular basis

         -  respect another's values and actions

         -  ask for permission before showing the students'

            work

        

For this January 2014 semester, I am using the idea of structured reflection on a smaller scale, for my Data Management students. It is part of  the group statistics project that they are putting together. Again, the main objective is to give the students the opportunity to think about their experiences of working in a team and 'get the learning out' of these experiences. In the process, I believe the students will learn to develop and adjust their short and long term goals, deal with problems and link their experiences to their learning goals.

The following is part of the instructions for the reflection component:-

Describe clearly and thoughtfully your thinking and reasoning as you worked on the group statistics project. Presents the reflection in a compelling, highly-organized manner.

Have at least 6 posts.

Note:

Each post should include the purpose of your meeting and a summary of your discussions with your group members each week. What were the outcomes? Include connections to future plans. Some of the posts should also include your research, components that left you satisfied or unsatisfied, .... Where appropriate, include pictures, images, recordings of the session, videos, ......