Student-centered Learning | Reflection Papers and Journals

From the most recent blog posting, many characteristics of Generation Z indicate that student-centered learning and active learning strategies would be effective for this population of learners. Reflection papers and journals are examples of constructive assignments that direct students to increased interactions and processing of the course content. Both of these hands-on activities require students to review, summarize, and critically examine the course materials. These writing-to-learn exercises drive the learner to actively process and clarify the course concepts. By transferring ideas into their own language, the content becomes more organized and concrete, which promotes long-term memory and retention. The learner becomes engaged in deeper processing and analysis of the information that helps create more personalized meaning. In addition, the instructor has the opportunity to provide each student with formative feedback based on his or her responses.

Another benefit of these writing exercises is that they engage learners in the active learning process that Dee Fink (2005) calls “reflective dialogue”. These reflections provide learners with opportunities to contemplate and deliberate on the meaning of what they are learning. This activity helps learners make connections to existing knowledge, as well as form additional representations to synthesize new information. Through this process, students develop metacognitive skills that are valuable for life-long learning. Fink suggests the following questions to stimulate these reflections:

• What am I learning?
• What is the value of what I am learning?
• How am I learning?
• What else do I need to learn?

Lastly, these reflective writing activities are valuable for both the learner and the instructor. The learner benefits through additional review, analysis, and evaluation of the content materials. The instructor gains insights about how well the students were able to comprehend significant concepts. The instructor can also ascertain any misunderstandings, or the “muddiest points” that need further clarification and constructive feedback. Additionally, these serve to indicate parts of the instruction that could improve by adding more information and/or deeper explanations.

Interested in learning more? Check out these resources:

• Engaging Student in the Learning Process: the learning journal walks you through how to use journals as a learning activity
• Learning Through Reflection offers great ideas for valuing and guiding student reflections