Activity 2.4 - My take on Penn State advice for reflection

My take on the Penn State example

There is evidence of the Hatton & Smith (Moon) format to scaffold reflective writing (reflective writing steps) . There is also the inclusion of a rubric to guide the student in what they might expect to realize as a "quality" end product.. (which suggests that this could still be assessed).

Yet in the beginning, much of it sounds like a "common sense approach" to reflection. This is being presented yet the rubric and scaffolding suggest otherwise which confuses the matter. For example, using terms like "think about your audience - it may be only yourself", "you are the one responsible for making decisions about your educational program". "What you write depends on your audience" yet "the audience is left up to you.. and can be you."

I would have liked to see a stronger introduction. One that promotes "buyin" perhaps via testimonials from past students, faculty members, etc. One that points out the benefits of the reflection activity .. but also suggests a variety of strategies that others have used to realize the quality end product that the rubric suggests. This would echo the two step approach put forward by Moon (2001). In this case, first introducing reflection with a definition, plus reasons / benefits and perhaps for it and some manner of experiencing it. Then following that with the set of very general questions already used in the "Reflective Writing Steps (Penn U) or perhaps by Lister (2006), both of which echo those suggested by Hatton & Smith (Moon). This becomes a scaffolding strategy to help someone who may still not understand the concept or how to realize it in an academic sense.

Moon's two step approach is the basis for the following.. From my vantage point, the key thing learned here is to make it very clear....
- what reflection is
- what form of reflection we're encouraging a person to pursue (academic)
- what the clear purpose / benefit of this activity is to the person
- present evidence to support that benefit
- present an opportunity for the person to experience it .. to improve their understanding
- scaffold the learner further with guided questions.