Theorising a model for teaching and assessing reflective learning in higher education

The importance of reflection in higher education and across disciplinary fields is widely recognised and it is generally included in university graduate attributes, professional standards and programme objectives. Furthermore, reflection is commonly embedded into assessment requirements in higher education subjects, often without necessary scaffolding or clear expectations for students. Despite the rhetoric around the importance of reflection for ongoing learning, there is scant literature on any systematic, developmental approach to teaching reflective learning across higher education programmes/courses. Given that professional or academic reflection is not intuitive, and requires specific pedagogic intervention to do well, a programme/course-wide approach is essential. This paper draws on current literature to theorise a new, transferable and customisable model for teaching and assessing reflective learning across higher education, which foregrounds and explains the pedagogic field of higher education as a multi-dimensional space. We argue that explicit and strategic pedagogic intervention, supported by dynamic resources, is necessary for successful, broad-scale approaches to reflection in higher education.     

Online teaching in the digital age

Past research has considered the reflective practices of the teacher as an important activity in the learning cycle. Some of it has introduced the term ‘reflective teacher’, showing that such practice has become increasingly important.

This paper discusses literature related to various means of collecting feedback from students, the socio-technical approach to management information systems (MISs) and reflective models. It documents the reflective practices that the author followed while teaching an MIS distance education course.

The findings of this research show that actively reflecting on feedback collected from students could improve teaching quality and lead to better understanding for students in future cohorts.     

Four stories,a moral and two questions

ABSTRACT

This article identifies two traditions in the development of curriculum theory and practice in England. The first, it is suggested, grew from the Nuffield tradition of investigative subject‐based enquiry and has evolved in a broadly social constructivist and child‐focused way. The second, with origins in the Humanities Curriculum Project, has developed through action research and professional, reflective practice and is teacher focused. The paper argues for the integration of these interrelated perspectives to embrace the emergent field of study around pedagogic content knowledge (in the USA) and didactic transposition (in France).     

From Curriculum to Activism: a graduate degree program in literacy to develop teachers as leaders for equity through action research

This article presents findings from a 2-year reflexive action research study of a cohort-based Master's degree program in literacy for practicing teachers. Questions revolved around whether and how the program brought about changes in candidates' conceptions about literacy, expertise in literacy, and leadership/activist skills to foster equity in their classrooms and schools. Faculty used data from action research to make cyclical changes to the program each semester. Data sources included candidate interviews, e-mail correspondence, course notes, classroom observations, questionnaires and a survey. The candidates own evolving action research projects within their schools also became data sources. A qualitative analysis suggests that the program was generally successful in meeting its goals. The elements of the program contributing to its success were: the evolving program design based on action research data; the collegiality of the cohort; broadening conceptions of literacy; learning action research; and developing leadership skills. Factors contributing to factors around which candidates failed to meet these goals are also explored.     

Empowering the supporters: enhancing the role of unqualified support workers in a housing scheme for people with mental health problems

The research reported in this study is a practitioner action research study that is primarily concerned with the activities of unqualified support workers in an accommodation scheme for people who have experienced enduring mental health problems. A central focus became the relationship between the support workers and professional staff within the wider mental health service. Parallel with a ‘practice gap’ identified in their relationship with professional staff was a ‘supervision gap’ in terms of their relationship with myself as their manager. One means of exploring this relationship was the use of ‘critical scenarios’. A series of ‘connections’ or practice support linkages were put in place that aimed to bridge this gap and at the same time enhance the role of the support workers.     

Philosophy of Science and School Science

The purpose of professional education programs is to prepare aspiring professionals for the challenges of practice within a particular profession. These programs typically seek to ensure the acquisition of necessary knowledge and skills, as well as providing opportunities for their application. While not denying the importance of knowledge and skills, this paper reconfigures professional education as a process of becoming. Learning to become a professional involves not only what we know and can do, but also who we are (becoming). It involves integration of knowing, acting, and being in the form of professional ways of being that unfold over time. When a professional education program focuses on the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills, it falls short of facilitating their integration into professional ways of being. In addition, through such a focus on epistemology (or theory of knowing), ontology (or theory of being) is overlooked. This paper explores what it means to develop professional ways of being where the focus is becoming, not simply knowing as an end in itself.     

The conceptual process of skill progression development in artistic gymnastics

In this study, we examined the methods used and knowledge required by 16 elite men's gymnastic coaches in the development of skill progressions. Following in-depth interviews, a conceptual model representing the process of skill progression development was generated. We found that: (1) elite gymnastic coaches developed skill progressions through experimental practice, reflection and critical inquiry; (2) the development of skill progressions was underpinned by the coaches acquiring a mindset based on four further sub-components (i.e. skill progression refinement, current coaching knowledge, mental imagery and biomechanical understanding); and (3) coaches identified the importance of replication of the spatial and temporal characteristics of the final skill. The results are consistent with task analysis, reflective practice and the principle of specificity. Practically, these findings suggest the need to develop coaches with a more objective approach to skill progression development and a greater understanding of the controlling mechanisms inherent in such practices.     

反思型教师思维态度培养的探讨——杜威“反思性思维”理论的启示

教师“反思”是教师专业发展的重要方式,同时,在教师教育、课堂教学等领域也扮演着重要角色。近年来的相关研究及改革,把培养“库思型教师”推向了前所未有的高潮,但教师“反思”首先要在思维态度上有所改观,才会有实质性的突破。依据杜威的“反思性思维”理论,尝试论述培养反思型教师的思维态度的重要性及方法。     

Humanities in Gross Anatomy Project: A novel humanistic learning tool at Des Moines University

Gross anatomy affords physical therapy students an opportunity to discover human morphology by intimately studying the dead. Moreover, it also exposes future physical therapists to the humanistic aspects of the profession. In 2007, anatomy faculty decided to socialize students to the humanities with a new course requirement: Humanities in Gross Anatomy Project (HuGA) Project. At the end of the course, students, either individually or as a group, submitted a project that described how they had been personally touched by the donor's gift and how the gift contributed to their professional growth and education. The submission could be in the form of a narrative, poem, song, video, etc. All students met the three grading criteria that were established; thus taking the first step in socializing themselves to the humanistic domain of their professional education. In summary, the HuGA project is a novel educational tool that formally provided physical therapy students with humanistic learning opportunities in a gross anatomy course and appeared to facilitate reflective learning. The utilization of reflection as it relates to clinical decision making and patient interaction is critical for physical therapy practice. Anat Sci Educ 3: 94–96, 2010. © 2010 American Association of Anatomists.