Reflective Writing

It has been well-proven that metacognition is an important part of the learning process, allowing for students to reflect on their learning so that they can better apply that learning to new experiences. Providing that space for written reflection can be very beneficial to students, especially in an online, hybrid, or HyFlex classroom where it can be harder to “see” student learning in real time. Additionally, students in online, hybrid, or HyFlex classrooms may find it difficult to demonstrate their learning in the traditional ways they’ve done before, so written reflection gives them that ability. This resource will explain how written reflection can be integrated into a course or assignment sequence.

Reflection writing can be integrated into a course through various ways or at various scales. For example, when teaching material that is particularly difficult or requires students to register with some new concepts and to apply them to real-world scenarios, having weekly reflections can be helpful. For other courses, it might make more sense to have a single end-of-semester reflection. Reflections may also be formal or informal, in response to a prompt or more open-ended, or even multimodal depending on the course or instructor. The important thing is to make reflection writing requirements and grading criteria clear to students, and to build reflection into the course thoughtfully and carefully.

Request Access to the MyClasses page for more including:

• Examples of reflective writing
• Considerations for assigning reflective writing