Modeling Reflection

Instructors have the opportunity to influence how students value reflection by their (the instructor's) own practices. As described in the TAMU University Writing blog Stand and Deliver about George Kuh's work on student engagement and learning "faculty can and do shape student performance by what they themselves value and do” [Kuh, George D., Thomas F. Nelson Laird, and Paul D.Umbach "Aligning Faculty Activities & Student Behavior" Liberal Education 90.4 (2004): 24-31, p. 30]. When instructors share their own reflection experiences with their students, they allow them to see the importance of reflection to the research writing and thinking process.

Where do you start?

Begin with your own reflection experiences, i.e., where, when, and how do you reflect? One likely place is your research projects, which require you to ask important questions regarding what you did, how you did it, why you did it, why you did it the way you did it, what worked and what did not, and, most importantly, what you will do differently next time. Capitalize on these opportunities to show your students the value of reflection. See examples below. When an instructor models reflection, she communicates the importance of deep-level thinking to the work she is doing. Students often see the results of our work through the "products" resulting from our research or lab work, but they may not see the thought behind it. Thinking out loud in the classroom about your pedagogy and choices and keeping a reflective journal that is made available to students (Loughran, 1996).

Faculty Examples

Students need to see that reflection is an integral part of research, and many faculty may see that they are already using reflection in their personal research efforts.

Answers

• 1. Dr. Lutkenhaus emphasizes the iterative nature of her research to formulate hypotheses, beginning with a careful review of the literature: "I target my search of the literature to identify the language associated with the topic, i.e., key terminology that will help me refine the scope of a proposed project. As my research progresses to a point where I am able to gather data, I keep an open mind, knowing that the data gathered from the lab and continued research will likely require refining my hypotheses or even starting over. The process is recursive, requiring that I continually return to the literature and the lab as I formulate and refine an idea for a proposal."

  2. The most important considerations are connected to the value of my research:

     • "Is the research worth doing? To whom and for what purposes is this research important? Is it publishable?"

     • "Specifically, will it change the way we think about the field (the way we think about polymers)? Will it affect the way we complete research or conduct experiments?"

     • "Is the research fundable? Is it worth our time?"

  3. Through immersion in the discipline, Dr. Lutkenhaus' students learn the language of polymer science and the importance of formulating a research process and experimental method that will advance their own work as graduate students and researchers. Working with her in the lab and in the classroom, students will break poor research habits such as "manipulating the experiment to get the data they think they should get." She explains that even "bad data is publishable if you can explain it." Thus, she helps her students understand the value of understanding and communicating the process (including the reasons for the mistakes you made) so that someone else can learn from your work.

*Although Dr. Goodson's research process is presented in a specific order, it is important to keep in mind that this process is not as linear or clear-cut as it might appear. The elements listed are part of an "iterative, dynamic, and complex process."

1. Start a journal prior to developing the proposal.

   • Journals allow her to systematically mature her thinking about a project through writing.

   • She schedules writing sessions for each project (can be about 30 minutes long).

   • In the initial phases, her journal allows her to brainstorm and raise questions.

   • When she begins to identify repeated ideas or questions throughout her writing, she recognizes that a project might be worth pursuing.

2. Determine feasibility.

   • Her journal writing allows her to have a dialogue with herself about the project and determine the feasibility and next steps.

   • Her journal allows her to “feel more grounded,” and she uses her entries as data for herself, in which she notices repetitive information and patterns to clarify her thinking and make decisions.

3. Capture the details.

   • Her journal allows her to capture the details, and this process can take several days.

4. Analyze and reflect after each interview

   • From her field notes, she writes down her impressions in first-person.

   • Analysis of the data and reflection go hand in hand, and she captures it every time through her journal writing.

5. Write while reading the literature.

   • She not only reads the literature, but also writes while reading.

   • She has developed a matrix for research articles, which allows her to capture important information and her reflections from each reading.

6. Document decisions.

   • The journal also serves a documentation purpose for any decisions that the research team makes.

   • The writing does not need to be extensive. It can be just a couple of sentences, but it helps to solidify her thinking.

   • The writing is organized and centralized—it all happens in one or two places, so she knows where to look.

Advice and Thoughts from Dr. Goodson

• “You can mature your reflection in little chunks.” To get started, choose your method of writing, document the date and time, set a timer for 5 minutes and write everything going through your mind about that project.

• “Have a conversation with yourself for 5 minutes.” Come back to your writing and repeat the process, but this next time, set one small goal (e.g., read an article, meet with department head to clarify a question, etc.) and do this in small chunks.

• “Reflection does not always involve asking those big lofty questions.” A lot of planning is a part of reflection—the “what’s my next step?” questions.

• “Reflection is meaning making."