Reflective Tool Research Articles

Exploring Saudi EFL Teachers' Perceptions of Using Reflective Practice as a Tool for Professional Development

This study aimed to investigate the perceptions of male and female English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers regarding using reflective practice as a professional development tool and the obstacles that hinder them from adopting reflective practice. To achieve this, a quantitative approach was employed to collect data. A questionnaire with a study sample of 73 teachers was utilized as a research instrument. The findings showed that EFL teachers have positive perceptions towards reflective practice in general and that they believe it is a helpful tool to enhance their professional development. However, it was evident from the data that teachers rarely implemented the reflective tools such as reflective journal, lesson reports, and peer observation. Female EFL teachers were found to be more involved in reflective practice than male teachers. The results also revealed that the biggest obstacle that hinder EFL teachers from utilizing reflective practice was related to the institution fixed policies. Based on these findings, this study provides some implications and recommendation that will hopefully foster Saudi EFL teachers understanding and use of reflective practice.

From we ask to iASK: a self-reflection strategy that enables students to connect assessment and employability

Most students acknowledge shared responsibility, with the university, for their employability development. Many academics use assessments as the main driver for motivating students to learn. At the intersection between employability, assessment and learning, the emergent research question is - what are the mechanisms by which course-based employability is fostered? Prior research reveals that although academics identified course-based assessment as the key employability mechanism, neither students nor employers registered this conceptualisation, and thus purpose of assessment. The aim of this research was to stimulate and communicate the direct connection between assessment and employability to students and interpret their response. Over 100 first-year students, across a metropolitan and regional Australian university, participated. Students were directed to use a simple reflective tool, dubbed iASK by the researchers, that probed employability elements of identity, Attributes, Skills, and Knowledge. The research revealed the resulting student view that regular course-based assessment can develop their employability skills in communication and independence, but not in critical thinking and global citizenship.

Health care professionals' experiences of possibilities and constraints in caring for older adults living with long-term pain in community home care

Caring for a growing population of older adults with complex health problems in their homes is part of every-day work for many health care professionals in the world. This qualitative interview study explores the way health care professionals perceive possibilities and constraints when caring for older adults living with long-term pain in community home care in Sweden. The study aims to understand the relationship between health care professionals' subjective experiences and social structures such as the organization of care and shared norms and values in regard to their perceived space of action. Findings provide insight into how institutional structures such as organization and time, conflate with cultural notions, norms, and ideals, and how these enable and constrain health care professionals in their daily work but also create dilemmas. Findings suggest centering the meaning of structuring aspects in social organizations as a tool for reflection on priorities, improvement, and development in care settings.

Service learning for sustainability in the practicum phase of initial teacher training

Service-learning is an educational practice that promotes learning processes of eclectic and thorough contents, competences and values through a community service and its critical review with the help of reflective tools. Its implementation is necessary, particularly in teacher training, in order to foster change in the education system and to progress towards sustainability. In this paper we describe and analyse three projects involving the use of service-learning related to sustainability in the practicum phase of initial teacher training. In order to obtain the results, we have analysed outputs generated by the teacher trainees under the Rubric for the Self-Assessment and Improvement of Service-Learning (RSAISL) projects (Rubio-Serrano, Puig-Rovira, Martín-García and Palos-Rodríguez, 2015). The results show that the trainees are capable of leading and executing successful service-learning projects at schools, despite the limiting factors, such as time constraints or the lack of consolidation of some of these projects.

Process Reports in Applied Sport Psychology: A Tool for Professional Development

What sport psychology practitioners say, how they say it, and why they said it are core determinants of successful practice. As such, reflective practice is critical to practitioners (continued) professional development. This paper explains and illustrates a reflective tool for sport psychology practitioners – the process report. Process reports are an analysis of a practitioner’s method, techniques, and metacommunication. We provide practical steps for a practitioner to conduct a process report offering tips and reflections on the process. By drawing practitioners’ attention to their ability to shape the therapeutic process, we hope to generate more effective, agile, and responsive psychology practitioners.

How does digital reflective practice in textile design education relate to creativity?

ABSTRACT This article reports the results of a multiple case study that sought to understand how textile design students engaged in digital reflective practice (DRP) and how such engagement related to creativity. Theoretically informed by symbolic interactionism and constructivism, the study incorporated the views of textile design teachers, heads of departments and students in four different higher education institutions in Pakistan. The findings suggest that the use of digital tools for reflection in textile design studio courses can enhance students’ creativity, self-consciousness or awareness, and understanding of tasks and concept development. The creative process also entailed new possibilities of expression, presentation and meaning making by revisiting their work.

Action Research Literacy as a Reflective Tool for Unmonitored Iranian-Novice EFL Teachers

Teaching can be quite challenging during the initial years of a teaching career for many beginning teachers, specifically when teachers feel alone, unsupported and unmonitored due to the absence of supervisors and mentors at school. Thus, this research explored 10 Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) beginning teachers who struggle to teach initially without sufficient emotional and academic support from the educational public since public schools may not have subject-specific supervisors and mentors to guide and support them. This study focuses on the importance of Action Research (AR) literacy, as a reflective tool, for unmonitored beginning EFL teachers. The data collected from an interview at the beginning, group discussions during the course, and reflective papers at the end through a qualitative method indicated that AR leads to the personal, technical, social, and political development of beginning teachers. It was beneficial for beginning teachers to enhance their pedagogical practices and beliefs and allow them to gain and expand their knowledge and experience through reflections and discussions with other individuals. The result also shows how cognitive, affective, professional, and technical support and assistance from other teachers, supervisors, stakeholders, and parents can accelerate the teaching quality and educational quality.

Improving State Government's Responsiveness to Family Planning Interventions in Nigeria Using an Innovative Reflection and Action Tool.

The Challenge Initiative (TCI) works with state governments in Nigeria to scale high-impact family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) interventions rapidly and sustainably. The Reflection and Action to Improve Self-reliance and Effectiveness (RAISE) tool is an innovative responsive feedback (RF) mechanism developed by TCI to periodically monitor governments' readiness to sustain implementation of their FP/RH interventions. The RAISE tool-a facilitated, self-administered tool used quarterly to track program improvements, identify gaps, and provide feedback-contains FP/RH progress indicators across 4 pillars: political and financial commitment, government capacity, institutionalization, and sustained demand. As a maturity matrix that helps state governments to understand the extent of their self-reliance in leadership and program management, the tool measures the stages of capacity: "beginning" (54% and below), "developing" (55-69%), "expanding" (70-84%), and "mature" (85% and above). Participants self-administer the tool with a trained government facilitator, develop a remediation plan with timelines and responsible persons assigned to address identified gaps, and communicate the plan to the broader FP/RH program team. Thirteen supported states have completed 5 rounds of assessments between June 2020 and September 2022. Baseline results revealed that 4 states were at the developing stage, 8 were at the expanding stage, and 1 had a mature program. The most recent assessment revealed mature capacity for 9 states while the 4 others are in the expanding stage. Consequently, all the states demonstrated improved government self-reliance over the course of the year. To ensure objectivity, RAISE participants, who include government policymakers, program managers, and implementers, use available government data sources to complement assessment findings. As an RF mechanism, the RAISE tool contributed to governments' enhanced leadership and management of their FP/RH programs, with current considerations for modifications to serve other primary health care programs.

Supporting and understanding students’ collaborative reflection-in-action during design-based learning

Design-Based Learning (DBL) is a pedagogical approach where learning is situated in the context of design activities that are typically carried out in groups. During collaborative design inquiry, reflection is of vital importance for learning from design experience. The paper presents a research-through-design study with the intention to generate knowledge on how to design for supporting reflection-in-action during design-based learning. This study addresses the research question: how can a media tool support a group of students in externalizing reflection while they are engaging in DBL? This paper describes the design and evaluation of ReflectionSchema, a tool intended to support reflection-in-action in such a learning environment. The tool offers visualized guidance for coordinating a group of students’ understanding of how they can combine reflecting with making design representations. The tool was trialed by 13 groups of students aged 12 to 13, who used the tool to record short reflection videos along their whole DBL process. We analyzed the efficacy of ReflectionSchema in terms of supporting collaborative reflection-in-action. Furthermore, we investigated the process of reflection-in-action during Design-based learning processes by examining the collaborative reflection patterns in the reflection videos that include the actions, roles, recording preference/style, and strategies employed. We discussed how these findings can inform the design of other reflection tools for similar settings.

The promises and limitations of codes of medical ethics as instruments of policy change.

Codes of medical ethics (codes) are part of a longstanding tradition in which physicians publicly state their core values and commitments to patients, peers, and the public. However, codes are not static. Using the historical evolution of the Canadian Medical Association's Code of Ethics as an illustrative case, we argue that codes are living, socio-historically situated documents that comprise a mix of prescriptive and aspirational content. Reflecting their socio-historical situation, we can expect the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic to prompt calls to revise codes. Indeed, Alex John London has argued in favour of specific modifications to the World Medical Association's International Code of Medical Ethics (which has since been revised) in light of moral and scientific failures that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Responding to London, we address the more general question: should codes be modified to reflect lessons drawn from the COVID-19 pandemic or future such upheavals? We caution that codes face limitations as instruments of policy change because they are inherently interpretive and 'multivocal', that is, they usually underdetermine or provide more than one answer to the question, 'What should I do now?' Nonetheless, as both prescriptive and aspirational documents, codes also serve as tools for reflection and deliberation-collective practices that are necessary to engaging with and addressing the moral and scientific uncertainties inherent to medicine.

‘It really has made me think’: Exploring how informal STEM learning practitioners developed critical reflective practice for social justice using the Equity Compass tool

ABSTRACT Critical reflective practice is a foundation of socially just pedagogy. This paper focuses on the informal STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) learning sector, where there is an acute shortage of support for critical reflective practice despite long-standing, entrenched issues of inequity. We analyse how practitioners used a new reflective tool, the Equity Compass, co-developed by researchers and practitioners through a five-year partnership. We report on multimodal qualitative data (interviews, ethnographic observations, group discussions, partner site visits, and workshops) from 12 practitioners in four settings in the UK: a community zoo, regional science centre, digital arts centre and an initiative supporting girls and non-binary young people into STEM. We discuss how using the Equity Compass: (i) increased and deepened practitioners’ knowledge and understanding of equity issues; (ii) supported personal and institutional critical reflection, helping practitioners move beyond ‘gut instinct’ to interrogate their own positionality, ask new questions, and critically evaluate the effectiveness of attempts at inclusive practice; and (iii) fostered more intentional equitable planning and practice, such as participatory approaches that shared authority with learners and introduced more inclusive forms of representation. We conclude by discussing the challenges, limitations, and implications for supporting critical reflective practice among educators.

The development, validation and use of an interprofessional project management questionnaire in engineering education

ABSTRACT Professional skills of project planning, risk analysis, ethical design, communication, and working in interprofessional teams are now recognised as core engineering skills. Frequently, they are addressed in engineering education through team projects. However, these skills can be difficult for students to learn as they are often not well defined (making it difficult for students to know where to focus their attention), and team projects often lack the reflective opportunities required for their development. This paper describes the development and validation of the Interprofessional Project Management Questionnaire (IPMQ) which has been designed for use in engineering education to provide a tool for reflection on, and clarification of, the learning goals related to these skills. Two studies to assess the reliability and validity of the IPMQ are reported. The instrument shows good validity and reliability in both French and English and as such is suitable for use with students. It is also suitable for research in engineering education and for providing feedback to faculty on student learning of professional skills in team projects. Suggestions on the use of the tool to enable the kinds of reflection that will help students to learn these skills are provided.

'Herding cats': A mixed methods investigation into the educational value of debriefing in operating theatres.

The aim of the study was to explore the value of debriefing to enhance learning within operating theatres. A sequential mixed method study was undertaken at a local District General Hospital Trust in 2020. A total of 106 surveys were distributed to all multidisciplinary team members based in the trauma and orthopaedic theatres. Following the survey stage, 11 in-depth semi-structured qualitative interviews were undertaken with volunteers from the survey stage which included a range of health care professionals. Participants identified debriefing as a valuable tool for learning and reflection. However, significant barriers were identified, including lack of time and conflicting priorities. Some interviewees referred to the current debriefing process as a 'tick box' and a 'herding cats' exercise, attributing it to a lack of structure, leadership and organisational buy-in. Debriefing in the operating theatre is a valuable tool for individual and team learning. However, formalising the structure of the debriefing, along with joint team and organisational commitment, was deemed vital in optimising the value of debriefings in the future.

Capturing student teachers’ TPACK by using T-CoRe and video-annotation as self-reflective tools for flexible learning in teacher education

ABSTRACT The aim was to investigate how a reflective tool, the T-CoRe, in combination with annotated self-recorded videos and reflective writing, could be used to capture student teachers’ knowledge of digital technology use in their teaching. The authors used both a quantitative and a qualitative method to explore how 87 secondary science student teachers demonstrate their use of digital technologies in their teaching. The student teachers’ video annotations, alongside a written reflection of critical incidents in their teaching, constituted data for the analysis. The analysis identified technology knowledge-dependent components in relation to the TPACK framework. The outcomes suggest that providing student teachers with a reflective tool such as the T-CoRe in combination with annotated self-recorded videos has the potential to make visible aspects of their TPACK. This research proposes a method for teacher education that works to improve the way that student teachers are prepared for using digital technology.

Usability of self-reported assessment of work functioning in municipal occupational rehabilitation teams: A qualitative study.

This study aimed to explore (1) whether self-reported assessment on work-related functioning, workability, return-to-work (RTW) self-efficacy, and expectation was useful in the professionals' assessment of sick-listed workers and could guide referral to interventions and (2) whether self-reporting in addition to "usual practice" could improve the RTW dialog and involvement in case management. The qualitative study took place in two municipal job centers in 2021. The assessment was based on the Work Rehabilitation Questionnaire, RTW-Self-efficacy Scale-19, and single items of self-rated health, workability, and RTW expectations. Sick-listed workers (n = 36) were interviewed by telephone. Three focus-group interviews were conducted with professionals who had used the questionnaire. Data were coded and analyzed thematically. Three themes with seven subthemes emerged: (1) accessibility; (2) one tool in the RTW toolbox (subthemes: a supplementary tool, a tool for reflection, facilitating interdisciplinary communication, and enhancing active participation); and (3) the value of "ticking boxes" (subthemes: good days, bad days, the issue of power, and the cultural meaning of words). The professionals would not recommend the present questionnaire for use during their rehabilitation team meeting for assessment, interdisciplinary communication, or choice of interventions. However, using the parts assessing RTW self-efficacy and expectation combined with a dialog may be of value early in the RTW process. The self-reporting assessment tool was perceived to be meaningful to some sick-listed workers, as it provided reflections on important aspects of the RTW process. Some workers believed that it might contribute to the rehabilitation team, and thus, it could improve their involvement.

Curve Optimization for the Anidolic Daylight System Counterbalancing Energy Saving, Indoor Visual and Thermal Comfort for Sydney Dwellings

Daylight penetration significantly affects building thermal-daylighting performance, and serve a dual function of permitting sunlight and creating a pleasant indoor environment. More recent attention has focused on the provision of daylight in the rear part of indoor spaces in designing sustainable buildings. Passive Anidolic Daylighting Systems (ADS) are effective tools for daylight collection and redistribution of sunlight towards the back of the room. As affordable and low-maintenance systems, they can provide indoor daylight and alleviate the problem of daylight over-provision near the window and under-provision in the rear part of the room. Much of the current literature on the ADS pays particular attention to visual comfort and rarely to thermal comfort. Therefore, a reasonable compromise between visual and thermal comfort as well as energy consumption becomes the main issue for energy-optimized aperture design in the tropics and subtropics, in cities such as Sydney, Australia. The objective of the current study was to devise a system that could act as a double-performance of shade and reflective tool. The central aim of this paper is to find the optimum curve that can optimize daylight admission without an expensive active tracking system. A combination of in-detail simulation (considering every possible sky condition throughout a year) and multi-objective optimization (considering indoor visual and thermal comfort as well as the view to the outside), which was validated by field measurement, resulted in the optimum ADS for the local dwellings in Sydney, Australia. An approximate 62% increase in Daylight Factor, 5% decrease in yearly average heating load, 17% savings in annual artificial lighting energy, and 30% decrease in Predicted Percentage Dissatisfied (PPD) were achieved through optimizing the ADS curve.

Experienced teacher educators hunting assumptions to examine their pedagogy: An international collaborative study

The research presented in this article focuses on an international collaboration conducted by four experienced teacher educators who used assumption identification and examination to advance pedagogical practice. It describes and examines how teacher educators deliberately undertook reflective practices to inform and enhance teaching. Four vignettes are described and analyzed—Practica woes and Modelling practice—and examined using the simple, complicated, and complex teaching framework. The key outcomes include the impact and role of assumption definition, identification, and examination as powerful reflective tools. Researching practice in teacher education is an effective way to advance pedagogical knowledge and practice and a disposition of inquiry is necessary to enhance knowledge at all stages of teacher educator experience. This international collaboration highlights the importance of problematizing teaching, continually inquiring into and interrogating practice and grasping the teachable moments.

Development of eConsult reflective learning tools for healthcare providers: a pragmatic mixed methods approach

BackgroundElectronic consultation (eConsult) programs are crucial components of modern healthcare that facilitate communication between primary care providers (PCPs) and specialists. eConsults between PCPs and specialists. They also provide a unique opportunity to use real-world patient scenarios for reflective learning as part of professional development. However, tools that guide and document learning from eConsults are limited. The purpose of this study was to develop and pilot two eConsult reflective learning tools (RLTs), one for PCPs and one for specialists, for those participating in eConsults.MethodsWe performed a four-phase pragmatic mixed methods study recruiting PCPs and specialists from two public health systems located in two countries: eConsult BASE in Canada and San Francisco Health Network eConsult in the United States. In phase 1, subject matter experts developed preliminary RLTs for PCPs and specialists. During phase 2, a Delphi survey among 20 PCPs and 16 specialists led to consensus on items for each RLT. In phase 3, we conducted cognitive interviews with three PCPs and five specialists as they applied the RLTs on previously completed consults. In phase 4, we piloted the RLTs with eConsult users.ResultsThe RLTs were perceived to elicit critical reflection among participants regarding their knowledge and practice habits and could be used for quality improvement and continuing professional development.ConclusionPCPs and specialists alike perceived that eConsult systems provided opportunities for self-directed learning wherein they were motivated to investigate topics further through the course of eConsult exchanges. We recommend the RLTs be subject to further evaluation through implementation studies at other sites.

The Kawa Model: A Self-Reflection Tool for Occupational Therapy Student Development in Practice Placements in Australia.

The Kawa Model is a conceptual occupational therapy model of practice that uses the metaphor of a river as a medium to support the exploration of self, life events, and environment. In this study, the Kawa Model was used by occupational therapy students during a practice placement in a remote community setting as a tool to support learning, build self-awareness, and promote reflection on personal and professional development. The study used an exploratory qualitative research design. Six student participants were purposively recruited and orientated to the use of the Kawa Model at the beginning and throughout their remote community practice placement. Semistructured interviews were used to collect data which were analysed thematically using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Findings. Analysis of the student transcripts revealed three overarching themes: self-awareness, the development of personal and professional skills, and working with metaphor. All students identified the model as a reflective tool that enhanced their understanding of their student selves in a remote setting. The students described the growth of various professional skills including communication, goal planning, and confidence. Whilst initially students found the metaphor challenging to fathom, throughout their placement, they found it impactful for comprehending their development of self. This study revealed that the students' self-awareness and personal and professional development were influenced by their engagement with and application of the Kawa Model. Repeated engagement with the Kawa Model enhanced the students' journey of personal and professional skill development.

The person-centred care game: a reflective tool for learning person-centred care in higher education

Teachers in higher education are responsible for helping students develop the ability to reflect. One approach is with serious games, which allow students to reflect on realistic situations and shape their skills with virtual patients. This paper describes the development of a serious game, the person-centred care game – (PCC game), which was designed to promote reflection in learning. We demonstrated how this PCC game could be used to induce student reflection in an academic course on PCC.