Reflection in technical higher education: student perceptions

The project 'Strengthening reflection in technical higher education programs' is a response to the need for well-trained reflective science and engineering professionals and the subsequent question of teachers about how reflection can be designed and embedded in a meaningful way, especially in technical study programs. Within this project, eight technical education teams from two Dutch universities of applied sciences are working on improving the use of reflection in their curriculum. Among other things, teachers are professionalized in their guidance skills, to improve the guidance of reflective activities of their students. One of the research activities within the project involved a questionnaire to gain insight into: 1) the extent to which engineering students have an inclination and need for selfreflection, 2) the reflection level that engineering students reach according to their own judgement, and 3) how engineering students value (guidance of) current reflection activities in their study program. In the short (concept) paper we will address some main findings of this questionnaire based on data of 843 first- to fourth-year students from eight technical study programs. Amongst others, results indicate - contrary to some other research findings - that engineering students acknowledge the importance of being able to reflect as a future professional. However, they seem relatively less satisfied with currently provided guidance regarding reflection in their study programs. Also, most often employed reflection activities (i.e., reflection reports) are generally perceived least useful. Results give further direction to optimize activities and teacher guidance regarding reflection within higher (technical) education programs