The following information has been provided by Tareq Daher, Director, College of Engineering, and Markeya Peteranetz, Learning Assessment Coordinator, College of Engineering during CTT's Spring 2020 Teaching Learning Symposium.
Overview:
Reflective practice is ‘learning through and from experience towards gaining new insights of self and practice’ (Finlay, 2008). It is a process in which an instructor engages in self-assessment on their own teaching practices. Then the instructor can identify areas of improvement and implement new ideas.
Once we understand ourselves as teachers, we can do a better job supporting our students’ learning. We need to continuously analyze our actions to improve the instructional practice we engage in. Understanding what we do as teachers means being aware of not only the instructional strategies that we use but how they impact our students' learning.
Implementation:
The Engineering and Computing Education Core (ECEC) recommends four times in the semester where you can engage in reflective practice:
- First day of class: What went well today? How did I establish expectations for the class? What upcoming challenges did the semester reveal today?
- After students complete a major assignment or test: What about my students’ performance met my expectations? What about my students who didn’t meet my expectations? Do I need to make changes to the assessment? How well did it align with my learning objectives? Do I need to frame this assignment differently?
- Per class or weekly: What went well today? Are there any obvious changes that I need to make for next time? How well did this class session or week align with the learning objectives? Do I need to seek out help or information to make any changes?
- End of semester: What went well this semester? What was the most challenging part of teaching this course? What changes do I need to make lessons, activities, assignments, or materials for the next class? How did my teaching in this course reflect my personal beliefs about high-quality teaching?
An example of the ECEC reflection for the end of the semester is below. The full reflection packet is available on our ECEC website.
To help get started with reflection, here are some weekly entry examples:
- What went well today?
- How did this day/week align with my learning objectives for the course?
- What about this lesson/activity that needs to be done differently next time?
- Do I need to seek out help or information to make those changes? If yes, what do I need and where can I get it?
- What can I do to make our next class be as effective as possible?