Enhancing Learning Through Formative Assessment: Evidence-Based Strategies for Implementing Learner Reflection in Higher Education

Abstract

Reflection is irrefutably one of the key concepts of education theory, and its importance and benefits have been widely explored and recognized across disciplines. The ability of learners to reflect critically through control over their own learning and construct knowledge and of instructors to modify practices that promote transformative learning (Mezirow, Transformative dimensions of adult learning. Jossey-Bass, 1991) and support self-regulated, autonomous learners have been recognized as essential in higher education. However, a review of the literature from the past few decades shows that the learner-, situation-, and context-dependent nature of reflection remains obscure to most educators in both implementing reflective learning and assessing reflective thinking. The key challenge in using learner reflection for assessment for learning lies in measuring transformative learning, owing to a lack of “explicit and direct attention to the process of evaluating [it]” (Cranton & Hoggan, Handbook of transformative learning: Theory, research, and practice. Jossey-Bass, 2012, p. 531). Within the context of two institutions that prioritize integrating experiential learning (Kolb, Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice-Hall, 1984), where critical analysis and synthesis of observations and reflections derived from concrete learning experiences are central and fundamental, this chapter aims to connect insights from theory, research, and direct experience to practices instructors can use to inform their own teaching by addressing thorny issues pertaining to implementing and assessing reflection. These insights transcend any single task, course, or program in higher education.