Critical Reflection Activities

When facilitating reflection, vary the activities to accommodate multiple learning styles; create a reflective classroom—don't just add a reflective component.

Group Discussions

Discussion groups may involve either the entire class or just small numbers of students. In small groups, the instructor may either: 1) allow students to choose their own group members, 2) set the criteria for group compositions (e.g. no groups composed of a single ethnicity or gender), or 3) assign students to their respective groups.

Once in groups, the instructor may pose either general or narrowly focused discussion questions and/or topics to be considered and the group members may exchange ideas about course topics and/or their service experiences. The instructor may want to assign a scribe for the purpose of taking notes and submitting a summary of that discussion.

Interviews

In this technique, students interview each other about their service experiences, either spontaneously or with prepared questions that lead participants to make academic connections. The interviewer writes up the findings and the interviewee has the opportunity to read and review how the service experience was represented to, and by, an external party.

Journals

Students may be asked to keep a journal as they engage in their service experience. These should be kept not merely as simple inventories of events but as records that address specific situations from objective, subjective, and analytical perspectives.

Such journals can be preformatted with columns for students' observations, impressions and analysis relating their experiences to theories discussed in class.

Instructors may provide questions to guide students in addressing specific issues in their journal entries and should review them periodically. It is helpful to offer written comments, questions and feedback encouraging, challenging and providing the foundations of an academic dialogue that deepens the studentsâ€™ thought processes.

Analytic Papers

Assigning an analytical paper provides students with an opportunity to describe and evaluate their service experience—and the lessons learned—and to integrate their experiences with course topics. Papers assigned early, but due at the end of the semester, allow students to make full use of ideas derived from class discussion, journals, and other reflective activities provided throughout the course.

Visual Reflections

Students draw or photograph their service experience, then create a classroom gallery that can stimulate analysis of the visual representations of the site or the service performed.

Web Sites

With the assistance of their community partners (either staff or clients), students can design a Web site that depicts the service learning experience and highlights the agency.

Portfolios

Portfolios provide a focus for reflection on the service experience and its documentation. For this, students may be asked to compile materials relevant to the service learning experience and the course of which it is part. These materials may include: journals, analytic papers, scripts and/or notes for class presentations, items created as part of the service, pictures, agency brochures, handbooks, timesheets, service agreement and training materials.

Presentations

Students may be asked to make presentations to their classmates (and/or to broader audiences) describing their service learning experiences, evaluating them and integrating them with course topics.

Reading Responses

Students may be asked to provide written responses to course readings and may be allowed greater or lesser freedom in how they respond by how general or more focused are the questions the intructor asks them to consider.

Electronic Forum

Students may be asked to contribute to service-learning and other course topic material discussions electonically, using email, chat rooms and/or listservs on which they respond either to questions posed by the instructor or to points raised by other students.

The ORID Model

This model provides a progression of question types designed to move students from mere reflection on the concrete experience to more analytical and subjective reasoning. It mirrors the Kolb Learning Cycle addressed in the "What is Service Learning?" section of this manual and may be used to create journal or discussion questions and to guide assignments and activity types. The progression may be completed within one assignment and/or over the whole semester.

Objective:

Begin with questions related to the concrete experience. What did students do, observe, read, and hear? Who was involved, what was said? What happened as a result of their work?

Reflective:

Next, introduce questions that address the affective experience. How did the experience feel? What did it remind them of? How did their apprehension change or their confidence grow? Did they feel successful, effective, and knowledgeable?

Interpretive:

Then ask questions that explore their cognitive experience. What did the experience make them think? How did it change their thinking about ... ? What did they learn? What worked?

Decisional:

Finally, students are prepared to incorporate their experience into a new paradigm. They may have a shift in knowledge, awareness, or understanding that affects how they see things and, ultimately, how they will act. What will they do differently next time? What decisions or opinions have they formed? How will the experience affect their career path, their personal life choices or their use of new information, skills or technology?

Examples of Reflective Questions:

What (will you be/have you been doing)? Who have you been serving?
So what (will you be/have you been learning)? Why is your service work needed?
Now what (should others do about it)? What are you going to do about it?
Can you talk more about that? Why do you think that happens?
What evidence do you have about that? What does this remind you of?
Do you see a connection between this and ___?
How else could you approach that? What do you want to happen?
How could you do that?

As a finale:

Create a class/group product.
Hold a culminating event.
Have a formal closing of the project.

Service-Learning Faculty Manual