Self-reflection and academic performance: is there a relationship?

The purposes of the present study were two-fold: first, to evaluate whether reflection journal writing was effective in promoting self-reflection and learning, and whether students become better at self-reflection if they engage continuously in reflection journal writing. To that end, the reflection journals of 690 first-year applied science students at a local polytechnic were studied by means of an automated coding procedures using software. Data was collected twice, once at the beginning and again towards the end of an academic year. Outcomes of the textual content analyses revealed that students reflected on both the process and contents of their learning: critical review of past learning experiences, learning strategies and summaries of what was learned. Correlational analyses showed weak to moderate inter-relationship

Students’ perception of teachers’ two-way feedback interactions that impact learning

© 2018, Springer Nature B.V. Teacher-student interactions are fundamental to learning outcomes. However, the facilitation of student-defined, in-class two-way feedback interaction is under-researched. The purpose of this paper is to share insights from Year 9 students (N = 32; age = 14–15 years), describing effective teacher’s two-way feedback interaction through Respectful Inquiry (RI; asking questions, question openness, and attentive listening). Small-focussed group interviews were conducted and transcripts were inductively analysed to represent the conceptualised effective student-described teacher behaviour and associated learning outcomes. Findings confirm that two-way feedback, as opposed to unilateral teacher feedback, is facilitative of more diverse and higher-order learning outcomes. According to the students, RI is constitutive in the two-way feedback interaction process; executed together, positive psychological needs support and metacognition are fostered. While this research was exploratory, the findings offer practical and novel insights on teachers’ two-way feedback interactions that can enhance students’ metacognition and suggests how specific feedback behaviours augment higher-order learning outcomes