Understanding perceptions of reflection among engineering educators and students

• Autores: Kristine R. Csavina, Adam R. Carberry, Cherrylynne R. Nethken
• Localización: The International journal of engineering education, ISSN-e 0949-149X, Vol. 33, no. 5, 2017, págs. 1534-1542
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Reflection is an implicit professional skill for engineers that is embedded within the engineering curriculum, but rarelyexplicitly taught to or discussed with students. A sample of 114 students enrolled in an engineering capstone design courseand73 engineeringeducators attendingthe 2016CapstoneDesign Conferencewere asked,‘‘How doyou definereflection?’’to shed light on how engineering education stakeholders perceive reflection. Responses were coded utilizing threecategorical definitions of reflection: (1) reflection-on-action, (2) reflection-in-action, and (3) reflection-then-action. Resultsdemonstrate that nearly half of all student and educator participants in the sample view reflection strictly as an opportunityto look back on an action. The remaining two categories of reflection, varied between educators and students with a largerpercentage of students viewing reflection as a process and a larger percentage of educators seeing reflection as impactingfuture actions. These findings suggest that a slight disconnect exists between the beliefs of students and engineeringeducators. Both groups could benefit from a better understanding of what reflection is, which could result in anappreciation gain for regular practice of reflective activities.