A Teaching Community Reflects On Reflective Writing In Higher Education

Abstract

Reflective writing is widely recognised as a tool to enhance students’ learning and professional practice. Underpinning this approach is a number of pedagogical and cognitive frameworks that are capable of encouraging deep and active learning. However, in implementing reflective writing, one major challenge frequently raised by teachers is the difficulty in drawing critical and higher-level responses from the students. The stakes are raised when reflective writing becomes part of the assessment modes in classroom learning. In this paper, we present a teaching community’s reflection on reflective writing. The dataset comprises collective responses gathered from participants of a colloquium on Teaching and Learning in Residential Colleges (TLRC) through a classroom response system and small group discussions. We explore the extent to which teachers in Residential Colleges (RCs) utilise reflective writing in their classes, the challenges they face, and the best practices gleaned over years of experience.