Writing to learn: can reflection journals be used to promote self-reflection and learning?

What makes an online learning journal powerful for VET? Distinguishing productive usage patterns and effective learning strategies

“…Learning journals can track learners' progress and learning path over time (Wade and Yarbrough 1996); take on the responsibility for selecting traces, making connections and interpreting their own learning (Lamont 2007), and to consider how experiences can be applied to future situations (Ghaye 2010;Minott 2008). LJs can positively affect competence development (Brown 2009) and self-regulated learning (Chang et al 2015;Tanner et al 2000) through metacognitive activities (Lew and Schmidt 2011;McCrindle and Christensen 1995) in which the learner critically analyzes knowledge, skills, and dispositions in different contexts (Connor-Greene 2000). Over time, a collection of LJs can document progressive learning gains as well as competences and experiences.…”

Categorization and analysis of explanatory writing in mathematics

“…A further strength of the scheme was its underpinning focus on stance towards knowledge. This focus allows for the unproblematic generalization of the categories away from the original requirement of structured journal entries to more freeform explanatory writing and, I argue, avoids the potential ambiguity [28] offered by certain other coding schemes. A weakness of the scheme was the perceived large gap (similarly observed by [3]) between Recount and Summary, a gap which might likewise be found to exist between Summary and Dialogue on a different data set.…”

“…Keys [27] provides a coding scheme for analysing written lab reports. Lew and Schmidt [28] designed an automated coding scheme using SPSS software linguistic classification techniques. They criticize the potential subjectivity of manual coding, although they acknowledge the weaknesses of an automated system.…”

“…5 While comparison with the control group is, by definition, impossible in the context of the writing exercises, comparison was possible in various analyses of assessment tasks the students were required to complete throughout the year. The one criterion on which there was noticeable divergence between experimental and control after the beginning of the writing intervention was that of understanding 6 (see also [15,28,35]). In a number of assessment tasks throughout the year, students' success at completing problem-solving questions was measured on a number of variables (such as raw grade obtained, indication of understanding, apparent metacognitive control, flexibility of solution), with understanding of the problem showing noticeable improvement for the experimental group compared to the control group.…”

Teaching Practice Assessment Methods For Pre-Service Teachers In Malaysian Teacher Education

“…Reflection journals is a learning tool that highlights the role of self-reflection in preservice teachers' learning (Lew & Schmidt, 2011). Self-reflection or self-assessment is the element that plays a vital impact on the pre-service teacher development.…”