Reflective journals approach to improve students' learning

• Main Author: Ramasamy, Sumathy
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: LB Theory and practice of education
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/1969/1/LLL_-_T4_-_12.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/1969/; http://3linc.uum.edu.my/

Reflective learning journals encourage students to become active learners. Journal writing provides students with an opportunity to contextualize new information and to make sense of what they are learning. This study investigates the effects of reflective learning journals on students’ learning and their overall performance in their course. 150 students from a preuniversity business course participated in this study. A total of 75 students known as the intervention group were given a reflective journal writing assignment which contributed to 10% of their coursework. The comparison group consisted of 75 students who did not have the journal assignment. Both groups were taught by the same instructor using the same textbook and had to complete similar assignments except for the journal assignment. A survey using questionnaires and student interviews was carried out on the intervention group to collect data and obtain feedback on their journal writing experiences. The final marks for both groups were compared to see if the reflective journal writing had contributed positively to the overall performance of the students.