Attitudes Matter: Examining How Teaching Strategies for Attitudinal Change Help Adults Value Reflection and Calibrate Their Reflective Thinking

Abstract

Developing adults’ reflective thinking habits is an aim of adult education, but the best way to do it has been overlooked. Common strategies communicate the skills and knowledge needed to reflect while providing practice opportunities. Yet research indicates that reflective habits are comprised of not only skills and knowledge but also of attitudes toward reflection. This study investigated whether attitudinal change strategies in a reflective thinking workshop induced cognitive dissonance by helping adults appreciate reflection and calibrate their reflective behavior. Participants were randomly assigned to a skills-based or skills-based plus attitudinal change workshop. Pre-post measures of learners’ need for and engagement in reflection were taken. Multivariate analysis of covariance revealed that attitudinal change strategies induced dissonance by increasing the need for reflection while decreasing perceived engagement in reflection. Exclusively skills-based strategies failed to affect the need for reflection but increased perceived engagement in reflection, creating overconfidence. Implications for research and practice are offered.