In a lifelong learning society, lifting up transversal abilities to learn becomes a concurrent duty for individuals and institutions. Compared to the importance of reflection training, Claxton (2006) or Csapó (1999) note that the actual situation is a shortage of clear theoretical approaches and tested practices. This disserta- tion was undertaken to probe the potential of a possible training approach of these thinking skills: the insertion of tidy reflective breaks in the content to be learnt.
The dissertation comprises 11 chapters1. Each of them – to the exception of this introductory one and the closing discussion – reflects a scientific peer-reviewed journal/conference paper either accepted or submitted and thus can be read as a separate study, epitomized by its own abstract (efforts have been made to pre- vent redundancies as much as possible). However, in the overview offered be- low, the links between the chapters are provided.
Chapter 2 presents a conceptual classification framework of 35 RAs reported
in scientific literature. In order to be able to study this type of affordances in a systematic way, an overview of current practices and evidence was needed. The chapter identifies practical examples, each displaying variegated traits. By de-
1 Information to the reader: (a) the introductory page of each chapter indicates whether
it presents a study central to the dissertation topic (“prime” studies) or whether it refers to extension work (“collateral” studies), (b) the dissertation did its very best to comply to the APA-style guidelines (American Psychological Association, 2010) and to the British English standards of language, (c) despite the use of high resolution formats for the visuals, some of them remain difficult to read on the screen. A better readability can be obtained by magnifying the digital document by 150/200%, (d) the digital pre-print version of this dissertation can be downloaded from http://dspace.ou.nl, (e) any com- ment on this PhD-work is gladly received at [email protected]
fining different forms of interaction and reflectivity characterising RAs, the rea- soned inventory lays the groundwork for the subsequent studies.
Chapter 3 provides an evaluation by eight higher education experts and instruc-
tors of the RAs identified in Chapter 2. It also investigates, on a conceptual mode, the potential of widget technology to instantiate RAs.
Chapter 4 reports on a pilot experiment (54 participants). The purpose is to
populate a small-scale course with concrete instances of RAs and to submit these to an early validation. The RAs are a note-taking tool, a rating tool, and an indicator tool.
Chapter 5 describes an empirical study (137 participants) putting a RA in the
service of a real-world and full-fledged online course. The RA is a note-taking tool, based on a prototype tested in Chapter 4.
Chapter 6 updates/upgrades the dry-run literature review done in Chapter 2 to
identify existing RAs. It recaps in a systematic way the existing work on RAs and locates the studies released in Chapter 4 and 5 in a broader research context.
Chapter 7 describes the results of using a RA in an online serious game. Games
are suspect of neglecting reflection because of their primary focus on action and performance. The chapter discusses this assumption based on an early valida- tion of the game conducted with 28 participants.
Chapter 8 exposes an exploratory study using pupils’ personal mobile phone to
reflect on own learning. The experiment, conducted with 37 participants, allows to investigate the use of RAs beyond the boundaries of classroom and school.
Chapter 9 explores how learning analytics open up new possibilities to support
reflection by mirroring back to learners their personal tracked data. The chapter introduces the notion of “Learning Dashboard”, links it to reflection training, presents examples and pinpoints convergent features of this interface type.
Chapter 10 communicates the results of an empirical study (40 participants)
leaving some initiative to students in the choice of RAs. This study was in- tended to settle two opposite findings (see Chapter 4 and 5) concerning the ef- fect of reflection on time on task. The study also makes a limited use of bio- feedback sensors in an attempt to bridge cognition and physiology.
Chapter 11 offers a general discussion of the topic in the light of the conducted
experiments. It synthesises the progress made and outlines strands for future research.
Reflection amplifiers: a classification framework | 37
Chapter 2
Study 1 (prime): Reflection amplifiers in online
courses – A classification framework
Chapter 2
Reflection amplifiers: a classification framework
Abstract
This chapter identifies, in literature, a sample of 35 “reflection amplifiers”. This reveals in today’s education a variety of intervention techniques that aim at provoking reflective practice, in order to enhance learning effectiveness and to promote meta-cognition. For the support of research into this topic, a theoretical classification framework is devised and structured along two relevant at- tributes of the reflection amplifiers: (a) the type of interaction they request, and (b) the educa- tional objective they pursue. This concrete and ordered expression is used to create a mapping of the 35 inventoried techniques, enabling their detailed positioning, qualification and comparison. The whole work is intended to guide future research activities and to create awareness among online course developers about the different approaches available.
This chapter is based on: Verpoorten, D., Westera, W., & Specht, M. (2011b). Reflection amplifiers in online courses: a classification framework. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 22(2), 167-190.
“Too much reflection is the minimum quantity of reflection.” (Besson, 2011) “Only the shallow know themselves.” (Wilde, 1894/2001)
For many years, both teachers and researchers have been stressing the impor- tance of reflection for learning (Aviram, 2008; Peters, 2004). Reflection is claimed to promote deeper and more effective learning both in regular class- rooms (Watkins, 2001) and in eLearning settings (Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia, & Jones, 2009). It is generally acknowledged that stimulating reflective skills will prepare knowledge workers to cope with requests for new knowledge acquisition and ongoing personal development in the information society (European Commission, 2006; Rychen & Salganik, 2003).
Today’s learning environments offer many new opportunities for reinforcing reflection by prompting learners about their own learning. The survey in this chapter identifies 35 of these applied techniques. These may vary from simple informative prompts which summarise the learning goals to more complex and interactive tools that invoke learners to verbalise certain aspects of their learn- ing.
This chapter introduces the term “reflection amplifiers” (RAs) for these tech- niques: RAs are deliberate and well-considered prompting approaches, which
offer learners structured opportunities to examine and evaluate their own learn- ing.
Although a variety of RAs can be observed in face-to-face and online courses (see the Appendix), there is only little research evidence available about the as- sumed effects and usage. Importantly, theoretical foundation is lacking as to what type of RAs should be used to procure or support particular learning out- comes. As a first contribution to this investigation, this chapter provides a theo- retical framework that identifies the relevant attributes of RAs.
First, the chapter elaborates the underlying rationale of the work by summaris- ing the main research findings about the role of reflection in learning. Next, it inventories 35 RAs found in the literature. Then it introduces and explains the classification framework for these techniques. Subsequently, it makes use of the framework and its principles for a systematic mapping of the 35 aforementioned RAs. In conclusion, it outlines a research agenda with respect to promoting learner reflection in teaching and learning practice.