http://www.leeds.ac.uk/medicine/prof_dev/free/ReflectionLitBite/page_02.htm
Reflect. Plan. Act. Observe. Reflect. Plan. Act. Observe. Reflect.
Importance of Student Reflection
Reflection, a key component of many
writing classes, is vital to the success of a service-learning course.
Reflection is
a process of
examining and interpreting experience to gain
new understanding. The following links highlight this important
element of service-learning:
http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/service_learning/reflect.cfm
http://nichcy.org/disability/specific/intellectual
http://www.ohiounion.osu.edu/posts/documents/importance%20of%20reflection_sample%20reflection%20ideas.pdf
Reflection provides a structured opportunity for individuals and groups to consider the ramifications of the service
they provided and better understand their role in the larger community.
Reflection also
makes a connection between the service you have provided and the broader
social issues that are impacting that population or community.
a time for personal growth when individuals can
look within, by
processing the knowledge and skills one acquires through service.
https://sites.google.com/site/reflection4learning/why-reflect
It is the language of reflection that deepens our knowledge of who we are in relation to others in a community of learners.
What
are the pedagogical and physiological foundations of reflection for
learning? Why is reflection important for learning? What does the
literature say about how reflection supports learning?
Learning/Process Portfolios involve the focus on Plato’s directive,
“know thyself” which can lead to a lifetime of investigation.
Self-knowledge becomes an outcome of learning. John Zubizaretta (2004,
2009), in his insightful books on Learning Portfolios in higher
education, describes the primary motive of a learning portfolio: “to
improve student learning by providing a structure for students to
reflect systematically over time on the learning process and to develop
the aptitudes, skills and habits that come from critical reflection.”
(2004, p.15)
The major theoretical roots of reflection can be
found in John Dewey, Jürgen Habermas, David Kolb, and Donald Schön. John
Dewey has stated, “We do not learn from experience…we learn from
reflecting on experience.” The Learning Cycle, developed by David Kolb,
based Dewey, Piaget, and Lewin, is based on the belief that deep
learning (learning for real comprehension) comes from a sequence of
experience, reflection, abstraction, and active testing. James Zull's
(2002) fascinating book on the biology of learning, points out evidence
that the learning cycle arises naturally from the structure of the brain
(p.19).
http://www.myrp.sg/ced/research/papers/role_of_reflection_in_student_learning.pdf
Reflection journals can help to
increase the value of the
learning experience
by facilitating learners to
make meaning out of the process they are
engaged
in.
It enables the learners to
relate the new material of learning to prior
knowledge and hence
a better understanding of the discipline.
It also
enhances the learner’s meta-cognitive awareness.