About this inquiry tool
“Reflection is thinking to learn! It is a ‘meaning-making process’ that helps us use what we have learned to set goals. It is the link between thinking and doing.”
(University of Waterloo)Being uncertain drives us to reflect, to seek knowledge. Critical reflection helps students assess what they know, what they need or want to know, and how they can bridge that gap. Reflections provide opportunities for students to self-assess and document their learning progress as their perspectives evolve.
Critical reflection is most important in complex problem-solving situations. It provides an opportunity to step back and think about how we solve problems, and how find ways to diversify and apply problem-solving strategies. This puts the student in the driver’s seat and promotes lifelong learning.
Providing a safe space for exploration empowers students to take risks with their learning. This lesson provides an example of how help students gain awareness of strategies for critical reflection.
When to use this lesson
We recommend completing this lesson after the Put the “Quest” in Questions Lesson. The questions that students generate in that lesson can form that basis for inquiry, and also provide content for the Critical Reflection lesson.
We also recommend using this lesson before introducing the Take Action project for a module, to support students’ self-reflection.
Lesson Objectives
By the end of the lesson, students will:
Explain the 3 steps of critical reflection
Develop the tools and vocabulary to reflect critically
Apply the critical reflection steps to a new situation
Time
90 minutes
Materials
Graphic Organizer - the student receives the graphic organizer after watching the above video “Critical Reflection.”
Digital devices with internet access for research and to fill out graphic organizer (at least 1 per group)
Part 1 - The Psychiatrist game
30 min
The first part of this lesson is a well-known activity that you may have played before. It's a fun and engaging way to introduce the concept of critical reflection!!
The premise of the game is that one player (the psychiatrist) must figure out what is wrong with the rest of the group (the patients) by asking their classmates questions. The psychiatrist wins when they correctly identify the illness.
How to play:
Invite the class to sit in a circle.
Choose one student to be the ‘Psychiatrist’ and ask them to leave the room while the rest of the class decides on their illness.
While the Psychiatrist is out of ear-shot, the class must decide what their issue will be. Some possible ideas are:
Everyone believes they are a famous celebrity.
Anyone wearing green lies each time they are asked a question.
Everyone believes they are the person sitting across from them.
Anyone asked a question that starts with “what” must scratch their head.
Have fun thinking up illnesses with your students! There are no wrong ideas. Once the group has decided on their illness, escort the Psychiatrist back into the room to stand in the middle of the circle.
The Psychiatrist must now try to diagnose their classmates’ issue by asking questions. Some suggested questions are:
What colour is your hair?
Where do you live?
What did you do yesterday?
Do you wear glasses?
Are you wearing socks?
Asking a question to multiple people in the group can sometimes help the Psychiatrist diagnose a difficult problem.
Play a couple rounds with the students.
What, So what, Now what
Once the class has played a couple of rounds, discuss the game with the whole group. The discussion guide below is intended to draw out the three steps of critical reflection.
WHAT?
Begin the discussion by asking the class about the facts of the game. For example:
What was the psychiatrist trying to figure out?
What types of information did they ask about?
Why did they ask those questions? How were they helpful?
Besides asking questions, how else did the psychiatrist obtain information about the illness?
SO WHAT?
Once the class has identified the facts of the game, ask them questions to help them make sense of the facts. For example:
Could the psychiatrist always trust what the patients said? How did they know when a patient was a lying?
What did it mean if the patient lied to the psychiatrist?
How can a lie be helpful in this case?
How was the psychiatrist able to obtain information if the answer was a lie?
Did the psychiatrist ask any unhelpful questions? How so?
Psychiatrists, as you started to pinpoint a diagnosis, did you learn any information that contradicted your initial hunch about the problem? How could contradictory information be useful?
NOW WHAT?
Once the class has made sense of the facts, ask your students questions to turn this knowledge into action. For example:
As the patient, how will you play the game next time?
As the psychiatrist, how will you play the game next time?
What are some strategies a player could use to their advantage?
Part 2 - Practice it!
60 min
1. Explain to the class that the discussion they just had after the game is an example of critical reflection. Tell them, “We are now, as a class, going to watch a video that further explains this concept.“
2. Play the video: “Critical Reflection" above.
3. After the video, ask them:
What did you learn about critical reflection from the video?
What questions do you still have about critical reflection?
What did you learn about plastics in the ocean from the video?
What questions do you still have about plastic in the ocean?
4. To practice what they learned from the video, connect the topic of plastics in the ocean with plastics in their school. Say, “Let's take the topic of plastics in the ocean a step further to look at our school’s waste management system. We will use the “What? So what? Now what?” method.”
WHAT? - What are the basic facts?
What facts do you know about our school’s recycling program or waste management culture?
How much is recycled in the school?
What ends up in the garbage?
What is the waste culture in our school?
How can you learn more information about it?
SO WHAT? - Let's make sense of the facts.
What do these facts suggest?
What does this say about our waste culture in our school?
What are the problems that need solutions?
NOW WHAT? - Let’s turn this knowledge into action.
What kind of solutions can we propose for the problems we found?
Who is impacted by these facts, how do we make it relevant for them?
What’s our next step to make a change today?
5. In the remaining class time, invite the students get into their crews to fill out the Graphic Organizer on a tablet or computer. Allow the students time to think, discuss, and debate. Avoid directly providing answers.
6. To remind them of the types of information to include in each section you can show the graphic organizer (next page) on the board. Suggest they can use the information discussed with the whole group, but encourage them to come up with a few more ideas for each section
If you wish to extend this critical reflection, consider using the Take Action project to dive into a deeper investigation and set of actions with your class.
Reflection/Wrap-up
Just before the end of the class, have each crew share one action they came up with to improve the school’s waste management culture immediately.
