Class Journal

Posted on by Nattasit Dancholvichit

PURPOSE

To support students’ development of reflective practices through individual journaling. 

DESCRIPTION

Students keep an ongoing reflective journal throughout the class term, in which they respond to reflective prompts regarding their experience during a lesson or activity. These may be content-specific or open-ended. 

UNDERLYING EDUCATIONAL THEORIES

reflection 

PEDAGOGICAL BENEFITS 

  • Reflection has been shown to improve students’ learning outcomes. 
  • Open-ended reflection can prompt students to critically evaluate their own efforts and experiences, which promotes self-growth. 
  • Content-based reflection can help students identify gaps in their own learning as well as synthesize new content. 
  • Reflective practices can aid students in processing their own thoughts and feelings in a safe space. 

STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTATION 

  1. Introduce the journal early in the class term. Support students in building a habit of self-reflection by prompting for regular updates in their journals. 
  2. Provide flexible parameters for the journal (e.g., topics to explore, suggested length of writing, etc.). 
  3. Provide journaling prompts. Example: What? So what? Now what? model* 
  4. You may choose to check on students’ journaling progress throughout the term and/or to respond to students’ entries. Specific at the start how you will treat the journals. 
  5. You may choose to introduce students to reflective journaling using samples that demonstrate the feel of the journal. 
  6. Be sure to indicate that journals are private to students and that self-reflection is a safe space in which individuals can process their own experiences. 

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING 

Tucker, T., Shehab, S., & Mercier, E. (2020). The Impact of Scaffolding Prompts on the Collaborative Problem Solving of Ill-Structured Tasks by Undergraduate Engineering Student Groups [Technical Session]. 127th ASEE Annual Conference, Montreal (Virtual Conference).  

Watkins, B. R. (2005). Developing interactive e‐learning activities. Performance Improvement, 44(5), 5-7.  

*“Examples of Reflection Questions based on the “What? So What? Now What?” Model.”,https://www.hilbert.edu/Public/file/service%20learning%20reflection%20questions%20what%20so%20what%20now%20what.pdf