Measuring Learning in the Affective Domain Using Reflective Writing About a Virtual International Agriculture Experience

Abstract

Agricultural educators are familiar with the three domains of learning: 1) cognitive, 2) affective, and 3) psychomotor. When teaching agricultural content, the instructional and assessment strategies are typically focused on the cognitive domain of learning because of the difficulty in measuring gains in the affective domain. The purpose of this study was to measure affective learning after viewing an asynchronously delivered simulation, reflecting (metacognition), and writing about the experience. Research in agricultural education is devoid of writing as an assessment tool to measure learning in the affective domain. Content analysis of 83 reflective writing samples was used to analyze affective learning at the levels of receiving, responding, valuing, organization, and characterization. It was evident in the reflective writing that all students participated at the receiving and responding levels. It is much more difficult to assess students at the higher levels of the affective domain (valuing, organizing, and characterizing). From the analysis of reflective writing, the researchers recognized and determined that some students expressed affective learning at higher levels of the affective taxonomy and increased their level of reflective writing in the process.

They went, they saw, they learned: medical students’ reflections on community clinic visits

“…Ultimately, this study demonstrated, albeit at a small-scale localised level, that reflective writing may well be used as an assessment tool for measuring changes in the values, motivations, attitudes and beliefs of students. In comparison with cognitive and behavioural learning, the affective domain is, however, in the words of Boyd, Dooley, and Felton (2006), a … less trodden path in need of further exploration and inquiry.…”

Character Education of Adolescents: A Case Study of a Research Center

“…Bu yöntem tıp fakültesinde etik eğitimi için "durumun ayrıntıları; ilgili erdemler; ilgili ilkeler, değerler ve etik çerçeve; bir dizi kabul edilebilir davranış yolu" unsurlarını kapsamaktadır. Boyd, Dooley ve Felton (2006) tarım eğitimindeki deneyimlerine ilişkin yazılarından yola çıkarak öğrencilerin duyuşsal kazanımlarını değerlendirmiştir. Çalışma sonuçları bazı öğrencilerin duyuşsal öğrenmenin üst basamaklarına ulaştıklarını ve yansıtıcı yazma becerilerini geliştirdiklerini ortaya koymuştur.…”

Achieving program goals? An evaluation of two decades of the Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture at the University of California, Santa Cruz

“…For example, in this process, the learner gains the confidence, values, and vision to move forward and apply his or her knowledge in action. Similarly, Boyd et al (2006) describe how they see affect leading to action:…”

“…While the process of knowledge and skill acquisition (cognitive and psychomotor domains) is a standard focus for many adult agriculture education programs, less attention is given to developing the affective (attitudes and values) that enable learners to bridge the gap between knowledge and action (Lieblein et al, 2007;Boyd et al, 2006). Drawing from Bloom's (1956) classifications, Geir Lieblein's teaching team created an agroecology program that emphasizes the importance of the affective domain, in addition to the cognitive and psychomotor.…”