Reflection cultivates metacognition, or the ability to think about one’s own thinking. When students reflect on their learning, it helps them develop an awareness of how they learn and understand concepts. They can identify their cognitive strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. Reflection also enables students to compare different approaches to learning and determine what works best for them. By critically analysing their thinking processes, students strengthen their metacognitive abilities and gain valuable skills that will benefit them beyond any single course. Regular reflection ultimately empowers students to become more independent, strategic, and effective learners.
Asst Prof Lisa Winstanley from the School of Art, Design and Media encourages the practice of reflection by incorporating it into her assignments.
For example, in the course Illustration for Designers (DV2002), as students complete their illustration tasks, they are expected to document their creative research and development in a blog:
Your blog should contain detailed posts about what you are doing as well as reflections on sources that have influenced your practice.
Asst Prof Winstanley scaffolds the reflective process for her students by providing prompts such as “Why you work in the way that you do” and “How you create solutions to problems”.
Students can see the reflections of their classmates too, which helps to further augment the benefits of reflection. Students who read their peers’ reflections are exposed to different perspectives, which may trigger new insights. This may also help students identify knowledge gaps that they were unaware of previously.
Through this task, Asst Prof Winstanley is able to better understand what her students have learnt (or not learnt). She is able to identify common and/or subtle misconceptions (which might not be evident in the students’ submitted illustrations), and craft targeted feedback that better supports the development of her students’ metacognition. This informs her future instruction as well, and helps her to become a more effective instructor.
Interested in improving your students’ reflection and metacognition? Check out some suggestions from the University of Waterloo.
