Action Research: Student Reflection

Student Reflection

An Action Research Project by Megan Graham and Viv Osborne 2008

Our Research Aim:  To teach students to use Reflective Journals to record things they have learnt and how they have learnt them.

What is Reflection?  Reflection involves getting people to talk about their experiences. (Christopher Koliba, Ph.D. Research Assistant Professor, John Dewey Project on Progressive Education)

Rules for Reflection.  Each person has the right and opportunity for Reflection.  Every idea has value and can contribute to learning.  Individual contribution are recognised.  Students are responsible for their own learning.

What is the Purpose of Reflection?  To find out what students have learnt about a topic.  To reflect on current learning: - how did you learn best? - What is that? - How will you learn next time?  To understand how students learn best.

Reflection Activities used with Students:            

Reflection Circle Reflection Questions Role Playing Pair and Share Reflection Strips – Kath Murdoch Reflection Cube Reflection Jigsaw Photographs of students Sentence Starters for individual reflective journals Reflection Cards Discussion with groups and individuals Room 7 Reflection Dairy

What do we think of the Reflection Activities?      

REFLECTION STRIPS “The reflection strips help ‘tune’ our thinking into our reflections.” Josie “They help us begin our reflections.” Angus “They make saying our reflections fun and easy.” Liam “They encourage us to be reflective.” Heath “They allow us to share our thinking to a group or partner, or the teacher.” Emma

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REFLECTION CUBE “The reflection cube is fun to make and decorate.” Taylor “It is easy to use and helps us to say our reflections clearly.” Finlay “We can use the reflection cube by ourselves or with a group.” Charlie

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JIGSAW REFLECTIONS “The jigsaw reflection is a neat partner activity.” Dylan “It is fun matching up the puzzle pieces and saying our reflections.” Claudia

Photo’s of classroom Reflection

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Writing in an individual or class Reflection Journal.

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Sharing reflections with the class.

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Taking part in a reflection circle activity.

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Participating in a reflection game – reflection strips, reflection cube or reflection jigsaw.

Writing individual reflections to share on a classroom poster or display.

How have the Reflection Activities helped with our Reflections?  The reflection activities are lots of fun.  They are easy to use and help make sharing our reflections enjoyable.  The activities have given us more confidence and helped us to see what we are actually learning at school and how we are learning.  We think everyone should reflect on their learning! (Shared writing activity with Room 7 24/10/08)

What the Students Think…  Saying and writing reflections were hard at the beginning of the year, but go easier as they practiced.  The activities that were hands-on were easier and more fun than those where writing was needed.

What the Teachers Think…  The reflection activities where students got to do something other than writing proved most popular, and therefore got the best results.  In the future students will be encouraged to use reflection activities at a given time in the day to help them reflect on their learning and think about their next steps.

Conclusion  We have really enjoyed taking part in this Action Research Project.  The children have responded well to all aspects of reflection, and as teachers we have been able to explore different ways of using it in our classroom programme.  We will continue using various elements of reflection with our students.