What is it?
Reflection is the process of thinking deeply about an idea or experience. Reflective practices encourage students to be intentional in their thinking–to deeply examine the meaning, value, function, or impact of an experience or idea. Metacognition (thinking about thinking) is often a part of the reflection process.
Why does it matter?
In many cases, thoughtful reflection helps students to assess their own learning and thinking. In a PBL context, reflective practices help students to continuously assess their understanding in order to set new goals for learning. Student reflections can also help teachers to identify issues or misunderstandings early on in a project.
Getting started
Establish and build a culture of questioning. Use thoughtful silence to create space for thought. Offer varying formats and times (student voice and choice!) during the course of a project and school year for students to reflect. Be consistent and ask your students to reflect often.
A common misunderstanding
It’s often believed that reflection only comes at the end of a project, as a sort of wrap up to learning. However, reflection should take place regularly throughout any PBL project!
Use statement starters
- “Today I learned…”
- “One thing that I would change is…”
- “If I could start over, the first thing I would do is…
- “One thing that worked well was…”
- “My goal for tomorrow is…”
- “Next time, I will…”
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PBL: Reflection Overview
An introductory slide deck and sample strategies to help students develop this critical skill.
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PBL: The Thinking Hats for Reflection
A design method with five different lenses for feedback or reflection.
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PBL: Project Zero Thinking Routines Toolbox
A broad collection of reflection methods to fit nearly any instructional scenario.
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