Reflective Learning in Higher Education: Active Methodologies for Transformative Practices (original) (raw)
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2021
This Thesis has been completed as a requirement for a postgraduate research degree of the University of Winchester. 2 Declarations and Copyright Statement Declarations No portion of the work referred to in the Thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. I confirm that this Thesis is entirely my own work. I confirm that no work previously submitted for credit has been reused verbatim. Any previously submitted work has been revised, developed and recontextualised relevant to the thesis. I confirm that no material of this thesis has been published in advance of its submission. I confirm that no third-party proofreading or editing has been used in this thesis.
Creating a reflective space in higher education
Learning and Teaching, 2020
This article considers the conditions, possibilities, and challenges of creating what is referred to here as a ‘reflective space’ within a higher education course for principals. It is informed by the findings of a qualitative research inquiry conducted in the interests of enhancing the principals’ learning and professional praxis and the university educators’ pedagogical praxis, within a Swedish course for school and preschool principals. Analysis of the findings highlighted two significant patterns. The first relates to the transformative benefits of creating a ‘reflective space’ for the principals attending the course. The second is more ambiguous and reflects their relation to and engagement with scientifically constructed knowledge. Based on these findings, the article offers considerations relevant for creating ‘reflective spaces’ as a means to enhance the quality of learning in higher education. Additionally, some guiding pedagogical implications are included in the final rem...
Reflective Learning in Higher Education: A Comparative Analysis
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A descriptive, exploratory study is presented based on a questionnaire regarding the following aspects of reflective learning: a) self-knowledge, b) relating experience to knowledge, c) self-reflection, and d) self-regulation of the learning processes. The questionnaire was completed by students studying four different degree courses (social education, environmental sciences, nursing, and psychology). Specifically, the objectives of a self-reported reflective learning questionnaire are: i) to determine students' appraisal of reflective learning methodology with regard to their reflective learning processes, ii) to obtain evidence of the main difficulties encountered by students in integrating reflective learning methodologies into their reflective learning processes, and iii) to collect students' perceptions regarding the main contributions of the reflective learning processes they have experienced.
Speaking our minds: issues in designing learning with reflection and reflective practice (2010)
This paper examines attempts to describe the learning and teaching practice on a postgraduate course in education and problematises why this is difficult and in many ways unsuccessful. It forms part of a larger project to explore the intentions and outcomes of interventions designed to bring about reflection and reflective practice as part of professional development planning (PDP) and the use of e-portfolio. It takes a perspective on this of being ‘a problem of the present’ and considers the potential conflicts and fragmentation that may arise as a result of the divisions in interpretation of the metanarrative of reflection and reflective practice within one course, the institution and the academy. This has impacted on learners’ understanding of the purpose and benefits of reflection and its relation to professional practice, making it difficult for them to build this successfully into their learning. The author questions the practicality of continuing this struggle given the current educational discourse on planning and developing curricula. It is argued that it may be possible for courses to maintain substantial links with the shifts towards an enhancement-led approach in which practice is validated as a dynamic and changing rather than reified in documentation.
Journal of university teaching and learning practice, 2016
Reflective practice is widely adopted across the field of experience-based learning subjects in higher education, including practicums, work-integrated learning, internships, service learning and community participation. This adoption of reflective practice implies that it supports student learning through experience. When reviewing the evidence for the role of reflection for learning, it became evident that not only was there no clear agreement about the definition of reflection, there has been little theoretical development in this area. An integrated participatory action research and ecological approach was adopted to build a theory about the ecology of reflection for learning through experience. Through this process the assumptions, or truths that are taken for granted, that underpin the new theory were declared and substantiated. Key concepts and the principle tenets of the theory were then identified and defined, leading to an overview of the ecologies of the learner, the lear...
Journal of problem based learning in higher education, 2021
This paper presents a model which can be used to help teachers to design pedagogical opportunities for meaningful reflections in higher education. Within the PBL Future initiative of Aalborg University, we worked with a group of students from different study programmes and levels. In a three-semester long process these students engaged in a series of reflective activities aimed at helping them become more aware of their professional competence developments. In an iterative process we analysed their reactions to and interactions with a set of given reflective tasks (both face-to-face and online), and with the research team. We summarise our insights into the complex dynamics of reflective processes in a model which conceptualises reflections as taking place as interplay between opportunities, challenges, tools and helpful relations, and with inspiration from the outside world.
Reflective learning in higher education: a qualitative study on students’ perceptions
Studies in Higher Education, 2014
This article presents the results of a study aimed at determining the perceptions of students participating in reflective learning (RL) experiences at the University of Girona (Spain), specifically regarding the benefits and challenges of this methodology. Four focus groups were organized with students who had participated in RL experiences on four different undergraduate degree courses: nursing, environmental sciences, psychology and social education. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis. The study shows that students think RL contributes to a better understanding of themselves, their learning and their motivation to learn. Identified challenges were related primarily to understanding the aims of the experience, the degree of personal openness and the system of assessment. The study also provides some guidelines and orientation for improving experiences of undergraduate training based on reflective learning.