This presentation is about using reflective reading journals as a component of a flipped classroom approach to teaching. It was presented to physicists but uses music as the example of what is being taught. The handouts which were used during the presentation can be found at http://atlanticphysics.wix.com/physicsday2013#!presentations/czdz

1. Reflective Reading Journals –
Powerful, Effective, not so Airy-fairy
as you Might Think
Dr. Geoffrey Lee-Dadswell (“Geoff”)
First of all...DON'T PANIC! This is not a music class, although I will
use some material from music theory to illustrate a teaching
technique. About 80% of this session will be spent discussing
pedagogy and the other 20% will be spent practicing it using
music.
To start, while you wait for everyone to be ready:
1. Fill out the Getting to Know You survey and hand it in
2. Read the brief “Quick Reading”
3. Flip over the Quick Reading and follow the instructions
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for reflective journaling

2. An Example
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3. What's This All About?

Taking measures (with marks attached) to
ensure that students read
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
marks are necessary to hold students accountable
for the reading
allows us to skip using class time to present
simple material
Overall strategy is to get students to practice
using ideas in class, instead of having the
ideas delivered in class
−
part of teaching approach often referred to as
“active engagement”. Part of this is increasingly
called the “flipped classroom” approach
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4. Why Not Just Do a Reading Quiz?


What advantages/disadvantages might
journaling have compared with online
quizzes?
Why get students to do the initial marking
of each others' journals?
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5. Journaling as an Alternative to
Reading Quizzes


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virtually impossible for a student to write a
good journal entry if they have not done the
reading
marking rubric can be used to push students
towards deeper reading
teaches deep reading skills, as well as the
subject matter that the students are reading
reflective journaling is intended to foster
“metacognition”
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6. Getting Students to Journal Effectively

Reflective journaling is probably unlike any task your
students have ever had to do in a course
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will only start to do it effectively if they do it frequently
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
will need to be trained to do it
need to see examples of good journals
Rubric needs to push students to reflection and
connection
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no marks for simply summarizing content of the reading
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students must be allowed to write things in their journals
that are “wrong” with no penalty
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emphasize/reward asking of questions
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but also push them to attempt to answer own questions
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7. Marking Strategies

Calvin Kalman (Concordia U.) suggests
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
Have TAs quickly mark journals on a very easy
rubric (e.g. 100% as long as writing is “on task”)
If prof. marks then have students condense journal
entries down to single page “preview sheet” which
must be handed in with journal
I suggest
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Have students do a pre-marking of peer's work
then hand in for quick grading
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Use rubric where reflection and connection are
explicitly being looked for
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8. Reflective Reading Journals
“Marking” each others' journals:
Look for reflection. Mark any reflective
statement/question with an “R”.
Also look for connection, such as to
things that the journaler knows from
elsewhere. Mark any connections
with a “C”.
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9. Use of Class Time

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Make explicit deadlines for
journaling on specific
chapters in text.
Never fall behind what the
students are reading.
Where does reading and
journaling fit into Kolb's
model of experiential
learning?
Kolb's model of experiential
learning.
Within Kolb's model, what is
the role of class time in a
flipped classroom?
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10. First 2 Minutes of Music Theory
Class (clicker question...)
The A-major scale consists of the sequence of
notes:
a) A B C D E F G A
b) A B C# D E F# G# A
c) A B C D♭ E♭ F G A
d) A B D♭ D E G♭ A♭ A
e) None of the above
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11. What Was the Pedagogical Purpose
of that Particular Clicker Question?



Why was that question intended for the very
beginning of class?
What must the professor (no matter how
tempting it is) NOT do before displaying that
clicker question?
Similarly, how might we start a class in
(roughly) week 4 of an intro. mechanics
course?
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12. Use of Class Time
Focus on getting students to test implications
and engage in concrete experience

in-class group activities to apply concepts

No need to “cover all material in class”

but verify that key concepts have been learned
(e.g. use clicker questions)

focus on common conceptual difficulties

Readings completed ensures more equal
contributions to in-class group work

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13. A Group Activity (jigsaw)
You have now definitely seen the following major scales:
C-major
CDEFGABC
E-major
E F# G# A B C# D# E
A-major
A B C# D E F # G # A
Step 1: In your groups build the following scales
Curie
Marconi
#
C -major
(use sharps)
F-major
(use flats)
♭
D-major
(sharps)
G -major
(flats)
#
D -major
(sharps)
G-major (sharps)
Salam
A -major (use flats)
B♭-major (flats)
B-major (sharps)
♭
Step 2: In your supergroup (colour)
Now you have all of the major scales written down. Put your scales in the order:
Largest number of flats
decreasing flats
All naturals
increasing sharps
Largest number of sharps
Step 3: Back in your groups
Find the pattern where, given a scale with N sharps how do you quickly find the scale
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with N+1 sharps

14. Challenge
In your group
Design a jigsaw activity (individual → small group or
small group → large group) for any physics course you
choose.
Question for discussion: Would it be a good use of
class time to do this jigsaw activity if you could not be
sure that the majority of students had done the
assigned reading? Would it be a good use of class
time if you could be sure they had done the reading?
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15. A Bit More on Groups
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Many practitioners of active engagement
methods (e.g. N. Carolina State SCALE-UP
project, MIT TEAL project) strongly
recommend assigning students to groups.
Specific criteria are often recommended in
constructing groups
−
Infer what criteria I used to form your groups
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16. Some Research Questions

Research on reflective journals in physics courses has
already demonstrated that they can be effective (Kalman,
Science and Education, 20, 159-172, (2011).) But
research on this is still in its infancy, and so far is entirely
qualitative, compared with other active learning strategies
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Can measures of engagement with the reflective
journaling process be correlated with conceptual gains
from individual readings?
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Are there measurable differences in outcome between
motivating students to do the readings with journals
vs. using reading quizzes?
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What insight could detailed studies of students'
journals give us into students' processes of conceptual
change?
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