Preservice Teachers’ Reflection on Clinical Experiences

Abstract This study focused on the depth of reflection in the writing of preservice teachers who completed end-of-the-semester reflective papers or reflective blogs for undergraduate education courses associated with clinical experiences. Coders rated the depth of reflection as one of four categories: non-reflection, understanding, reflection, or critical reflection. Our analyses revealed that preservice teachers who completed blogs showed higher levels of reflection in their writing compared to those who completed papers. Additionally, the blogs had the added advantage of being shorter by 1,000 words on average. We did not observe any relationship between peer or instructor feedback and overall depth of reflection. We then discuss the importance of teaching reflection and provide suggestions for implementing blog reflections in teacher education courses.

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