Learning and Reflection

It's never enough to throw a pile of information at a learner and assume they're going to somehow benefit just from exposure to that information. For real learning to take place, the learner must make a meaningful connection between the information and the physical context in which they'll apply it (i.e., the workplace).

The learner needs to approach the information with a clear understanding of what it means to them and how it will benefit them. They need to understand the practical application of the information as they're being exposed to it, and they need to be clear on how it will affect their lives after they've been exposed to it.

Objectives, quizzes and summaries that simply state the benefits, test for comprehension and regurgitate the benefits will have little long-term impact unless they play an active role in making the learner think, not just about the information, but about the nature of the information and how they, personally, perceive the benefits.

To really make the information sink in, you need to make the learner think about it…you need to make the learner reflect.

Reflection is a relaxed, creative process. It's a state of mind that does not impose boundaries...an openness of thought that allows the learner to make connections between the objective and the subjective. It's the difference between a pile of information and learning.

What Is Reflective Learning?

Reflective learning is an approach to teaching that encourages the learner to think beyond the presentation of the learning content and ask, "How does this affect me?"

It begins when the learner reads the objectives for a course and asks questions like, "How will this knowledge help me to advance?" and "In what ways will I be able to use this information?"

It continues throughout the course with the learner being encouraged to ask these same questions, but in more detail as they become familiar with the information and ask more pointed questions about how it may affect them and the possibilities for its use.

It culminates at the end of the course with a summary that asks them to think about what they've just learned and how they intend to apply that learning.

In short, reflective learning encourages the learner to be continuously aware what they're learning and how it will affect them. The learner has to actually think about the nature of the information in the course. It's not enough to just memorize the steps in a procedure; the personal relevance of the procedure has to be considered. It has to be reflected upon.

The Challenges of Reflective eLearning

Getting learners to reflect on their learning is not always an easy thing, especially in eLearning. Most adult eLearning is wrapped in time constraints measured against loss of productivity while the employee is taking the course, the cost of providing the course and the perceived value of the course. Sometimes, employees are required to take courses with little or no buy-in from the employee. The emphasis is almost always on acquiring information as opposed to improving work performance.

Reflection takes time. It means slowing down the rapid pace of information dissemination (consider that most elearning courses have a defined duration) and allowing for the learner to think about the content at a personal level.

To make this situation even more tenuous, the time spent in reflection can rarely be measured in terms of success or failure. You can't evaluate a learner's personal opinion in terms of correct or incorrect. To the learner, it's correct. Employers are less likely to assign value to an exercise they can't measure for success than to one they can measure. Even the student may have reservations about an exercise they perceive as not useful in proving their worth to their employer by not having a unit of measure to prove their success.

Selling the concept of reflective learning is beyond the scope of an instructional designer, but creating interesting exercises to encourage the learner to reflect is well within the realm of design.

How Do You Encourage Learners to Reflect?

You encourage a learner to reflect by leaving them no choice but to reflect.

For instance, you can ask the question "Was this course meaningful to you?" This leaves the learner the option of responding without thinking about the answer. It could be "Yes," "No," or "I don't know."

A better way to word the question would be "In what ways was this course meaningful to you?" This question forces the learner to think about the course content and provide an answer that has personal meaning.

In many cases, the only way to elicit a reflective response will be through the courseware's note feature. If it's done through standard question formats such as multiple choice questions, the question needs to be carefully structured to make the learner think at the personal level as opposed to retrieving information from memory.

Consider this question:

True or false. Power is defined as the capacity or potential to influence others.

The statement is true, but the learner can answer this question by thinking in the broadest terms, to the extent that the question is about power and not really about its application.

Now, consider this question:

Power is defined as the capacity or potential to influence others. Think of a common problem you face in your workplace and describe how you would use power to influence a positive outcome.

This question forces the learner to think of the content in terms of their workplace and to apply the knowledge to solve a problem. This is a reflective question that not only personalizes the information but helps the learner to develop problem-solving skills.

Another way to encourage the learner to reflect is to encourage them to evaluate the content on a personal level.

Consider this question:

What sections of this course do you feel you will be able to apply on your job? How will you apply them?

This question encourages the learner to think about the course in its entirety and to focus on those parts that have personal relevancy. It goes still further by causing the learner think about how their new knowledge can be applied.

When you're designing strategies to encourage learners to reflect, keep these considerations in mind:

• Encourage the learner to question the content
• Encourage the learner to bring their existing knowledge and experience to the table
• Create open-ended questions that allow the learner to provide personal input
• Provide reflective exercises at the beginning, throughout and at the end of the course

Reflective eLearning Tools and Strategies

Now that you're familiar with the concept of reflective learning, here are some practical exercises that you can use to incorporate reflection into your courses.

Self-Define

Using the Notes feature, have the learner define a situation/scenario relevant to the subject matter and design an approach to solving/executing an exercise in response to the situation. The response to this may be barebones, but it will encourage the learner to contemplate the subject matter from the standpoint of planning and execution using the new information.

Modification Based on Course

At the end of the course, have the learner reflect on practices/behaviours they engaged in before the course and have them think about how they'll modify those practices/behaviours. This exercise might be guided by a list of topics/subjects covered in the course. This exercise would be appropriate for courses that cover military practices/behaviours such as PQL training in areas like etiquette and appropriate military behaviour.

Apply Content Through Notes

Notes approach (give the learner a chance to make notes throughout the course…have an icon for notes and ask the student to write a paragraph or two on the content for that section: How can you see yourself using this information? How do you feel that this information can advance your career or make you a more effective employee? How could you have used this information to enhance your performance on a past project?

Make it possible to print these out.

Respond to Situations

Create two situations arising from the content and have the learner evaluate both and make a decision based on that evaluation. This can be done with notes or with a series of multiple choice questions For instance, two battle plans are presented. A specific battle scenario is presented. The student must chose, through a series of choice questions which battle plan to use. The questions could relate to terrain (desert, mountain, urban), enemy fortification, size of enemy encourage, available resources, etc.

Correct and Incorrect Scenario

Show a video of a reconnaissance (or other) formation from start to finish. Include correct and incorrect procedures and, through a series of questions at the end of the video, have the learner identify what was done correctly and what was done incorrectly. Choices could be guided by still shots accompanying each question. The questions should be in a series beginning with: What happened here? What procedure would be appropriate in this situation? What procedure was followed? Was this procedure appropriate? The idea is encourage the learner to think about the situation, the correct response, and then to evaluate the actual response.

Pre-Visualization

Right after the introduction to the course (which should include the objectives outlining what the learner will be able to do after taking the course) include a screen re-iterating the objectives and ask the learner to think about what he or she will be able to do after meeting those objectives. What will it mean in terms of the learner's role within their organization/team, chances for promotion, self-confidence and ability to perform their jobs better?

Summarize

Using the Note feature, have the learner summarize the course before doing the course quiz. This can be a list of main topics or a paragraph or two. This might be done right before the Summary screen and give the learner a chance to compare their summary with the course summary.

Reflective Stimulation (Tickling the Right Side of the Brain)

When the student is shown a multiple step simulation, instead of just showing the simulation, before each step, have the student respond to a question such as "What do you think the next step will be?" or "How would you approach this part of the [process/procedure]?" This assumes that the simulation follows the instruction. This can be done with the Note feature or with a multiple choice question, though the Note feature would elicit a more open-ended response. You might even ask them why they've chosen their answer.

Doodling and Releasing the Mind

Take a moment to doodle with pen and paper. Try to recreate visually what the information feels like to you. It could be a flow chart, a picture of something, an abstract piece that's drawn as you think about the information. In the abstract, just let your pen flow wherever it will as you think about the information.

Create a Before/After Learning Aid

Create a printable sheet with questions for the learner to answer before and after the course. Questions before the course could include:

• What skills do I want to develop during this course?
• What goals do I hope to achieve by taking this course?
• How do I feel this course will help me achieve my goals?

Questions after the course could include:

• How did this course help me meet my goals (or not)?
• What skills can I take away from this course and apply directly to my work?

The Hat Activity (Group Exercise)

After the course is completed by several learners, have each of them write down one thing they can take away from the course that will benefit them in some way (stress the benefit). They put their responses in a hat (or other container) and each picks a response and addresses it to the group followed by a group discussion on the response.

Where a response is repeated, the group decides if there's anything new to add or if they just go on to the next response. In some cases, the same response may be worded differently and spark new insights.

Generate Questions (Group Exercise)

After completing the course, have each learner within a group devise a question that will be addressed by the group.