Reflection:
“To reflect is to look back over what has been done so as to extract the net meanings which are the capital stock for intelligent dealing with further experiences. It is the heart of intellectual organization and of the disciplined mind.”
John Dewey, Democracy and Education “Learning is both an active and reflective process. Though we learn by doing, constructing, building, talking, and writing, we also learn by thinking about events, activities and experiences. This confluence of experiences (action) and thought (reflection) combines to create new knowledge.... Reflection then is the vehicle for critical analysis, problem-solving, synthesis of opposing ideas, evaluation, identifying patterns and creating meaning – in short, many of the higher order thinking skills we strive to foster in our student.” "Action + Reflection = Learning" “Perhaps the most significant message – or at least the one that relates most closely to current research and scholarship on learning – is the role of reflection in learning. Learning occurs, not necessarily as a result of the experience itself, but as a result of reflecting on the experience and testing it against further experience and the experience of others” Patricia Cross |
Relevant Links:Every Student Should Have A Digital Portfolio
What Does It Mean to Reflect? The Art of Reflection A New Coalition of Elite Colleges Tries to Reshape Admissions The Admissions Revolution Student Blogs: |
“The function of reflection is to make meaning: to formulate the relationships and continuities among the elements of an experience, between that experience and other experiences, between that experience and the knowledge that one carries, and between that knowledge and the knowledge produced by thinkers other than oneself . . . The creation of meaning out of experience is at the very heart of what it means to be human. It is what enables us to make sense of and attribute value to the events of our lives.”
Carol Rodgers
“There is growing recognition that learning is not confined to the classroom, that it also takes place in co-curricular activities, advisement and a range of other settings. A reflective ePortfolio can not only document these processes, but also integrate them into a larger whole…Through reflection, students can see how these valuable learning instances fit with key academic concepts and competencies, and how their entire experience is shaping their growth as learners.”
Bret Eynon