Now What? Service-Learning Reflection Activities

I've skipped the "so what" of reflection for now, but I promise I will get back to it.  This week I thought I would share some of the reflective activities that are commonly used within service-learning classrooms.

First, for reflective activities to be effective, research by  Hatcher, Bringle & Muthiah (2004) found they must be:

          Explicitly linked to learning outcomes
          Structured and regular
          Enable students to explore their personal values 
          Receive faculty feedback

The reason for structured reflective activities is to help students make the connection between the service experience, classroom concepts, and to what they already know (Moon, 2001).  Another reason is simply that they may not follow through on the task!

Secondly, practitioners need to consider timing of the course, and student capacity (Moon, 2001).  For example, a first-year student in a first-year course may not have the academic preparation and experience needed to write a thoughtful experiential research paper, but they may be prepared to write their thoughts in a journal. Correira & Bleicher (2008) have demonstrated that reflection is a skill that can be taught and developed by students over time.  They recommend that faculty scaffold in reflective activities to help students build their reflective capacity throughout the semester.

Table 1: Mapping Reflection Activities

	Pre-service	In-service	Post-service
Reflection alone	Letter to myself Contracts Directed readings	Structured journals Directed writings Ethical case study Personal narrative	Reflective essay Experiential research paper Portfolio
Reflection with others	Hopes and fears Giant Likert scale Class discussions	Mixed team discussion Group activities E-discussion	Team presentation Collage or mural Video Photo essay
Reflection with community partners	Planning with community Asset mapping	Lessons learned Debriefing	Presentation to community group Community mural

Table 1: I have adapted Eyler's (2001) reflection map (including some her recommended activities) and have added the activities proposed by Bringle & Hatcher (1996), and activities found on an additional web resource (see below for reference).

Reflection Maps

A helpful planning tool for faculty is to consider the reflection map developed by Eyler (2001) in which she considers three phases of reflection: before service, during service and after service, and three levels of reflection: reflection alone, reflection with classmates, reflection and with community partners.  Eyler (2001) indicates that if students attend to the first six cells (see Table 1 above), and if "students have been engaged in reflection and action through the course, then students are in a position to create a more thoughtful final project" (p. 41).

Reflection Activities

When I think of reflection activities I always think back to the written journal, because, well it's an obvious choice.  Luckily,  Bringle and Hatcher (1999) offer a variety of multi-modal activities, other than the written journal, that faculty can use to encourage reflection.  However, if you insist on the written journal, they even include five variations: 

1. Key-phrase journal - students must integrate a list of key words
2. Double-entry journal - one side to describe, the other to link to classroom concepts
3. Critical incident journal - describe and discuss a specific event from the service site
4. Three-part journal - reflection framework: describe, analyze,integrate
5. Directed writings - explain how course concepts/theories relate to service experience

As Eyler (2001) states, "Reflection is the hyphen in service-learning" (p. 35), it is the tool that enables students to connect the service with the learning.  As we have seen reflection needs to be structured and regular, but it certainly does not need to be boring!  

References

Bringle, R. G., & Hatcher, J. A. (Summer 1999). Reflection in service learning: Making meaning of experience. Educational Horizons, 179-185.

Correia, M. G., & Bleicher, R. E. (Spring 2008). Making connections to teach reflection. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 41-49.

Eyler, J. (Summer 2001). Creating your reflection map. New Directions for Higher Education, 114, 35-43.

Hatcher, J. A., Bringle, R. G., & Muthiah, R. (Fall 2004). Designing effective reflection: What matters to service-Learning? Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 38-46.

Moon, J. (2001). PDP Working paper 4: Reflection in higher education learning. LTSN Generic Centre, 1-27.