The Science Teacher
46
Your students successfully completed a lab ses-
sion, correctly filled in all of the worksheets,
and collected the required data. Yet, as a science
teacher, you still find yourself wondering—
what did my students actually learn? And, can they apply
that learning to what is going on in their everyday lives?
The process of critical thinking and knowledge ap-
plication requires more than rote memorization and the
ability to get answers correct on lab reports or multiple-
choice tests. Purposeful, guided reflection may be an op-
portunity to gain insight into what students are thinking
and learning in relation to science content. This article
describes how to use guided reflective writing in the sci-
ence classroom to provide a window into students’ minds.
Critical and reflective thinking
Critical thinking is used to describe the use of those cog-
nitive skills or strategies that increase the “probability of a
desirable outcome…thinking that is purposeful, reasoned,
and goal directed—the kind of thinking involved in solv-
ing problems, formulating inferences, calculating likeli-
hoods, and making decisions when the thinker is using
skills that are thoughtful and effective for the particular
context and type of thinking task” (Halpern 1996, p. 10).
Reflective thinking, on the other hand, is a part of
the critical-thinking process that refers specifically to
the processes of analyzing and making judgments about
what has happened. Dewey (1933) suggests that reflec-
tive thinking is an active, persistent, and careful consid-
eration of a belief or supposed form of knowledge, the
grounds that support that knowledge, and the further
conclusions to which that knowledge leads. Learners
are aware of and control their learning by actively par-
James McDonald and Lynn Dominguez
Developing patterns
for thinking about
learning in science
ticipating in reflective thinking—assessing what they
know, what they need to know, and how they bridge
that gap—during learning situations.
The National Science Education Standards state that
teachers of science, at all levels, must make decisions
“such as when to change the direction of a discussion,
how to engage a particular student, [and] when to let a
student pursue a particular interest” (NRC 1996, p. 33).
Teachers struggle to decide when to guide students to-
ward a specific outcome and when to allow them to set
their own goals. Because students think about what they
are learning, reflection is a way for students to set their
own goals as well as guide their own learning. Figure 1
(p. 48) shows the relevant Standards.
Creating a pattern of reflection
The decision to use reflection in the science classroom is
one that requires prior planning and thought. You must
first decide on the method of reflection to be used. For
example, while working on a project or other long-term
activity, students might be asked to record thoughts, ob-
servations, feelings, activities, and questions in a journal
that is maintained throughout the project period. Projects
that require a team approach may use a team journal to
ensure interaction within the group. Students can be as-
signed a paper to write based on their journal or engage
in class discussions to encourage critical thinking and
reflection about their project. The method or methods
selected must be based on the project outcomes defined
early in the planning process.
Over the course of a project, there will be many oppor-
tunities for reflection by both you and your students. By
breaking down the project into distinct periods, it is pos-
REFLECTIVE
The Science Teacher
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