Reflecting on Reflection: How Educators Experience the Opportunity to Talk About Supporting Student Reflection

Abstract

To explore the general question of ways to help educators become more reflective, this paper focuses on the proposition that one way to help educators be more reflective is to give them an opportunity to discuss (or be interviewed about) an activity they do with students. To address this proposition, we use a "multiple perspectives methodology" featuring essays from seven educators about their experiences of being interviewed about a reflection activity they have done with students. The educators' essays suggest that the interviews were experienced as (1) a reflection opportunity, (2) a chance to reflect on the activity that was the focus of the interview, (3) a chance to reflect on reflection as an educational activity, and (4) a chance to bridge reflection and other points of personal interest. The results presented in this paper provide a basis for suggesting that interviewing educators about activities they use with students is a promising way to support educator reflection.

Professional and Personal Use of Reflection by Engineering Faculty, Students, and Practitioners

“…Recently the Consortium to Promote Reflection in Engineering Education (CPREE) and its constituents have made considerable progress in promoting and studying the use of reflection across the engineering education community within the United States [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Research has observed that the value of reflection within an educational or work environment can vary and that many are not aware of the research and applied professional skills that support reflective practice [15].…”

Towards a Scholarship of Integration: Lessons from Four Cases

“…Drawing from examples of collaborative inquiry and multiple perspectives methodology from engineering education literature 15,17,18 , we wanted to balance the intricacies of the individual stories with the overarching themes that arose by bringing together multiple perspectives from different areas of research. 17 In the next section, each author was asked to share the story of their experience with SOI in their own words, with the aim of providing readers an opportunity to "'experience' a set of key ideas while also coming 'into contact with...different languages, modes of communication, and forms of inquiry" 17 (p.51).…”

Assessing Student Understanding of Reflection in Engineering Education

“…Faculty involved with CPREE are promoting the use of reflection activities and assignments on their campuses and are engaging their colleagues in conversations about the benefits of reflection in education. 2 CPREE has amassed a large database of reflection activities and assignments from these faculty in their National Field Guide, which can be accessed on their website, www.cpree.uw.edu. Here educators can find examples of reflective practices across the CPREE partner institutions, which can be used in conjunction with supportive literature to sell other faculty on the educational benefits and gains in student learning.…”

“…Turns et al 2 noted this gap and suggested we go beyond engineering education -medical schools, nursing schools, and teacher education -to gain an understanding of how other professions view and utilize reflection. Further research is clearly needed to understand the use of reflection in engineering education.…”