Deep Thoughts: Incorporating a Self-Reflection Prompt for Improved Instructional Practice

This interactive workshop introduces reflective practice through the use of self-reflection prompts by information literacy instructors. Activities will be interwoven throughout the workshop to allow participants to develop and document their own strategies. We will begin by providing an overview of the benefits of reflective teaching (5 minutes). The facilitators will briefly explain their institutional context and their participation in a departmental initiative to foster intentional teaching (5 minutes). To better understand the perspectives of the participants, the audience will engage in a poll indicating their type of institution and their role. Participants will take a moment to record the instructional context in which they plan to employ a self-reflection prompt (5 minutes). After summarizing various formats that instructors can utilize for self reflection, participants will identify a suitable format for them (5 minutes). The facilitators will then describe how they individually customized and integrated self-reflection prompts into their pedagogical routines to fit their needs across different instructional roles. The variety of self-reflection prompts will be illustrated through the diverse prompts used by the facilitators (15 minutes). Participants will then work in small groups to individually draft and collectively discuss their own self-reflection prompts. A facilitator will work with each small group to help guide this process (15 minutes). Finally, facilitators will share how information gathered through reflection informed changes to their instructional practices. Participants will then evaluate their draft approach and work to align the reflective technique to their instructional objectives (10 minutes). Each group will share one take-away they have observed during the workshop (5 minutes). We will conclude with questions and general discussion (10 minutes)