Creating Reflection Assignments

1. Tutorial 4     Creating Reflection Assignments “A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” –Oliver Wendell Holmes

2. Tutorial Goals • At the end of this tutorial, you will have an understanding of: • Understand the importance of reflection • Learn about critical elements of reflection • Be comfortable with the different types of reflections used in service-learning courses

3. Workshop Objectives • At the end of this tutorial you will be able to: • Identify reasons why reflection is important for your particular course • Create potential reflection assignments for your course **Some materials within these slides are adapted from various references found at the end of this presentation

4. What is reflection? • Reflection is the intentional, structured, systematic process created by the faculty to facilitate student learning • Helps to achieve learning outcomes • It is the mechanism of organizing the messiness of service-learning • Reflection has been called the “hyphen” that links service with learning in service-learning or community based-learning http://www.servicelearning.org

5. Levels of Reflection Social Systems Personal Technical (Discipline Specific) Values Values Zlotkowski (personal communication, 2000) And Issues

6. What is the role of faculty in reflection? Faculty are responsible for: • Designing reflection • Guiding students during reflection • Monitoring reflection and providing feedback

7. When should reflection occur? • Once the outcomes are established and service activities are appropriately structured, faculty should design reflection • BEFORE • DURING • AFTER the service experience • Faculty should ask the question: How can reflection be used to enhance a particular outcome?

8. Why is structured reflection important? • Helps students connect service with course content • Assists students in finding personal relevance in their work • Provides an opportunity for students to share progress and concerns of project • Project effectiveness and student learning can both be enhanced by reviewing student reflection and providing guidance

9. Why is structured reflection important? • Students need a safe space to work out emotions in service experiences • Enhances critical thinking skills • Identifying issues • Being receptive to new ideas • Learning about the consequences of one's actions • Strengthens student competencies • Teamwork, communication, leadership, problem-solving, time management

10. Why is structured reflection important? • Provides a channel for professional development • Students engage with larger community and connect with their current and future professional peers • Students break free from an “ivory tower” orientation and view their profession as a means to positively impact society

11. Why is structured reflection important? • Prevents the reinforcement of existing prejudices and learning inaccurate concepts • Talking through/writing about and getting feedback can help lessen one’s stereotypes • Arrives at a new understanding of community needs and assets • Creates a sense of closure, especially important after a long service period, project, or emotional experience Partially adapted from Seifer & Connors, 2007

12. Core Elements - The 4 C’s: • Continuous • The reflective process is implemented and maintained continuously before, during and after the service-learning experience • Connected • Service experience is directly linked, or connected, to the learning objectives of the course or activity • Allows for “synthesizing action and thought” (Eyler & Giles, 1999)

13. Core Elements - The 4 C’s: • Challenging • Learners are challenged to move from surface learning to deeper, critical thinking • Important that the students feel they are in a safe and mutually respectful atmosphere to freely express their opinions, ideas and thoughts • Contextualized • Reflection is contextualized when it “corresponds” to the course content, topics and experience in a meaningful way     (Eyler & Giles, 1999)

14. How should reflection be integrated in the course? What needs to be considered? • Reflections should Include both private and public reflection • Involve multiple forms of learning styles (Kolb, Dewey) • Appropriate weight for the project; grades from learning not just service – thus just telling stories does not give the reflection a grade • Are reflections done alone or in teams or a combination? • What level is the course? What level are the students? • Will the students need training?

15. Types of Reflections - Before Get students prepared for experience • Case study - related to population or topic • Bring in community partner director - talk about site and community members • Group sharing (in-class or individual) - related to apprehensions, concerns, strengths about site and members

16. Types of Reflections - During Remember to tap into various learning styles • Journaling – make it in depth enough for critical reflection and not just show and tell • What – So What – Now What model (adapted from campus compact) • Added How to model (Pawlowski, 2007) • Critical incidents – highlighted event of week • Creating collage, videos – via magazine pictures or video/digital cameras • Letter writing – to self, partners, family member

17. Types of Reflections - During • Group sharing – in-class reflective exercises • Creating bumper stickers, bulletin boards, posters • Time line – identifies highs and lows of semester or of community partner with critical thought; could be used for other reflective ideas also – students’ change in thoughts of population, community partner, what the student learned each week… • ABC Board – put alphabet on board and students create words related to each letter in alphabet to relate to their experiences

18. Types of Reflections - After Should help students to culminate the experience and perhaps share with a broader audience • Presentation – perhaps in class or public presentation of product or outcome (i.e., report, scrapbook, research findings, …) • Production/portfolio - video production or tangible portfolio from student’s experiences

19. Types of Reflections - After • Written reflection – a form of written paper examining a critical concept from class and making links to community experience • Personal contact/interview/focus groups – with community partner, community leaders, community directors…if it fits purpose of project • Celebration event – with community partners Other ideas on various web sites – but these are some suggestions to help generate ways to enhance your students’ reflective thinking!

20. Keys to Facilitating Open Reflection • Students should be encouraged to be open-minded and non critical of others’ ideas • Listen to others and paraphrase when needed (to help curb stereotypes or clarify one’s position) • Don’t force participation • Remember that everything is confidential • Ask for students to explain and provide examples • Faculty need to be ready to handle student concerns of uneasiness of topic or emotions; don’t be surprised if your students create teachable moments – you too are a life-long learner! • Be creative and take risks

21. Keys to Guiding and Grading Reflection • Students should be challenged to do more than just describe what happened at their service sites; they need to analyze, think about implications, make conclusions, as well as push their own personal boundaries and how they have been changed, or how they can be change agents for others • The challenge for instructors is how to grade reflections so that you are not just grading the student’s feelings, but examining the critical though process and the links to learning outcomes and/or course content

22. Keys to Guiding and Grading Reflection • Sometimes reflection is used as a way to also assess service-learning – reflection can be used to determine whether the learning outcomes are being achieved; as well as to assure that students are connecting with and understanding the practical academic components of course content • Regardless of nature of your reflection, remember to make it planned and purposeful

23. Final Thoughts • Hope you have enjoyed learning about reflection and its importance in achieving student learning outcomes • Sparked interest in potential reflection assignments for your service-learning course • Generated more excitement to engage your students as well as yourself in the world of service-learning • Website has various reflection samples and a grid for you to create and track your reflection assignments

24. Eyler, J., & Giles, D. E., (1999). A practitioners guide to reflection in service-learning. Nashville : Vanderbilt University. • Seifer S. D., & Connors, K. (Eds.). (2007) Community campus partnerships for health: Faculty toolkit for service-learning in higher education. Scotts Valley, CA: National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. http://www.servicelearning.org/filemanager/download/HE_Toolkit_with_worksheets.pdf • http://nationalserviceresources.org • www.compact.org