Dublin City University Learning Innovation Unit: Teachng Enhancement Cycle
Learning Innovation Unit
Teaching Enhancement Cycle
Reflective practice
Reflection is an informative way of gaining insights to your teaching. It can help inform your thinking about how you deliver a module or specific aspects of a module. It can also help you to evaluate the development of a new method of teaching or assessment, or any area related to your teaching practice.(1999 p6). Biggs, J. (1999) Teaching for quality learning at university. Buckingham: Open University.
The following resources explain reflective practice in teaching:
- Introduction to reflection (.ppt format)
- Simple exercise to get a feel for reflective writing (.doc format)
- Reading resources on reflective practice
Reflective practice tools
Post
lecture reflection template
This reflection template will help you to reflect after a single teaching session or lecture. Alternatively, it can be used after each lecture in a series if you wanted to capture how a particular element is developing over time.
Reflective
Journals
If the purpose of your evaluation is to evaluate your overall practice rather than a specific element, then you may prefer to use a reflective journal. There is no set method of keeping a journal as this will depend on your own preferred approach: in a notebook that you make reflective notes in regularly or at the end of teaching sessions; in a word document or in an online blog. Whichever method you choose, the important thing is to include elements or layers of reflection that lead to learning and intended action see Introduction to Reflection (ppt format).