Chapter 2. Literature Review
2.4 Specific Tools of Reflective Practices
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efficacy, there is very little evidence that reflection will necessarily lead to higher students’
achievements and better teacher performance” (in Fat’hi & Behzadpour, 2011, p.243).
To conclude, it is important to note that it has been proved by research that reflection can be taught or developed through various means but there is still doubt whether there is any correlation of reflection and more effective practice.
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&Adadan, 2011, p. 488). The authors emphasize the importance of carefully designed tasks and an electronic medium that supports easy access and revision to engage pre-service teachers in meaningful reflection (Oner & Adadan, 2011, p. 488).
Another category of research projects are focused on the use of writing to develop reflective skills. For instance, Francis (1995) investigated the reflective writing process based on reflective journals and found that pre-service teachers need time and a prescribed structure to develop reflective writing. As a result, some of them begin to challenge the generally accepted assumptions.
In a similar vein, Welch and James (2007) investigated the impact of guided written reflection on the development of reflective practices in pre-service special educators. They suggested a ‘‘user-friendly’’ template for reflection known as the ABCs of reflection and empirically confirmed its efficiency. The experiment was conducted with 26 pre-service teachers at a private Midwestern university. One group of the participants reflected without any guidance while the other used the ABC123 method. The researchers recorded a
statistically significant difference in the depth of reflection between the two groups. The authors explain this difference claiming that clear guidelines and knowing the expected level and outcome of reflection enhanced the latter (Welch & James, 2007, p. 282).
The focus of the next category of studies is on the use of technology in the development of RP. Thus, Whipp (2003) studied the development of reflective skills in prospective teachers through online discussions and found that the latter need to be carefully structured to promote higher levels of reflection (p. 331). The author identified tailored and general questions from teacher educator and peers and critical readings to be
“helpful scaffolds” for online discussions about field experiences. In addition, Whipp (2003) emphasizes the importance of explicit goal and expectation of critical reflection.
The author also claims that students need to understand how to achieve higher levels of
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reflection through a particular framework for critical reflection and modeling of critical reflection (p, 331). To achieve this, online communication has to be scaffolded by the course instructor who would create carefully structured questions and define roles for students, and based on critical reading (Whipp, 2003, p. 331).
Likewise, Jones (2014) studied the reflective practice of student teachers in the online space during the practicum component of a teacher education course. The findings suggest that reflective practice in the online space “offers an opportunity to engage pre- service teachers in meaningful reflection on their teaching practice” (p.171). Moreover, the students reported favorable perceptions of the weekly forum used in the study as a useful strategy supporting their learning (Jones, 2014, p.171).
Another example of technology-focused projects is the study by Ikpeze (2010), who investigated the role of technology in enhancing the reflective thinking of future teachers and found that “creating a structure that promotes reflection, use of multiple projects, thought-provoking readings, collaboration, hands-on activities and a problem-solving approach” enhance the quality of teacher reflection. The author emphasizes the importance of “varied contexts and experiences with various technologies” to increase the reflective abilities explaining this by the different learning styles and ways people engage with technology varying according to: “whether they worked on their own or in a group;
whether they had a limited and extended knowledge base in the area; perceptions about their learning competence in the area and their beliefs” (p.344).
In addition, McCormack (2010) examined how teacher candidates responded to VoiceThread-based assignments that were expected to enhance teacher reflection and concluded that it can “augment, extend and refine teacher reflection experience by facilitating and structuring the analysis process” (p. 122). To support this conclusion, the author quotes Hawkes and Rosmiszowski (2001) whose research “has shown that
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discourse through technology achieved a higher overall reflective level than do reflections generated by teachers in face-to-face interactions” (McCormack, 2010, p.111).
Finally, in his doctoral thesis, Brent (2010) has undertaken a grounded theory study of how technology can facilitate reflection. The author found that technology provides opportunities for reflecting on different instructional aspects, the choice of the modality for communication and contexts for reflection including, voice, video, text chat, recordings, Internet, etc, tracking systematic information and trends. Brent (2010) highlights the potential of video in enhancing reflection in student teachers opposing it to live
observation. According to the researcher, technology may be used to reflect on teaching in the following ways: (a) looking for and analyzing feedback; (b) providing feedback to students; (c) recording and reviewing teaching activities and class sessions; (d) capturing and reviewing personal notes with journals and blogs; (e) making adjustments to class activities and resources as needed; (f) monitoring student progress and reviewing student understanding through participation, exercises, contributions to discussions, and grades; (g) communicating with students; (h) interacting and exchanging ideas through online teaching communities; and (i) archiving and organizing curricular information (Brent, 2010).
Moreover, Brent (2010) identified the following characteristics of technologies that support RP: (a) relative ease and speed; (b) ability to facilitate a variety of ways for
feedback; (c) ability to record, store, and access resources and data for review; (d) systematic data to analyze trends and common features; (e) ability to organize and make changes as needed; and (f) ability to facilitate communities for discussion, sharing, and collaboration.
Overall, most of the recent studies focus on the use of technology to enhance reflection suggesting strategies varying in their efficiency, most of them relying on reflective writing in one form or another. Most of the studies also emphasize the
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importance of guidance, i.e. questions posed before developing reflective practitioners either by an instructor or through an electronic medium. The question that remains
unanswered is whether technology is critical to develop reflective skills or the same levels of reflection could be achieved without technology.