Professionalising Science And Engineering Teachers In Guiding And Assessing Reflection

The current knowledge society of the 21st century requires students, among other things, to have the ability to think reflectively. Various studies show however that educational programs and teachers, from engineering programs in particular, experience difficulties in integrating the development of students’ reflection skills in their curricula. This gave rise to a multi-year project on improving reflection in engineering educational programs. We worked with teacher teams of 6 programs to improve their curricula and teacher practices regarding reflection. Part of the project were training sessions for teachers focused on guiding and assessing reflection activities of their students. This paper presents a study that was conducted in relation to this training to gain insight into: 1) teachers’ guidance and assessment skills and 2) the contribution of the training to any changes in these skills. A selection of teachers of the participating teams were interviewed before and after the training (N = 8). To gain insight into teachers’ guiding skills, we designed and recorded video’s that depict multiple authentic, prototypical situations. Text excerpts of written reflection reports were used to unravel teachers thoughts and approaches regarding assessing students’ reflections. The interview protocol aimed to elicit teaching interventions and actions regarding guidance and assessment of students’ reflections and teachers rationales and thoughts behind these interventions and actions. Results indicate a shift in teachers’ guiding and assessment skills before and after the training; their skill repertoire seems expanded and reflection questions they would ask their students aimed at deeper reflection.