Before the Reflections: Developing the Questions that Motivate Student Learning
Abstract
Research points to the benefits of including experiential activities to motivate student learning and increase critical thinking skills (Young et al 2008; Hatcher and Bringle 2000), including cases, service-learning, discussions, and projects. It’s important to note, however, that it’s not the activities themselves but rather the student/activity interaction that can lead to better learning outcomes. John Dewey (1933), who developed the experiential learning theory, noted that experience by itself is not always educative, and these activities can result in “errorful and biased” suppositions if not done correctly (Eisenstein and Hutchinson 2006). Kolb’s experiential learning theory (1984) suggests that including a reflective component can motivate students to become more active and involved learners. Furthermore, Kember and Leung (1998) found that students engaged more when they found the learning task to be more interesting and/or challenging. While research suggests a variety of reflective assignments to accomplish this goal, it’s somewhat unclear how to develop these assignments and even less clear what questions to ask to encourage this deeper level of learning. The objectives for this session include discussion of the research on reflection assignments, and how to develop assignments/questions to motivate deeper learning. Participants can bring assignments to the session to discuss.
Location
Room 1005
Recommended Citation
Rapp, Eve M., "Before the Reflections: Developing the Questions that Motivate Student Learning" (2015). SoTL Commons Conference. 132.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sotlcommons/SoTL/2015/132
Before the Reflections: Developing the Questions that Motivate Student Learning
Room 1005
Research points to the benefits of including experiential activities to motivate student learning and increase critical thinking skills (Young et al 2008; Hatcher and Bringle 2000), including cases, service-learning, discussions, and projects. It’s important to note, however, that it’s not the activities themselves but rather the student/activity interaction that can lead to better learning outcomes. John Dewey (1933), who developed the experiential learning theory, noted that experience by itself is not always educative, and these activities can result in “errorful and biased” suppositions if not done correctly (Eisenstein and Hutchinson 2006). Kolb’s experiential learning theory (1984) suggests that including a reflective component can motivate students to become more active and involved learners. Furthermore, Kember and Leung (1998) found that students engaged more when they found the learning task to be more interesting and/or challenging. While research suggests a variety of reflective assignments to accomplish this goal, it’s somewhat unclear how to develop these assignments and even less clear what questions to ask to encourage this deeper level of learning. The objectives for this session include discussion of the research on reflection assignments, and how to develop assignments/questions to motivate deeper learning. Participants can bring assignments to the session to discuss.
