Abstract:

Innovative teaching and learning methods are current key topics developed at universities with the intention to promote lifelong learning. Reflective Learning is a learning methodology that induces students to reflection processes on all sources of knowledge and is based on understanding complex situations, developing personal abilities and enhancing experience. Practices involving Reflective Learning are widely spread in many areas. However, there is still a lack of quantitative and qualitative research analyses on how students from different fields understand, conceptualize and experience reflective learning academic activities and practices in Higher Education Studies. An evaluation program was designed and applied to four university groups from social education, environmental sciences, nursing, and psychology. Its objective was to gain knowledge on the quantitative and qualitative students’ appraisals on Reflective Learning.

The evaluation program was implemented in two consecutive phases. The first one was based on a Self-reported Reflexive Learning Questionnaire (first and second year of application) whereas the second one was based on a Focus Group data collection technique (second year of application). Data converging from both analyses were integrated to refine and explain those statistical results by exploring participants’ views comprehensively.

Keywords:

Reflective learning, reflective methodologies, self-reflection, self-regulation, mixed methodologies, Quantitative-Qualitative analyses.