Spheres of Influence: Ventures and Visions in Educational Development*

3-6 July, 2002
The University of Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia

Abstract

Development of student skills in reflective writing

Terry King, Department of Information Systems, United Kingdom

Due to the increasing importance of critical reflection as part of the key skills agenda in higher education in the UK, staff and students need to develop an awareness of the stages of reflection and how these may be employed to develop better quality reflective writing and more controlled and informed assessment of that writing when required. This paper considers the role of reflection in the learning process and its link to deep learning in taxonomies of learning objectives. A simplified model of the stages of reflection is used as the basis for two workshops where staff and students are encouraged to consider the importance of reflection, the development of reflection from the most simple observations to higher levels where issues and problems may be resolved, and then evaluate pieces of reflective writing for quality. The initial results of these workshops, as demonstrated by staff in the way that they approach assessments and students by the improvements in their reflective abilities, are described with examples. In conclusion, the paper considers how the development of a culture of critical reflection depends not just on awareness but also has curriculum and resource implications.

Key words:
Reflection; Assessment; Higher education

Objectives, outcomes and activities:
To enable teachers and lecturers in higher education to more effectively both promote and assess good reflective writing, and to learn how to make the stages of such reflection explicit to their students to encourage them, in turn, to develop their abilities of critical reflection.

Terry King is a Principal Lecturer in Information Systems at the University of Portsmouth, specialising in multimedia and CAL, with research interests in online problem-based, collaborative learning. Recently awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by the Institute of Teaching and Learning in the UK, she has departmental responsibilities for innovation and development in teaching and assessment. Although a regular contributor to conferences on computer-based assessment, she has recently successfully introduced 'critiques' and learning journals into computing modules.

Contact: Terry King, email: terry.king@port.ac.uk