Assessing Reflection: How do we know that learning is happening?

Assessing Reflection: How do we know that learning is happening?

As I began learning more about reflection and reflective practices it was clear that the process of reflecting is a very personal one, and it emerges differently for each individual.  Reflection is meant to help us make sense of new experiences that often cause us confusion and sometimes discomfort, and it is also emotional process for some, invoking powerful internalized feelings.  The process of reflecting is what leads us to the discovery new perspectives and understandings about our world and our communities (Boud & Walker, 1998).

Using reflection in the classroom is an essential tool for bringing about the learning through experiential activities, especially in service-learning where the expectation is that students at some point will be taken out of their comfort zones.  Reflection in this sense leads to a student’s academic learning, skill building and social and emotional transformation.  The question is, however, how do we as practitioners know that students have learned or have been transformed from what is a very personal experience? Secondly, what exactly have they learned?

What are exactly are we assessing?

The first step in identifying student learning is to first figure out what it is we want students to learn.  From here we can begin to establish assessment tools to better ensure students have met the established learning outcomes.  However, if we have chosen to use reflection as one process of learning, we have to decide what the outcome of that reflection will be.  For example will reflection:

• Increase a students’ ability to reflect?
• Increase the level at which a student is reflecting?
• Help students develop critical thinking skills?
• Lead to a change in thinking, behavior or attitude?
• Increase the depth of learning in relation to course concepts?
• Enable students to connect classroom concepts to real life experience?

We can begin to see how assessing reflection can become a bit tricky.  One challenge of developing assessment for reflection is that there is not yet an agreed upon set of criteria (Moon, 2001) (Kember, et al., 1999) and the criterion that do exist are early in their development (Molee, Henry, Sessa, & McKinney-Prupis, 2010).  However, by keeping the following concepts and ideas in mind, we can begin the process of developing our own assessment instruments.  The first key to designing a reflective activity is to make it and the assessment instrument one in the same.

Best practice for assessing reflection:

Students must be ready.  For authentic reflection to occur students must be open-minded, be uninhibited, take responsibility for engaging in reflection (Dewey as cited in Lyons, 2010) and see their contribution as valid (Ash, Clayton, & Atkinson, 2005). 

• Work to build trust between yourself and the students
• Allow room for students to make their own meaning from their experience
• Provide timely, formative feedback to help student build their reflective capacity

Reflection is developmental.  Students need to be taught how to reflect in order to meet the learning objectives (Correia & Bleicher, 2008).   They also need to build on their capacity to reflect (Marchel, 2004) and develop the habit of reflection (Moon, 2001) incrementally over time. 

• Design reflection activities that help students build one reflective skill at a time
• Ensure reflection activities are scheduled and consistent throughout the course
• Provide timely, formative feedback

Reflection activities should be structured and tied to assessment. To encourage deep reflection it is essential that reflective activities align with the academic learning outcomes (Ash, Clayton, & Atkinson, 2005) (Boud & Walker, 1998).  For example, asking students to describe their service experience, but then grading them on their conceptual knowledge is misleading.

• Explicitly tie the learning objectives to the reflection activities
• Build reflection questions or prompts that allow reflection on course learning objectives
• Set clear boundaries on what students should and shouldn’t share in a personal reflection

Reflection should be modelled by the instructor.  One way to build reflective capacity among students is to demonstrate reflection throughout the teaching process.  This practice also helps to build trust among students as the instructor sets the tone for critically reviewing institutional and social practices and processes.  Engaging in reflection also helps practitioners deepen their own understanding of context and power relationships that are unearthed through the reflective practice (Marchel, 2004) (Boud & Walker, 1998).

• Admit when you learn something new, make an error or change your perception
• Role model reflection by engaging in an ongoing “public, critical scrutiny of your actions” (Brookfield, 1998)
• Be prepared to coach students through the reflective process

Be prepared for challenge*.  Reflective practice requires the questioning and critical analysis of social and academic structures, and instructors must therefore be prepared to have the power dynamic between themselves and student challenged.  They must also be prepared to discuss and address students’ emotional responses to their service experience (Boud & Walker, 1998), and acknowledge and address issues of oppression, discrimination and stereotyping.  Another challenge is addressing barriers to reflection that can inhibit a student from engaging in deep and critical reflection leading surface learning (Ash & Clayton, 2004).

• Continue to engage in your on reflective practice to begin the process of understanding context
• Be prepared to engage in tough class discussion and address issues of oppression
• Provide timely, formative feedback to ensure students are meeting learning outcomes

*For more about the potential pitfalls and challenges of reflection I recommend reading:

Boud, D., & Walker, D. (1998). Promoting reflection in professional courses: The challenge of context. Studies in Higher Education, 23(2), 191-206.

References

Ash, S. L., & Clayton, P. H. (2004). The articulated learning: An approach to guided reflection and assessment. Innovative Higher Education, 29(2), 137-154.

Ash, S. L., Clayton, P. H., & Atkinson, M. P. (2005, Spring). Integrating reflection and assessment to capture and improve student learning. Michigan Jouranl of Community Service Learning, 49-60.

Boud, D., & Walker, D. (1998). Promoting reflection in professional courses: The challenge of context. Studies in Higher Education, 23(2), 191-206.

Brookfield, S. (1998). Critically reflective practice. The Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 18, 197-205.

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

Kember, D., Jones, A., Loke, A., McKay, J., Sinclair, K., Tse, H., . . . Yeung, E. (1999). Determining the level of reflective thinking from students' written journals using a coding scheme based on the work of Mezirow. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 18(1), 18-30.

Lyons, N. (2010). Approaches to portfolio assessment of complex evidence of reflection and reflective practice. In N. Lyons, Handbook of Reflection and Reflective Inquiry: Mapping a Way of Knowing (pp. 473-513). Cork, IR: Springer .

Marchel, C. A. (2004). Evaluating reflection and sociocultural awareness in service learning classes. Teaching of Psychology, 31(2), 120-123.

Molee, L. M., Henry, M. E., Sessa, V. I., & McKinney-Prupis, E. R. (2010). Assessing learning in service-learning courses through critical reflection. Journal of Experiential Education, 33(3), 239-257.

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

Reflection. So What?

My last post on the topic of reflection, Reflection, Now What?, introduced some of the conditions that need to be in place before students can meaningfully engage in reflective activities including student readiness, student cognitive/developmental level, and ensuring that reflection activities are tied to learning outcomes. But why is reflection an important learning tool?

Reflection is about Learning

Reflection is important because it leads to learning.  Reflection is not simply about thinking; it involves purposefully accessing and analyzing our preconceived ideas, values and attitudes, and actively comparing them to new information brought about through experience.  Through this process reflection leads to new understandings, a change in attitude (Bringle & Hatcher, 1999), and engaging in a new course of action (Rogers, 2001).  

Mezirow (1999) stated that reflection can “enable individuals to change their habits of expectation and, as a result, develop more accurate perceptions, avoid premature cognitive commitments, and achieve greater flexibility and creativity” (as cited in Rogers, 2001 p. 48).  In other words, reflection allows us to create a new understanding of experience by challenging our old ways of thinking and allowing us to make better, more informed decisions.  Experiences that lead us to engage in deep reflection however must be cognitively or psychologically challenging and outside of our expected daily routines (Rogers, 2001). 

Outcomes of Reflection 

• Demonstration of greater ownership over learning
• Fostering a deeper understanding of course material
• Increased critical thinking and problem solving
• Openness to new ideas
• Moral development 

Reflection and Service-learning

Reflection is said to be the bridge or the "hyphen" between service and learning (Eyler, 2001).  Understanding that reflection leads to new understandings, changes in attitudes and actions, we can see how this compliments the focus of service-learning, especially from a social justice / social change framework.  By engaging in community service activities students encounter new and challenging situations that encourage cognitive dissonance, opening up the opportunity for deep and meaningful learning.  

Planning for a Reflective Assignment

Context and Readiness Matter: As we learned in in the post Reflection, Now What?  it is imperative that students are ready to take on the responsibility of reflection, and that they have the opportunity to develop their reflection skills.  As well, practitioners must set the right context to ensure a willingness to reflect, which includes “autonomy, feedback, access and connection to others, stimulation by others, and significant performance demands.” (Seibert & Daudelin 1999, as cited in Rogers, 2001 p. 43).  In other words we must continually check-in with student, provide opportunities share ideas and set high expectations for learning. 

Depth of Reflection is important:  Applying a challenging reflection activity in the classroom is a way of “forcing students to confront their own assumptions and pursue hard questions” (Eyler, 2001, p. 36).  Research in this area has also demonstrated that challenging reflection activities have “helped to push students to think in new ways and develop alternative explanations for experiences and observations.” (Ash & Clayton, 2004, p. 140).  Reflective activities that are not well structured, or encouraged may not lead to the intended learning outcomes. 

Barriers to Reflection exist:  As we have seen above there are many barriers to meaningful reflection.  If a barrier exists, or if reflection is not well planned students may  come to conclusions “based on unchallenged assumptions, inappropriate generalizations on the bases of limited data, shallow analysis” (Ash, Clayton, & Atkinson, Spring 2005, p. 52).  To address this issue it is imperative that practitioners regularly check-in with students, provide guidance as needed and be prepared to facilitate tough discussions. 
  
References
 

Ash, S. L., & Clayton, P. H. (2004). The articulated learning: An approach to guided reflection and assessment. Innovative Higher Education, 29(2), 137-154.

Ash, S. L., Clayton, P. H., & Atkinson, M. P. (Spring 2005). Integrating reflection and assessment to capture and improve student learning. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 49-60.

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

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

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

Rogers, R. R. (2001). Reflection in higher education: A concept analysis. Innovative Higher Education, 26(1), 37-57.