Students’ perception of written, audio, video and face-to-face reflective approaches for holistic competency development

• Published in: Active learning in higher education Vol. 24; no. 3; pp. 239 - 256
• Main Authors: Chan, Cecilia KY, Wong, Hannah YH
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.11.2023
• Subjects: 21st Century Skills; Audio Equipment; Competence; Experiential Learning; Foreign Countries; Holistic Approach; Interpersonal Communication; Personal Autonomy; Reflection; Skill Development; Student Attitudes; Student Development; Transfer of Training; Undergraduate Students; Video Technology; Hong Kong; experiential learning; 21st century skills; assessment; generic skills; reflection; employability skills
• ISSN: 1469-7874; 1741-2625
• DOI: 10.1177/14697874211054449

Reflection has been increasingly used to enhance student development in higher education, in both undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Learner autonomy is essential on reflection, particularly on how learners interpret their learning experiences. The learner has to take initiatives in making meaning of their learning by examining their experiences, and purposefully exploring their learning. Reflection is a key component in active learning as students actively engage in the process of thinking about what they have learnt or experienced. Mezirow highlighted how reflection can mean many things, including awareness of a perception, thought, feeling, intention and action, taking something into consideration or simply imagining alternatives. And there are also multiple approaches to embracing reflection today, such as reflective essays, videos and online blogs, where reflective processes and approaches may differ particularly in relation to technological adoption. In a learning environment, reflective approaches are adopted with the aim for learners to transfer knowledge and experiences to practice. However, there is scarce literature on student perception of the different reflective approaches. The present paper therefore examines student perspectives on four different reflective approaches and how these different approaches are applied within the context of higher education. The four approaches chosen are written, audio, video and face-to-face based on current literature on how reflection is documented or presented in education) and the integration of the concept of multimodality.