Collective Reflection &
Shared Thinking
Bowskill, N., Lally, V., Cutts, Q.,
Brindley, S. & Draper, S.
University of Glasgow
nicholas.bowskill@gmail.com
8th Annual Enhancement Themes Conference: 'Fit for the Future' –
Herriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, 2 and 3 March 2011
http://sharedthinking.info
Background of Shared Thinking
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University of Glasgow
Kelvin-Smith Scholarship
Education, Psychology and Computing Science
Classroom Technology and Discussion
– Shifting the idea of voting technology from
teaching to reflection/learning
– Collective reflection
Traditional Learning
• Fixed Start
• Known Outcomes
• Focus on Individual
Products
• Assessment is individual
and mainly from tutor
feedback
• Tutor’s role is to teach
• Broadly the same even
with technology
• Reflective Practice is on
your own
http://thesocietypages.org/sociologylens/2011/02/26/8032/
Shared Thinking Process and Product
• Snowball GroupDiscussion Technique +
Voting Technology
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Individual
Small group
Whole group
Follow-Up Work
What are your concerns about
developing your reflective practice?
Shared Thinking
• Multiple Starting Points
• Multiple End Points
• Learning as a Whole-Group
Enquiry (Stroup, Ares, etc.)
• Tutor’s role is to orchestrate
and to listen
• Assessment includes
feedback from everyone
(peers and tutors)
• Technology to visualise a
shared understanding
• ‘Listening Pedagogy’
(Rinaldi, 2005)
http://www.learning-together.co.uk/index.asp
Case Studies of Shared Thinking
• Induction and Transition and Mentoring
– New and Ancient Universities,
– up to 350 students
• Support Staff at an Academic Conference
• Student-Teachers reflecting together on
individual work placements
• Academic Staff reviewing assessment
practices in a university department
Traditional Idea of Reflective Practice
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Kolb’s Learning Cycle
Introspection
Individual as boundary
Vague Practice
Lack of Social input or
context
Kolb’s Experiential Cycle
Collective Reflective Practice:
Shared Thinking
• Bowskill’s Interactionist Model
of Collective Reflection
• Diversity-driven (Stroup et al)
• Constructivist development in
the social context
• Includes the multiple
perspectives of situated others
• Has a clear transferable
practice
• Provides quantitative and
qualitative data for everyone
involved
Bowskill’s Interactionist Model of Collective Reflection:
Shared Thinking
3 Levels of Impact:
1. Individual benefits
- Emotional
- Cognitive
2. Pedagogical
- Whole-Group Enquiry
- Provides a visible shared understanding
3. Research
- Investigate student experience at collective level
- Everyone is a researcher
http://sharedthinking.info
SHARED THINKING