Using Reflective Journals in the Law
PYP Program: objectives and
outcomes
Dr Myra Williamson
Assistant Professor
PSUCW Law Department
Professional Development Workshop PSUCW 2 May 2011
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Workshop objectives
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To explain why I tried this initiative in my teaching
this semester
To introduce you to the concept of what
reflective journals are and how they can be used
To summarise the outcomes to date: the pros and
the cons of using the journals in my courses
To invite feedback from participants on my
teaching innovation
To share some student experiences with
participants
To encourage other teachers to try this and then
share their experiences
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Background
I currently teach PYP Law: Law 001 and 002
 I have taught previously in New Zealand:
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Here at PSU:
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Large classes (200 +)
Virtually all students have English as their first language
Entrance criteria is applied
Some lecturers in NZ provide Powerpoint slides, many do not
All students take their own notes in every lecture
Small classes (15-30)
English is the students’ second language – wide range of ability
No (or low) entrance criteria;
Students don’t have a tradition of taking notes during lectures
Different students but same overall objectives
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The problem
After my first semester teaching PYP Law
I identified three key problem areas:
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Students don’t write enough during class
Student engagement with the material is
sometimes lacking
Critical thinking skills are often underdeveloped
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Considering solutions…
I attended the PSU Conference “Teaching
and Learning as Tools of Progress in Higher
Education” in January 2011
 I attended a workshop by Leni Dam on the
use of log books in secondary schools
 I saw samples at that workshop of some
journals written by secondary school
students
 I worked in a group that wanted to
introduce log books into their own courses
 It started me thinking….
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Literature review
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I found a lot of support in the literature for
the use of reflective journals in diverse areas
including:
◦ Secondary schools – across several courses
◦ Undergraduate university courses
 Computer science, law, English, health sciences
◦ Postgraduate courses
 Eg. the LLM at the University of Central England
(Handout)
◦ Academic staff development – Professional
Development of high school teachers and
university lecturers
 Eg in the creation of teaching portfolios
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Literature review continued…
• I found some differences in terminology
between “reflective journals” and “learning
journals” and other terms such as “log books” I needed to clarify exactly what I meant by
“reflective journal”
• Reflective Journals are popular but they have
been used in an educational setting at least since
the 1970s (personal and travel diaries have been
around for hundreds of years)
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What is a ‘learning journal’ or
‘reflective journal’?
A learning journal is essentially a vehicle for
reflection…There are many different words that are
used to describe what we are calling ‘learning
journals’. They may be called ‘diaries’ but not the kind
of ‘diary’ or calendar that notes dates for
events…they might be called ‘logs’ or ‘learning logs’
but they are not logs only in the sense of recording
data at particular points in time or place… ‘Think
place’ of ‘think book’, ‘notebook’ and ‘workbook’ are
other terms that arise in the literature…”
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Moon, J Learning Journals: A Handbook for Reflective Practice and
Professional Development 2nd ed (New York: Routledge, 2006) at p. 2
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Scholarly writing in this area
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Moon, J Learning Journals: A Handbook for Reflective
Practice and Professional Development 2nd ed (New
York: Routledge, 2006)
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Biggs, J Teaching for Quality Learning at University
2nd ed (UK: Open University Press, 2003)
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See Moon for further references or the
bibliography attached to MacLaren’s article
(available at this workshop if you’re interested)
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A reflective journal is these things:
An accumulation of material that is mainly
based on the writer’s processes of reflection
 The accumulation is made over a period of
time, not in one go
 There is an overall intention by the writer
that learning should be enhanced
 It can include entries on content as well as
more “reflective” entries about the learner’s
thoughts on their own learning process
 No fixed definition – it has fuzzy edges
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What are the benefits of a journal?
“The data, though not conclusive, seems to show
that journals helped students clarify their
thoughts and enhance their ability to develop
ideas”
◦ Dimino, 1998, or nursing students
“The purposes of journal-writing assignments are
to encourage exploration and risk-taking by the
students as well as to teach content”
◦ Hahnemann, 1986
◦ Both quotes are from Moon (2006)
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Strengths
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Can help students to integrate
course learning
Develop reflective skills
Encourages ongoing personal
connection with learning
Can promote creative and lateral
thinking
The opportunity to reflect can
help students to evaluate their
own learning, to link theory with
practice
Can promote dialogue between
teachers and students
Weaknesses
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Many students find reflection
difficult
Students may struggle to go
beyond narration and
descriptions
Students might not “see the
point” of the journal
Students might give superficial,
one-word responses
Journals can be difficult to
assess
Reflective journals: overview
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My vision for the reflective journal
in my classes
I introduced a new element to the assessment
schedule for the spring semester courses that I
am teaching
 Reflective Journal – Aims:
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To encourage writing in every class
To encourage students to engage with the material
To encourage critical thinking - practice questions
To encourage students to think about their own
learning processes
Worth 5% of overall grade
Handed in once or twice during the semester for
feedback
 Handed in at end of the semester for grading
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How will I grade the journal?
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I wrote a rubric and gave it to students at the beginning
of the semester (see handout)
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What I’m looking for:
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Quantity and completeness
Quality of entries
Critical thinking
Effort and commitment; length
Spelling, grammar, overall impression
Alternative?
◦ See Van Marren (1995); Susilowati et al (2004) on the
handout for a different marking scheme
◦ (Handout)
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How I have used the journal - I
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To recap and summarise content
To ask students about what they are finding
difficult – to reflect on their own learning
To encourage students to form their own
opinions about how cases were decided
(encourage critical thinking in general)
To encourage students to discover where
the gaps are in their own understanding
To seek feedback on the course, on the
exams, on the journal itself
(see sample questions on handout)
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How I have used the journal - II
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Sometimes I ask a question before a topic is
taught (drawing on the learners’ prior knowledge,
priming them for the topic)
◦ “What do you know about the word “defamation”?”
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Sometimes I ask a question during a class (2hour) to obtain their opinion on something
◦ “What do you think about the decision in the case of
Bolton v Jones? Was it decided correctly? Why? Why not?”
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Sometimes I ask students at the end of a class
to write a summary of what they have learnt
during the class
◦ “Spend 3 minutes and summarise what you think you
learnt about negligence in this lecture”
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Outcomes
So far, I have collected in the journals to read the
entries
 What have I found to date?
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◦ A wide range from the minimalist approach by students to
the expansive approach
◦ Some students enjoy writing it whilst others roll their eyes
at the mention of it
◦ Some students spend a lot of time on their entries whilst
others give it very little effort
◦ Absenteeism has a big impact on the quality of the entries
◦ Plagiarism was a problem in one instance
◦ Strong correlation between the quality of the journal
entries and the overall performance of the student – the
journal could be used as a predictor of success in the
paper?
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Possible solutions
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Have students complete all the entries for
homework rather than during class?
◦ Pros/cons
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Give a larger weighting than 5%?
◦ Pros/cons
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Have students complete an online blog
rather than a handwritten journal?
◦ Pros/cons – see handout for summary of
some issues with using blog
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Tips – if you try this yourself
Students need to be given clear instructions
and guidelines for journal writing
 Use prompt questions to guide the students’
reflections
 Provide in-class practice and feedback
 Students might benefit from seeing samples
of reflective writing
 Consider grading: award a mark for
completion and then grade a sample? Or
grade the entire journal?
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Student feedback
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In the journals: feedback has been generally
positive but that might not be reliable
(students know it is being marked so they
might not be entirely honest about their
feelings?)
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Students from this semester’s classes offer
their thoughts (guest)
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Some journals are available for perusal
(permission has been granted by those
students)
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Participant feedback
What do you think about reflective
journals?
 Would you try it yourself? Why or why
not?
 If you did it, what would you do
differently and why?
 Has this workshop been interesting
and/or professionally useful to you?
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Final thoughts
This is a “work in progress”
I will reflect on the semester and evaluate the
success of the journal – make changes in the
future?
 “Teaching is the intellectual equivalent of whitewater rafting” (Brookfield, 1991)
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◦ We need to constantly reflect on our vision for our
learners and examine whether the course design, the
teaching methods and the assessment are genuinely in
line with our teaching beliefs
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Refer back to my workshop objectives Workshop
objectives
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