The Importance of Reflection for Learning
and Assessment
“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.”
-Socrates
In recent years, “self-reflection” and “metacognition” have become buzzwords in the world of
pedagogy at all levels of education, particularly with regard to making the often invisible process
of learning more visible, both for students and teachers. From John Flavel to Carol Dweck,
psychologists and now educators have acknowledged the essential role that metacognition plays
not only in the learning process itself but in creating lifelong learners.
As educators, the value of this for students is obvious. As educators interested in assessing our
own effectiveness in the classroom, as well as the effectiveness of our programs and institutions,
the concept of metacognition, the practice of “thinking about thinking,” of self-reflection, is
paramount, as it speaks to the very core of who we are and what we do. As Michael Martinez
states in “What is Metacognition,” “Metacognitive ability is central to conceptions of what it
means to be educated. The world is becoming more complex, more information-rich, more full
of options, and more demanding of thinking. With these changes, the importance of
metacognitive ability as an educational outcome can only grow” (699).
As we create assignment for our students, especially signature assignments, with the intention of
fostering more effective student learning as well as capturing that learning in order to assess our
own effectiveness, we need a product or artifact rich with both quantitative and qualitative data
that not only documents the outcome, the product, but also demonstrates the process and in doing
so makes student learning more visible. This is why self-reflection has become an essential
component to the creation of signature assignments and their use as an assessment tool at the
course, program, and institution levels at two and four year colleges across the country.
Some instructors are concerned over the potential “fluff-factor” of adding a self-reflection
component to their assignments. And this concern is well-founded, as students will often respond
to more general invitations for reflection with banal or emotional responses like, “This class was
boring,” or “I hated this assignment!” However, with a well-crafted prompt, a signature
assignment can encourage students to reflect in a more constructive and focused manner upon
their completed work, their learning process, their performance, their work habits, their effort,
their weaknesses and strengths, their goals, and even future applications of the skills and
knowledge they have gained. While this process is invaluable to students, it can also provide
instructors with a snapshot of student learning that will help them document and reflect upon
their own effectiveness, giving them both a tool by which they can see the strengths and
weaknesses of their own practices in the work of their students and a means by which they can
share those accomplishments with others.
“Education begins the [person], but reading, good company and reflection must finish him [or her].”
-John Locke
The Role of Reflection in Signature Assignments
Adapted from The Authentic Assessment Toolbox by Jon Mueller, Professor of Psychology at North Central College in
Naperville, IL: http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/portfolios.htm#reflection
Reflection itself is a skill that enhances the process of skill development and virtually all learning
in innumerable settings. Those of us who are educators, for example, need to continually reflect
upon what is working or not working in our teaching, how we can improve what we are doing,
how we can help our students make connections to what they are learning, and much, much
more. Thus, it is critical for students to learn to effectively reflect upon their learning and
growth.
As a skill, reflection is not something that can be mastered in one or two attempts. Developing
good reflective skills requires instruction and modeling, lots of practice, feedback and reflection.
Students need to learn how to respond to such prompts. They need to learn how to effectively
identify strengths and weaknesses, to set realistic goals for themselves and their work, and to
develop meaningful strategies to address those goals. Students often have become dependent
upon adults, particularly teachers, to evaluate their work. They need to learn self-assessment.
So, ideally, the reflection process should be ongoing throughout the semester. Students need to
engage in multiple reflective activities. Those instances of reflection become particularly focused
if goal-setting is part of their reflection. Just as instruction and assessment are more appropriately
targeted if they are tied to specific standards or goals, student identification of and reflection
upon strengths and weaknesses, examples of progress, and strategies for improvement will be
more meaningful and purposeful if they are directed toward specific goals, particularly selfchosen goals.
Once opportunities for reflection (practice) take place, feedback to and further reflection upon
student observations can be provided by conversations with others. Conferencing is one tool to
promote such feedback and reflection.
Reflection as a process skill
Good skill development requires four steps:




Instruction and modeling of the skill;
Practice of the skill;
Feedback on one's practice;
Reflection on the practice and feedback.
Prompts for Eliciting Meaningful Reflection
Adapted from The Authentic Assessment Toolbox by Jon Mueller, Professor of Psychology at North Central College in
Naperville, IL: http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/portfolios.htm#reflection
Growth questions/prompts
 What are the strengths of this work? Weaknesses?
 What would you work on more if you had additional time?
 How has your ______ (e.g., writing) changed since last year?
 What do you know about ______ (e.g., the scientific method) that you did not know at
the beginning of the year (or semester, etc.)?
 Looking at (or thinking about) an earlier piece of similar work, how does this new piece
of work compare? How is it better or worse? Where can you see progress or
improvement?
 How did you get "stuck" working on this task? How did you get "unstuck"?
 One skill I could not perform very well but now I can is ....
 From reviewing this piece I learned ....
Goal-setting questions/prompts
 What is one thing you can improve upon in this piece?
 What is a realistic goal for the end of the semester?
 What is one way you will try to improve your ____ (e.g., writing)?
 One thing I still need to work on is ....
 I will work toward my goal by ....
Evaluation questions/prompts
 If you were a teacher and grading your work, what grade would you give it and why?
 Using the appropriate rubric, give yourself a score and justify it with specific traits from
the rubric.
 What do you like or not like about this piece of work?
 I like this piece of work because ....
Effort questions/prompts
 How much time did you spend on this product/performance?
 The work would have been better if I had spent more time on ....
 I am pleased that I put significant effort into ....
Overall Assignment questions/prompts
 What would you like your _____ (e.g., peers, employers) to see in your work?
 What does this assignment as a whole reveal about you as a learner (writer, thinker, etc.)?
 A feature of this assignment I particularly like is ....
 In this completed assignment I see evidence of ....
More Prompts for Reflection
Examples of summative, process, evaluative, and interpretive modes of reflection.
These sample prompts for reflection are adapted from a resource created by Long Beach City College (adapted by Dr. Vande
Zande, University of Wisconsin). https://www.uwosh.edu/usp/usp-teaching-resources/resources-for-all-uspcourses/eportfolio/reflection-resources-1
Summative Reflection
 In what ways have you improved as a writer/artist/scientist/etc.? What brought about
those improvements? Include an artifact(s) that contains specific experiences, readings,
assignments, or discussions in this course that supports your point.
 What did you learn by creating this artifact? Be specific.
 What was your biggest accomplishment in the course?
 How did this artifact and other course elements help you reach it? Be specific.
 What job skills did you master in this course? How are they reflected in this artifact(s)?
Be specific.
Process Reflection
 What challenges did you face in completing the assignment? How did you
address/troubleshoot them?
 Describe the aims and strategies that led to the completion of this artifact. How did your
thinking about it evolve over time (point to specific experiences while working on the
assignment)?
 How did the assignment evolve (or not evolve) with your thinking (again, point to
specific experiences) about it?
 What went according to plan and what surprises did you encounter? What still needs
work? •
 What were your successes and difficulties in completing this artifact?
 What risks did you take in the assignment/course? Be specific.
 Outline the steps you took to complete the assignment, and explain your thinking at each
step.
 Describe your learning process throughout this course and what it felt like at different
stages until you mastered certain skills. Discuss the skills you are still developing.
Evaluative Reflection
 What are the strengths and weaknesses of your signature assignment? Explain while
making specific references to your work.
 Discuss your best work for the course and explain why it’s your best. Be specific.
 Discuss each piece of work for the course and touch on the strengths of each. Be specific.
 How does what you learned through completing this artifact connect to the learning
outcomes of this course?
 How might you improve on this artifact in the future?
 How do(es) the artifact(s) illustrate your growth/change/progression in this class?