Assessing the Impact of Reflective Practice on Teachers’ Professional Practices: A Case Study in Selected Ghanaian school

En basit şekliyle deneyimlerden öğrenme olarak tanımlanan yansıtma (reflection) kavramının, öğretmenlerin mesleki gelişimlerinin ayrılmaz bir parçası olduğu söylenebilir. Öğretmenlerin ve öğretmen adaylarının ne derece yansıtıcı düşündüklerini ortaya koyan çalışmaların bütünsel olarak ele alınması, öğretmen eğitiminin planlanmasına rehberlik edeceği için önemlidir. Buradan yola çıkılarak, bu çalışma kapsamında ERIC veri tabanında yer alan dergilerde yayımlanmış öğretmen ve öğretmen adaylarının yansıtma seviyelerini konu alan makalelerin incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Çalışma, betimsel içerik analizi çerçevesinde yürütülmüş olup ilgili çalışmalar yayın yılı, örneklem grubu, çalışmada kullanılan yansıtma kategorileri, katılımcıların yansıtma seviyeleri ve çalışmalarda sunulan öneriler çerçevesinde incelenmiştir. Bu kapsamda incelenen çalışmalarda öğretmen veya öğretmen adaylarıyla çalışılmış olması, çalışmaların 2018-2021 yılları arasında gerçekleştirilmiş olması ve ERIC veri tabanında taranmış olması kriterleri dikkate alınmıştır. Veri tabanında “reflection level”, “level of reflection” ve “reflective thinking level” anahtar kelimeleri kullanılarak taramalar gerçekleştirilmiş ve ilgili 16 makale çalışma kapsamına dahil edilmiştir. Çalışmaların sayısının 2018’den 2021’e kadar artış gösterdiği ve katılımcıların çoğunlukla öğretmen adaylarından oluştuğu belirlenmiştir. Ayrıca yansıtma seviyelerini değerlendirmek için çalışmalarda 10 farklı kategorinin kullanıldığı ve katılımcıların çoğunlukla orta düzeyde yansıtma seviyesine sahip oldukları tespit edilmiştir. Çoğu çalışmada katılımcıların yansıtıcı düşünmeye yönelik eğitim almadıkları ve yansıtıcı yazılarını yazmaları için kendilerine herhangi bir yönlendirici soru verilmediği belirlenmiştir. Çalışmaların önerileri incelendiğinde araştırmacıların, öğretmen yetiştirme programlarında yansıtıcı düşünmeye yönelik uygulamalara daha fazla yer verilmesinin gerekliliğine vurgu yaptıkları belirlenmiştir

This study investigated how peer comments made using a video annotation tool (VAT) through an online learning community improved student-teachers’ level of reflective thinking and communication competence throughout the simulated (i.e., role-play) context of consultation practice. Eighty student-teachers from two classes of the course “Comprehensive School Guidance” participated in this study, and all recorded two videos for their tripartite practice on parent consultation for self-evaluation and peer comment. Forty student-teachers were in the comparison class and provided general comments to their peers on the learning platform, while those in the experimental class used the VAT on the learning platform to provide specific comments to their peers. Two post-practice online questionnaires and reflective journal entries, which aimed to measure communication competence and reflective thinking ability, were administered to the student-teachers after the first and second consultation practice. The reflective journal entries were segmented into units of analysis that were scored using a 4-level model of reflective thinking (from 1 to 4), with a higher score indicating demonstration of a higher level of reflective thinking for that particular segment. Both the number of reflective notes made and the average level of reflective thinking in student-teachers’ journal entries were indicators of reflective thinking ability. Two mixed ANOVAs were conducted to examine whether student-teachers in the experimental (VAT) class improved their reflective thinking ability and communication competence more significantly than those in the comparison (non-VAT) class. The results showed that student-teachers in both the VAT and non-VAT classes had statistically higher scores for communication competence and reflective thinking in the second role-play practice. Student-teachers with the support of VAT, in comparison to those without, significantly improved their average reflective thinking ability. Focus group interviews were also conducted to investigate how VAT could support student-teachers’ learning process and to learn their perceptions of the strengths and limitations of the VAT. The results indicated that the VAT could enhance student-teachers’ learning by reducing communication barriers created by the tendency to avoid direct observations of peers’ weaknesses, enhancing reflection-in-action during practice, and contextualizing written comments by referring to specific video segments. However, student-teachers felt that the VAT should also allow users to draw on the video screens.

The study examined the use of reflective journals as a mechanism to facilitate the process of reflection. In particular, it focuses on the level of reflective thinking that the students were commonly engaged in their reflective journals. Participants of this research study comprised of 12 students who were enrolled in a foundation programme at a local university in Brunei Darussalam. The main instrument used for data collection was students’ reflective journals. Each student submitted 5 reflective journals for this research. Based on the analyses of the students’ reflective journals, it was found that the students were engaged in different levels of reflective thinking, which varied from a lower to a higher level of reflection. This study also found that there were improvements in the reflective practice among the students. This study has implication on the use of reflective journals in the teaching and learning processes in higher education.The study examined the use of reflective journals as a mechanism to facilitate the process of reflection. In particular, it focuses on the level of reflective thinking that the students were commonly engaged in their reflective journals. Participants of this research study comprised of 12 students who were enrolled in a foundation programme at a local university in Brunei Darussalam. The main instrument used for data collection was students’ reflective journals. Each student submitted 5 reflective journals for this research. Based on the analyses of the students’ reflective journals, it was found that the students were engaged in different levels of reflective thinking, which varied from a lower to a higher level of reflection. This study also found that there were improvements in the reflective practice among the students. This study has implication on the use of reflective journals in the teaching and learning processes in higher education.

Bu arastirmanin temel amaci, ilkogretim matematik ve sinif ogretmenligi ogretmen adaylarinin yansitici dusunme egilim duzeylerini belirlemek; bu duzeylere cinsiyet ve bolum degiskenlerinin etkisini incelemektir. Arastirma, tarama modeliyle yapilan bir calismadir. 250 sinif ogretmenligi ogretmen adayi, 315 ilkogretim matematik ogretmenligi ogretmen adayi olmak uzere arastirmanin calisma grubunu toplam 565 ogretmen adayi olusturmustur. Veriler kisisel bilgi formu ve Semerci(2007) tarafindan gelistirilen “Ogretmen ve Ogretmen Adaylari Icin Yansitici Dusunme Egilim (YANDE)” olcegi yardimiyla toplanmistir. Elde edilen sonuclara gore hem sinif hem de ilkogretim matematik ogretmen adaylarinin yansitici dusunme egilim duzeyleri cok yuksek bulunmustur. Kadin ogretmen adaylarinin yansitici dusune egilim duzeyleri cok yuksek, erkek ogretmen adaylarinin ise yuksek bulunmustur. Yansitici dusunme egilim duzeyleri uzerinde cinsiyet ve bolum degiskenlerinin ortak etkisinin olmadigi belirlenmistir.

ABSTRACTDebriefing after high-fidelity simulation (HFS) is a critical element of the reflective process of simulation. Facilitator approaches, styles, and competence can influence the level of reflective thinking by final year undergraduate nurses. It is imperative that debrief facilitators focus on creating an enabling environment to cultivate reflective thinking. Students likewise are challenged to think reflectively within all aspects of their practice. Data collected using ethnographic methods were used to explore the influence of differing types of debrief facilitation approaches on levels of reflective thinking and how this translated to student experiences of HFS and their capacity to provide feedback using a reflective framework. Academic facilitators of HFS debriefs were most likely to engender reflective thinking; however, having an academic involved in the debrief process did not impact on critical reflection. Emotional processing of the simulation was not regularly evidenced, with minimal scaffolding and prompting provided by facilitators. Final year nursing students struggle to critically reflect on their simulation experiences. Interventions are required through direct action and further research to educate these students to critically reflect in both academic and professional practice.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to measure the level of qualitative reflective thinking among the final year undergraduate students Physical Therapy from different universities. Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was conductedfrom July 2022 to January 2023 among the final year undergraduate students of Physical therapy from different universities such as Government College University of Faisalabad (GCUF), University of Sargodha (UOS) and University of Health Sciences (UHS) of Pakistan. The sample size n=216 collected through purposive sampling techniques. Qualitative Reflective Thinking was measured through Reflective Thinking Questionnaire (RTQ). It was subdivided in habitual action, understanding, reflection and critical reflection. Result:Descriptive analysis was used to measure the demographic data and Friedman's ANOVA was applied to compare the reflective thinking among students. P – Value was considered significant at 5%. At post hoc comparison the level of reflective thinking was UHS>GCUF>UOS. Conclusion:The students required more task specific practice to enhance the level reflective practice. The critical thoughts are the essential tools for successful careers of students of clinical profession.

The main aim of the present study with relational screening model was to analyze the relationship between reflective thinking skills and philosophical views regarding the nature of mathematics (NoM) in secondary school mathematics teacher candidates. In addition, it was aimed to determine whether the reflective thinking levels of the candidates displayed a significant difference according to absolutist, mixed, and semi-experimentalist groups. The study group consisted of 196 secondary school mathematics teacher candidates studying in the mathematics teaching program in the spring semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. As data collection tools, The Scale for Determining Philosophical Views Regarding the NoM and The Scale for Determining the Level of Reflective Thinking were used. In the analysis of the data, in addition to descriptive statistics, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient and multiple linear regression analysis were employed. In the study, it was determined that both reflective thinking levels and the philosophical views regarding the NoM were found to be high in mathematics teacher candidates. Besides, it was determined that there was a positive and moderate relationship between the reflective thinking level subdimensions and and the philosphocial views on the NoM in the teacher candidates, and that the variables of the reflective thinking level subdimensions explained 44% of the variance in the philosophical views on the NoM. Moreover, it was concluded that there was a statistically significant difference between the semi-experimentalist group and the mixed and absolutist groups in favor of the semi-experimentalist group in terms of critical reflection, reflection and understanding skills, and between the absolutist group and the mixed and semi-experimentalist groups in favor of the absolutist group in terms of habitual actions subdimension.

This paper investigates the influence of reflective and intuitive thinking on students' learning and performance within a simulation game environment. In particular, the decision-making processes of 120 graduate students - divided into teams - taking part in a simulation game have been investigated. The results show that an average level of reflective thinking leads teams to reach a higher performance, compared to teams with a high or low level of reflective thinking. Moreover, results demonstrate that participation in simulation games do not improve the reflective thinking of participants, whilst simulation gaming is able to positively affect their learning capacity. Teachers can use these findings to design the 'best team composition' of students, allowing them to increase their overall performance in simulation gaming. Yet, this work - reinforcing prior literature - bolsters the ability of simulation games in improving learning skills of students.

Background : Reflective thinking plays an essential role in problem solving. However, the hierarchy of students’ reflective thinking levels when solving problems is not yet known. Objectives : The study aims to determine the hierarchy levels of students’ reflective thinking in solving mathematical problems. Design : This type of research was qualitative and employed an explorative approach. Setting and Participants : This research examined 104 reflective thinkers from Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi. Data collection and analysis : We used analytical geometry instrument tests, observation sheets, and interview guidelines to refine the data. The instruments underwent a review process by validators experts in mathematics education research, qualitative research, and mathematical thinking skills research. We used the think-aloud method to capture the data, which were recorded through an audiovisual recording tool. The data were analysed through three stages: preliminary analysis, open coding, and axial coding. Results : The analysis reveals that reflective thinking has four levels: in-depth understanding, relating concepts, making errors and willingness to correct them, and being convinced of answers. to elevate it to a higher level. Conclusions : The research concluded four hierarchy levels of reflective thinking. Further research can focus on defragmenting students’ reflective thinking during problem solving in an attempt to improve such thinking. Moreover, determining the steps to defragment students’ reflective thinking at each level is necessary.

هدف إلى التعرف على درجة ممارسة معلمات الکيمياء لنموذج نيدهام البنائي، وقياس مستوى التفکير التأملي لديهن، وتحديد طبيعة العلاقة بين ممارسة نموذج نيدهام البنائي ومستوى التفکير التأملي لديهن، وذلک عند تدريس مقرر الکيمياء للمرحلة الثانوية بمدينة مکة المکرمة، والتحقق من صحة الفروض التالية : مستوى التفکير التأملي لدى معلمات الکيمياء بالمرحلة الثانوية يقل عن حد الکفاية 75%، ولا يوجد علاقة ارتباطية بين درجة ممارسة معلمات الکيمياء لمراحل نموذج نيدهام البنائي عند تدريس مقرر الکيمياء للمرحلة الثانوية ومستوى التفکير التأملي لديهن ، ولتحقيق ذلک أستخدم المنهج الوصفي التحليلي للإجابة عن اسئلته والتحقق من صحة فروضه، طبق على عينة من معلمات الکيمياء بمدينة مکة المکرمة والبالغ عددها (30) معلمة من معلمات الکيمياء بمدينة مکة المکرمة، کما أعدت الباحثة بطاقة ملاحظة شملت مراحل نموذج نيدهام الخمس وهي: التوجيه ،وتوليد الافکار ، وإعادة بناء الأفکار، وتطبيق الأفکار والتأمل، والممارسات التدريسية في کل مرحلة ، کما اعدت الباحثة مقياس التفکير التأملي للمهارات التالية : الرؤية البصرية الکشف عن المغالطات الوصول إلى استنتاجات: إعطاء تفسيرات مقنعة وضع حلول مقترحة، تم تطبيق في الفصل الدراسي الأول للعام الدراسي 1439/1440هـ، وأظهرت النتائج أن درجة ممارسة معلمات الکيمياء لنموذج نيدهام البنائي متوسطة، حيث تراوحت بين 43% -71% ، وبمتوسط بلغ 53.1 %، کما أن مستوى التفکير التأملي لدى معلمات الکيمياء عينة البحث متوسطة، حيث تراوح ما بين36 % إلى 68%، بمتوسط 47.73%، ووجود علاقة ارتباطية بين ممارسة معلمات الکيمياء لنموذج نبدهام البنائي ومستوى التفکير التأملي لديهن، وخرج بعدد من التوصيات منها ، تدريب معلمات العلوم بوجه عام ومعلمات الکيمياء بوجه خاص على توظيف نيدهام البنائي في التدريس، من خلال إعداد برامج تدريبية قائمة على أفکار نظرية التعلم البنائية. The aim of research was; to identify degree of practice of chemistry teachers of needham’s five phases constructivism model, to measure level of their reflective thinking, and to determine nature of relationship between practice of needham’s five phases constructivism model and level of their reflective thinking when teaching chemistry course for secondary stage in city of Mecca, And to check validity of following hypotheses: level of reflective thinking among chemistry teachers in secondary level is less than 75%, and there is no correlation between degree of practice of chemistry teachers of stages of needham’s five phases constructivism model when teaching chemistry course for secondary level and level of reflective thinking among them. In order to achieve this, research used analytical descriptive method to answer its questions and verify validity of its hypotheses. The research was carried out on a of chemistry teachers in city of Mecca and number was (30) teachers from chemistry teachers in city of Mecca. The researcher also prepared a note taking card that included five stages of needham’s five phases constructivism model: orientation, generation of Idea, restructuring of Idea, application of Idea and reflection, and teaching practices at each stage, researcher also prepared a reflective thinking scale for following skills: Visual Vision, Detecting fallacies, Reaching conclusions, Providing persuasive explanations, Developing proposed solutions. The research was applied in first semester of academic year 1439/1440 H. The results showed that degree of practice of chemistry teachers of needham’s five phases constructivism model was moderate, ranging from 43% to 71%, with an average of 53.1%. In addition, level of reflective thinking of chemistry teachers the research sample was close to average ranging between 36% to 68%, an average of 47.73%, and existence of a correlation between practice of chemistry teachers of needham’s five phases constructivism model and level of reflective thinking among them. The research has led to a number of recommendations, including training of science teachers in general and chemistry teachers in particular on use of needham’s five phases constructivism model in teaching.

The study aims to learn that they want to reflect on their reflective thoughts and reveal how they reflect what they have learned. Reflective thinking, one of the higher-order thinking skills, enables students to learn more easily and permanently. Students with high reflective thinking skills will be more successful both in their academic and social life. A screening model was used in this study. Since we want to describe an existing situation as it is, the screening model has been the most suitable model for our study. The sample of the study consists of the 2nd-grade students of Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University Classroom Teaching Department. The study was conducted with 59 students selected by a simple random method. A learning diary study was conducted with 10 students out of these 59 students. It is important to develop students' existing potential by determining their reflective thinking levels. This gives us information on how to plan and implement reflective activities in learning environments. The data were collected through the learning diary and reflection papers by analogy. The students were asked to write a learning diary during the first 8 weeks of the science teaching lesson of the primary school teaching department. After the lecture was completed, the students were asked to make an analogy using the science concepts they learned. The analogies were asked to be formed regarding the analogies between the concepts that students learned in the science lesson and their friends. In addition, students were asked to write down the reason why they made analogies between their friends and the science concepts. In this way, the accuracy of their reflections on whether they learned the concepts or not was examined. The data were analyzed using content analysis. The reflection levels of the expressions of the students in the diaries where they describe their learning processes were determined using the method of Moon (2009). In the results obtained through content analysis, it was observed that the reflective thinking levels of the students were at medium level and they did not have high-level reflective thinking skills. In the analogy study in which science concepts were used, 61% of the students did not make conceptual errors while associating the science concepts, while 39% of them had conceptual errors. The basis of misleading about science concepts should be investigated and corrections should be made on this issue. Appropriate techniques and time are needed to develop students' reflective thinking skills. Students should be allowed to reflect on their learning situation. It is known that individuals who can think reflectively are more successful academically. This way of thinking provides convenience to students both in academic success and in social life. Techniques that develop reflective thinking should be given more places in educational settings.

Teacher training process must stimulate reflective thinking skill because this skill is crucial to improve teaching and learning capability. Indonesian version of standardized instrument to assess the development of reflective thinking skill in teacher training program is still limited. This research aimed to adapt Reflective Thinking Questionnaire (RTQ) to Indonesian version, investigate its quality, probe pre-service chemistry teachers’ level of reflective thinking, investigate relationship between reflective thinking and GPA, and compare between 1st year and 4th year pre-service chemistry teachers’ reflective thinking skill. RTQ is a 16 items 5 point Likert scale questionnaire purposed to measure reflective thinking in 4 subscale levels: Habitual Actions (HA), Understanding (U), Reflection (R), and Critical Reflection (CR). Each subscale was assessed by 4 questionnaire items. With the help of four science education experts who are fluent in both languages, RTQ was first translated into Indonesian and then its empirical result was substantiated. The translated RTQ was given to 147 pre-service chemistry teachers from Department of Chemistry Education, Raja Ali Haji Maritime University, Indonesia. Data were analyzed using Rasch model method. Result indicated that the instrument and all 16 items nicely fit the Rasch model. The data also showed good reliability (Cronbach alpha .84). Result of this research also indicated that Understanding received the highest mean (17.70), followed by Critical Reflection (16.50), Reflection (16.48), and the lowest mean was Habitual Action (14.60). Non-parametric analysis was used because normal data distribution is not observed. Based on Wilcoxon Test result, significant difference between all subscales levels were detected, except for CR-R. Spearman Correlation result indicated that correlation between reflective thinking and GPA was not significant. Based on Mann-Whitney Test result, significant difference between 1st year and 4th year college students’ reflective thinking was only detected in CR. The implications relate to reflective thinking skill were discussed to improve the quality of learning process and its’ evaluation.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between teacher-toddler interaction and role performance, and to investigate the effect of early childhood teachers' teacher-infant interaction and reflective thinking on role performance. The subjects of this study were 311 teachers of infants and toddlers working in early childhood education institutions located in 5 districts of G city, and a survey was conducted on them. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS 24.0 program. Cronbach's A coefficient was calculated to verify the reliability of the tool, and frequency analysis was performed to determine the frequency of practice for reflective thinking. In addition, a Pearson correlation analysis was performed to examine the correlation between each variable, and a stepwise regression analysis was performed to determine the effect of teacher-infant interaction and reflective thinking on role performance. Looking at the results of the study, first, early childhood teachers working in early childhood education institutions were the most likely to respond that reflective thinking is done once a month, and it was found that they do reflective thinking through scholarship (self, colleagues) as a method of reflective thinking. In addition, it was found that reflective thinking was most common when observing or evaluating play activities of infants and toddlers, and that they most often received help from peer teachers when they needed help with reflective thinking. Looking at the content on the level of reflective thinking of early childhood teachers, the 5th level of reflective thinking showed the highest results. In other words, the most common respondents said that they were reflective thinking by analyzing teaching behavior from the teacher's point of view and how undesirable behaviors are applied to similar situations. Second, there was a correlation between teacher-infant interaction, reflective thinking, and role performance. Third, teacher-infant interaction and reflective thinking appeared to be variables that could explain role performance. Through this study, it is hoped that it will serve as a basis for preparing ways to improve the role performance of infant and toddler teachers, reflective thinking, and teacher-infant interaction, and ultimately improve the quality of care and education.

Teachers are important role models for pupils. They should be reflective practitioners and self-directed learners. Teacher training process should promote being a reflective thinker and a self-directed learner. Curriculum should be designed in accordance with constructivism. The aim of this research is to investigate effects of layered curriculum on pre-service teachers’ reflective thinking level and on self-directed learning readiness. In this study sequential mixed method design is used. A pretest-posttest control group design (quantitative phase) and a semi-structured interview (qualitative phase) are used. Layered curriculum is determined to have positive effects on participants’ reflective thinking level and self-directed learning. According to findings of this research, layered curriculum can be an alternative way to improve pre-service teachers’ readiness for self-directed learning and reflective thinking levels.

The study was designed to identify the level of reflective thinking among mathematics teachers for the first three school classes in the light of the variables of educational experience and educational qualification., The study population of all the mathematics teachers for the first three grades in the public schools in the province of Mafraq in Jordan during the first semester of the academic year 2018/2019 and the number (835) teachers. The study sample consisted of (500) mathematics teachers for the first three school classes. The study included a questionnaire consisting of (30) paragraph of Eysenck and Wilson reflective thinking scale (Eysenck & Wilson, 1976), which Barakat (2005) Arabized and developed and reformulated to suit the Arab environment. The researcher used descriptive analytical method in the survey, The results of the study showed that the level of reflective thinking among mathematics teachers for the first three school classes was medium on the whole scale, where the mean was( 1.35. The results also showed statistically significant differences (0.05≥α) In the level of reflective thinking of mathematics teachers for the first three grades due to the teaching experience and for the benefit of teachers with teaching experience (more than 5 years), The results also showed that there were statistically significant differences ( 0.05 ≥α ) in the level of reflective thinking among the mathematics teachers for the first three school classes due to the scientific qualification and to the benefit of teachers with qualification (higher than Bachelor).