ERIC Number: EJ1064001
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0729-4360
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Available Date: N/A
Evidence of Reflective Thinking across the Curriculum: College Experience versus Individual Courses
Sargent, Carol Springer
Higher Education Research and Development, v34 n3 p624-640 2015
This study investigated how individual and course-level variables across the curriculum at a four-year college (college here refers to a higher education institution that offers undergraduate education but not graduate degrees) in the southeastern US impacted student reflective thinking as measured by Kember and colleagues' [2000. Development of a questionnaire to measure the level of reflective thinking. "Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education", "25"(4): 381-395] scale. The measure includes four constructs: (1) non-thinking (i.e., "habitual action"), (2) "understanding", (3) "reflection", and the deepest level (4) "critical reflection". The construct of understanding--students' assessment of their thoughtful use of knowledge--was the only measure that increased with credit hours completed. Students (n?=?802) reported more thinking to comprehend in science courses compared to business and humanities courses. An interaction of subject areas and gender showed that males reported more reflection in business courses than the humanities or science courses, and females reported the opposite (i.e., more reflection in humanities and science courses and less in business courses). All students, and especially older ones, were more likely to report thinking habits as the result of an overall college experience than from an individual course. A small set (6.23%), however, who did not report reflecting critically as the result of college did indicate that the current course prompted them to do so. Deeper habits of thinking were reported in students who were awarded course credit for participation and for those enrolled in courses taught by more experienced faculty.
Descriptors: Undergraduate Students, Reflection, Critical Thinking, Transformative Learning, Questionnaires, Likert Scales, Statistical Analysis, Age Differences, Credits, Gender Differences, Business Administration Education, Science Education, Humanities Instruction, Thinking Skills
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
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