In my teaching, I try to promote reflective thinking in my students by having them not only complete learning activities before and during class, but to reflect on their learning through the activities and record these reflections. Using Moodle as the medium for recording these reflections offers a number of advantages both to students (principally due to the persistence of the artefacts within the digital medium) and to me as the instructor. In this presentation, I will report on how I use Moodle in my face-to-face courses to help students reflect on their learning as they progress towards achieving the course learning outcomes. I will report on examples of student work, Moodle tracking data, and student survey results that analyze the benefits to students of using Moodle in this way. As well, I will discuss how this helps me to be a more reflective practitioner and to be more responsive to the needs of my students. Lastly, I will engage attendees to participate in discussing how Moodle and other LMS can be used to further support students in reflecting on their learning. http://etug.ca/2013/04/11/spring-workshop-2013-keynote-and-facilitators/#esther

1. Esther Tiessen
Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Using a LMS as a Reflective
Medium

2. Learner Models
Passive Learner Expert Student Intentional
Learner
Orientatio
n
focus on completing
the tasks that make
up the learning
activities
focus on the
outcomes that the
learning activities are
intended to address
focus on own
learning goals and
use learning activities
to help achieve them
Learning
by-product of
completing tasks
by-product of
achieving learning
outcomes
by-product of active
engagement in
building
understanding,
solving problems,
finding connections,
etc.
Ownership little or none limited full
Engageme
nt
minimal work,
looks for quick fixes,
satisfied with
hard-working,
studious, but often
lacking deeper
hard-working, self-
directed, driven to
seek deeper
I want to support students
in becoming intentional
learners
Intentional Learning—see Carl Bereiter and Marlene Scardam
Requires
REFLECTION

3. Reflective Activities…
time
work
Beginning
Competency
Professional
Competency
Developing
Competency
Mastering
Competency
Window of Class Time
In-Class Participation
&REFLECTION
Post-Class Review
&REFLECTION
Pre-Class
Preparation
&REFLECTION
review background
materials and set
goals for class time
based on
knowledge gaps
focus on achieving learning
goals; reflect on learning
set and follow plan for
addressing remaining
knowledge gaps and
achieving learning goals

4. Students have
to decide how
many and
which
questions they
need to
complete.Students asked
to reflect on,
identify, and
write about
their
knowledge
gaps.
Preparation for class
organized by
learning outcomes
to support setting of
learning goals.

5. Example of
student
submission
showing that
student
completed the
preparation for
class.

6. Students are instructed to
explain what they
understand if they think
they have no knowledge
gaps.
Example of
student
submission
showing that
student clearly
didn’t prepare
for class.

7. Quizzes structured by
Learning Outcomes
Resources for each
Learning Outcome
provided
Students can
immediately check
answers and get
feedback.

8. Put Learning
Outcomes up
front
Prompt for students to self-assess
their progress on Learning
Outcome
Students asked to make
notes about knowledge
gaps they need to address
in class

9. Pre-Class Reflection
Benefits to Students Benefits to Me
• students are provided with
framework for what they should
do to be prepared for class
• Moodle provides a persistent
record of what he/she did to
prepare for class and his/her
thinking
• students can self-assess how
prepared they are
• students should set expectations
for what they should get out of
class time
• I can see whether a student is
preparing for class
• I can see what the student did to
prepare for class
• I can plan class to address the
knowledge gaps of my students
during class time

10. Students asked to reflect
on and make notes about
progress they make in
class
Reflections organized
by Learning Outcomes
Students asked to reflect
on and make notes about
outstanding knowledge
gaps
Students asked to make
simple plan to address
outstanding knowledge
gaps
completed on paper by students

11. Students reflect on their
current level of competency
Students reflect on and write
about their remaining
knowledge gaps
Students make simple plan
for what their next steps are
for achieving Learning
Outcome
organized by
Learning
Outcomes

12. Example of student
submission

13. In-Class Reflection
Benefits to Students Benefits to Me
• students are provided with
framework for reflecting about
work in class
• students reflect on their level of
competency in the context of
planning for after class
• students leave class with plan
for after class
• students have record of their
learning before and during class
• I can review how students self-
assess their competency
• I can see what knowledge gaps
are still outstanding after class
• I can reflect on effectiveness of
my teaching

14. Post-Class Reflection
Persistent record in LMS of
reflections before and during class
provide record of students’
learning for reflection in preparing
for assessment

15. Questionnaire Results
For each of the statements below, check the box that
best represents your response to the statement:
“yes”
or
“YES”
?
“NO”
or
“no”
Did you find it helpful to reflect on your knowledge gaps
when preparing for class? 25 5 18
Did you find it helpful to reflect and make notes on your
knowledge gaps during class? 22 10 15
Did you find it helpful to reflect on your knowledge gaps
after class and when studying? 26 8 13
Did you regularly use the End-of-Class reflections to
make notes about your learning and knowledge gaps? 17 5 26
Did use your Pre-Class and End-of-Class reflections to
plan for work after class? 13 10 25
Did use your Pre-Class and End-of-Class reflections to
help you to prepare for the midterms? 15 4 29

16. Ongoing…
 How can I support students in making
effective use of their records of their
reflections?
 How can I help students to find more
value in their reflection?