E-journals: towards critical and independent reflective practice for students in higher education

Abstract

Practitioners and students are increasingly asked to reflect upon practice within higher education (HE). Reflection is used in both formative and summative settings. Learning journals are recognised as a significant tool in promoting active learning and regularly used among students and teachers. Current research suggests that the effectiveness of journaling is inconsistent. In representing the use of journals as a process within reflective practice, the purposes of this study were to consider if journals were an effective way in which undergraduates could engage in reflection. This study adopted a constructivist interpretivist position and employed the action research approach. Participants (n = 3) were male, first-year undergraduates on a Foundation Degree in Sports Coaching at a college in the North West of England. Data collection was over a six-month period. At the end of each month, participants were required to submit their e-journals, consisting of five academic themes of their choosing. Summative feedback was offered to the students after each submission which identified their levels of reflection in relation to Bloom’s Cognitive Taxonomy. In total 43.09% of entries analysed were written in the lowest three levels of the taxonomy; 56.87% were written in the highest three levels, of which evaluation, the highest level, totalled 28.66%. Findings suggested that journals may be used effectively, with all students recording high levels of critical reflection throughout a six-month period. Students made remarkably quick progress in becoming critical in their reflections and Bloom’s Taxonomy provided a vigorous means for assessment. Strengths and limitations of the research process are discussed as are recommendations for future practice.