Chapter 2: Manage Your Learning & Reflect to Improve Your Learning
Effective and agile learners are able to manage their learning. However, not all people know how to do it. This short video will give you some idea and tips of how to manage your learning and become the master of your learning.
Start Planning a Meaningful Learning Journey for Yourself!
Why is reflection important in learning?
We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience. - John Dewey (1933)
Reflection is a process of exploring and examining ourselves, our perspectives, attributes, experiences and actions or interactions. It helps us gain insights and see how to move forward. Without reflection, experience is only what is happening. When we reflect, we understand more about our thinking and learning process, find our strengths and weaknesses and identify issues and things that need to be improved. Reflection also supports growth mindset and encourages us to improve and learn from our mistakes.
After a lesson, a project, a site visit, an overseas exchange programme and internship or practicum, or any learning activity, ask yourself the questions below to reflect on your learning experience:
- What have I done?
- How do I feel about this experience?
- What have I learned about myself and my learning approach from this experience? (make a list)
- On the list, what seems important to me? How is it related to me?
- What difficulties have I encountered? How did I overcome them?
- From this experience, what things have I found I want to learn more or need to develop further?
- How will I meet these learning/developmental needs?
Kimberly D Tanner (2012) compiled a list of questions, based on the inspirations from other studies, to promote metacognition about learning. These questions are quite useful to help you understand your learning process.
Reference
- Dewey, J. (1933). How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Reflective Thinking to the Educative Process. Boston, MA: D.C. Heath & Co Publishers.
- Tanner, K. D. (2012). Promoting student metacognition. Life Sciences Education, 11, 113-120.