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Reflecting on reflection (Phd project) 

Developing a framework to investigate the role of reflection in an educational learning context

To date, research on reflection in the educational field has been dominated by a search for a working framework describing the multidimensional processes involved in reflective thinking. Although “reflective thinking” has been identified as a key skill to be gained from an educational programme, current theories of reflection are mostly built on non-empirical findings and neglect more recent developments within the fields of cognitive science (e.g. meta-cognition).
In light of these challenges, I set my PhD project to address this predicament by identifying reliable and objective measures of reflection. Thereby I aim to evaluate the degree to which students can and do reflect on their learning outcomes and how this knowledge could be used to improve current curricular.
I hereby focus on a two-track approach: 

• Track 1 - Develop a deeper understanding of the existing frameworks on reflection and consider which other research strands could further the understandings.
• Track 2 - Inform the theoretical understanding of reflection by investigating reflective practices in an actual classroom environment.

Importantly by looking at reflection from both a theoretical and empirical perspective, I aimed to overcome the existing barriers in reflection research. Namely, the absence of an overarching integrative model of reflection, where practice informs theory and theory informs practice.