Cindy H. White
Assistant Professor
Communication
University of Colorado at Boulder
270 UCB
Boulder, CO 80309
303-492-5022
cindy.white@colorado.edu
Reflection as a Tool for Developing Student Understanding of Communication Processes
a. State your research question and how you have re-defined it since December 2007.
My initial research question asked:
How do students’ assumptions about communication and their experiences within their own relationships influence their learning in interpersonal communication courses?
Initially, I was focused on interpersonal communication courses that emphasize relationships as central to the study of communication. I am still interested in understanding how students’ experiences impact their learning, but my current focus asks about the role of reflection in student learning and students’ ability to apply theoretical knowledge to their own experiences in an introductory communication course that covers a range of contexts (see final section of this application for further explanation).
b. Include a one-paragraph summary of your research methods
My method would primarily involve content analysis of student reflections about communication written across the semester. The goal would be to learn how student views of communication change across the course, what applications students develop for the theoretical ideas of the course, and what students say about their experience of conceptual learning about a process they use daily. It may be possible to develop survey questions, but my goal is to use actual reflections as data (similar to Gleaves, Walker, & Grey, 2008; Jones, Simonds, & Hunt, 2005).
The number of times have you met with your coach since December 2007
Approximately four times in group meetings on Boulder Campus
The number of times have you met with your mentor since December 2007
Once individually. Approximately four times in group meetings on Boulder Campus
Describe the progress have you made on your project between December 2007 and today.
I have gathered and reviewed literature on reflection and learning. I have examined literature in communication on development of communications skills for communication majors and reviewed literature on student development within the communication discipline. I have also examined reflection assignments written by my students in Spring 2008, and I have developed an interview protocol to be used in gathering students’ reflections on their learning in an interpersonal communication class (fall 2008). Specifically, my thinking at this point is influenced by research from Whipp (2003), McAlpine (2004), and Gleaves, Walker, and Grey (2008) who have articulated the importance of scaffolding reflection as a way to improve learning and have noted the importance of reflection for “deep” learning.
Describe what delayed your progress such that you have not yet achieved a publication submission.
This fall, I anticipated being able to ask Graduate Part-Time instructors in the interpersonal communication course to utilize reflection prompts as a learning tool in some sections. This would have allowed me to compare whether the use of reflection prompts would lead to more self-awareness and communicative sophistication in students who did this as compared to those who did not. However, adjustments in staffing for this class led to a situation where the teaching assistants in different sections of the class had very different levels of competence with the material and teaching experience. Thus, it seemed unlikely that I would be able to compare sections of the course. Instead, I decided to conduct interviews with students about whether the interpersonal communication course had impacted the way they think communication in their daily lives and what they see as the link between theory and personal communication practices. Additionally, I have become the course director for our large introductory course. My involvement with this course has opened up an opportunity for me to examine issues of student reflection and learning in a different course context—my own course. Additionally, this context is more closely aligned with the scholarship of teaching. My interest continues to focus on understanding how (or whether) students come to see communication differently as a result of taking a theoretically-focused communication course. However, in this course, the emphasis is less on communication in relationships and more on communication across a variety of contexts.
State the steps (in outline form) you will take to complete a written product you will submit for publication no later than December 2009.
a. Please name specific goals.
My specific goals are to examine student reflections in an introductory communication course (enrolls approximately 400 students). These reflections would be a required part of the course, and the goal would be to analyze these to learn (a) if, and in what ways, students’ views of communication processes change across the course, (b) how students apply theoretical concepts to their own communication experiences, and (c) what students say about the experience of learning about communication practices in a theoretical way. Additionally, because this is a large course, the instructional team includes 6 teaching assistants. I would like to ask each teaching assistant to write a “pedagogy reflection” about the learning they see in each assignment from students. Although this is not the focus of the study, it could provide a way to think about the alignment between student reactions and teacher’s perspectives on student learning across the course.
b. Include an estimated timeline of how you would achieve those goals.
Prompts for these reflections need to be developed by mid-January. The goal would be to have students complete a total of 7 guided reflections across the course. These would be a required part of the course because they align with assignments currently given in the course and are a legitimate way to encourage students to develop “deep” learning (Laird, Shoup, Kuh, & Schwartz, 2007). The use of these responses for research analysis would be requested of students at the end of the course. So, analysis of the data would begin in May, 2009 and continue through the summer. The goal would be to have a draft of the manuscript ready by August for submission to a conference and a revised version of the paper ready to submit to a journal by November (probably to International Journal of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning).
c. In addition, include information about additional support you will need to complete your project (e.g., the involvement of a quantitative expert, help from a research assistant, meetings with your coach and mentor). State how you will procure these resources.
It would be helpful to have a research assistant in summer 2009 to help with data analysis. I will have some research funds left from the 2008 PTLC that I could apply toward this, and my department may also be able to commit funds toward this to improve the introductory course.