Attending to lifelong learning skills through guided reflection in a physics class

TL;DR

This study introduces the Guided Reflection Form (GRF), a tool designed to enhance reflection skills in physics students, with analysis showing students engaged meaningfully and revealing common learning challenges.

Contribution

The paper presents the design and implementation of the GRF to promote reflection in physics education, providing insights into student struggles and reflection processes.

Findings

Most students used the GRF to reflect meaningfully.

Reflections revealed common struggles faced by physics students.

The GRF can be a useful tool for supporting student reflection.

Abstract

This paper describes a tool, the Guided Reflection Form (GRF), which was used to promote reflection in a modeling-based physics course. Each week, students completed a guided reflection and received feedback from their instructors. These activities were intended to help students become better at the process of reflection, developing skills that they could apply in their future learning. We analyzed student reflections: (1) to provide insight into the reflection process itself and (2) to describe common themes in student reflections. Most students were able to use the GRF to reflect on their learning in meaningful ways. Moreover, the themes present in student reflections provide insights into struggles commonly faced by physics students. We discuss the design of the GRF in detail, so that others may use it as a tool to support student reflections.