Education Commons^™

Promoting Student Reflection Through Reflective Writing Tasks, Elena Taylor

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

Reflection is a necessary component of learning. Through reflective assignments and tasks, students are given opportunities to evaluate their learning and analyze strategies they use while acquiring and applying course material. Reflections also help students assess and think deeply about the information presented in class and thus better retain it. Through reflecting on their learning, students are also given the opportunity to formulate goals for future improvement. Reflective tasks can be implemented in any classroom, and writing is a powerful tool to do that. This article describes several writing tasks that …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 7, Issue 1, Spring 2023

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full-length Spring 2023 issue (Volume 7, Issue 1) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version (with downloadable EPUB format) here.

The Spring 2023 issue presents research and guidance on topics related to student self-reflection, participatory learning, and returning to the in-person learning following the COVID-19 pandemic. The first article takes a critical approach to understanding pedagogy with adult learners by involving students in the creation of course syllabi as a way to challenge ideologies related the roles of instructor and students. The second article blends research and narrative to explore how the experiences of …

Myside Bias Shifting In The Written Arguments Of First Year Composition Students, Lezlie Christensen-Branum

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation reports on research conducted to better understand how college student writers learned to work against their own biases as they researched and wrote arguments. I conducted a review of former studies to design a curriculum that would help students avoid bias and increase their ability to write arguments tailored to specific readers in ways that accomplish their goals. This review also informed the kinds of data to be collected and analyzed in order to accomplish the research goal, which was to understand whether and how each of seven students enrolled in a composition course reduced their biases. I …

Through The Eyes Of The Mentor: Understanding The Adolescent Developing Reader, Joanna C. Weaver, Cynthia D. Bertelsen, Timothy Murnen, Jessica N. Glanz

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

While some teacher candidates may believe reading instruction is the responsibility of English teachers, providing teacher candidates across all content areas with opportunities to develop skills working with developing readers may impact this misconception. Since some teacher candidates have limited experience, confidence, and/or reading strategies to instruct developing readers, this study examines the individual experiences of reading mentors at a midwestern university and the effect of their experience on developing readers. This mentoring experience revealed an impact both for the teacher candidates and developing readers. This opportunity proved to be rewarding while providing a glimpse of the reality of working …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 5, Issue 1, Spring 2021

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full Spring 2021 issue (Volume 5, Issue 1) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Fa 2020 About This Issue: The Power In Slowing Down

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Whether it be videotaping, guided classroom conversations, lecture-based, or written, feedback is the backbone of educational excellence. We use it to mentor beginning undergraduates, writers, readers, explorers, and experimenters. And, if we are thoughtful, feedback becomes a loop by which we slow down learning, we engage reading, writing and exploring, and we collaborate our way to becoming better.

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 1, Issue 2, Usu Center For Innovative Design And Instruction

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Volume 1, Issue 2 of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence, a publication of Utah State University focused on providing a forum for instructors in higher education to share best practices and ideas related to effective teaching.

Teacher Reflection Among Professional Seminary Faculty In The Seminaries And Institutes Department Of The Church Educational System, Ryan S. Gardner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This qualitative study aimed at exploring and explaining the practices and processes of teacher reflection among a group of professional secondary-level religious educators in the Church Educational System of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as seeking to understand the perceived impact of those reflective practices on the professional development of these teachers. The researcher described, analyzed, and interpreted the data to develop a mid-range grounded theory for explaining the process of teacher reflection in a way that could lead to the improvement of teacher reflection among these teachers as an integrated function of professional development. …

Innovative Reflection Tools For Hrd Training, Development, And Education, Susan R. Madsen, Katherine Tunheims

Susan R. Madsen

The English word reflection is derived from reflectere, “to bend back” – as a mirror bends back the light, making apparent what is otherwise hidden or mysterious (Johnson, 2006). Reflection bends the light of our experiences back into our minds, to consider what the experience was about and what it meant. Reflection is also a critical element in transformational learning opportunities that should be part of effective training, development, and educational experiences (e.g., courses, workshops, programs). Since developing people is seeded in learning, HRD educators, scholars, and/or practitioners continuously work to understand the most effective methods and techniques to assist …

Innovative Reflection Tools For Developing Leadership For Transformation, Susan R. Madsen, Katherine A. Tunheim

Susan R. Madsen

Since developing leadership is seeded in learning, there is a continuous effort to understand the most effective methods and techniques to assist individuals in becoming leaders. The purpose of this engaging workshop is to offer a variety of innovative tools that both academics and practitioners can use with adult learners in various settings to help them further develop leadership knowledge, competencies, and skills through enhanced reflection experiences. We cannot help create leaders who transform without helping them first be transformed by their own learning experiences. Learning that transforms individuals is learning that changes individuals. Since developing leadership is a transforming …