Teaching reflection in service-learning: disciplinary differences in conception and practice

ABSTRACT

Faculty from diverse disciplines are involved in teaching service-learning where reflection is an essential component. This qualitative study explores disciplinary differences in understanding reflection and use of reflective pedagogy. We interviewed faculty (N = 24) from 18 departments to examine differences in how they conceive and practice reflective pedagogy in service-learning courses. We found that disciplinary differences are a factor in how faculty conceive and practice reflection. Faculty from health and social care disciplines demonstrated an advantage compared to colleagues from other fields. Further, we found that how faculty conceive reflection is a factor in reflective practice. Conceptualizations of reflection, which are more student-referent or learner-focused, correlate with the more intense and effective practice of reflective pedagogy.

KEYWORDS:

• Reflection
• disciplinary differences
• service-learning
• health & social care
• business & humanities
• applied sciences & engineering

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Sarah Chung and Eugene Cheung for their help with the interviews and data collection.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. We refer readers to Camus et al. (2021) for details about the research process and findings of our earlier study.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Service-Learning and Leadership Office of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong University Grants Committee [Grant PolyU4/T&L/16–19].

Notes on contributors

Rina Marie Camus

Rina Marie Camus was Senior Service-Learning Officer at the Service-Learning & Leadership Office of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She is currently Senior Service-Learning Lead at the Centre for Innovative Service-Learning of Hong Kong Baptist University.

Grace Ngai

Grace Ngai is the head of the Service-Learning & Leadership Office and Associate Professor in the Department of Computing of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Kam Por Kwan

Kam Por Kwan is a Professorial Project Fellow at the Service-Learning & Leadership Office of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Ka Hing Lau

Ka Hing Lau was Project Associate at the Service-Learning & Leadership Office of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is currently Assistant Manager at the Centre for Innovative Service-Learning and the General Education Office of Hong Kong Baptist University.

Stephen Chan

Stephen Chan was founding head and currently consultant at the Service-Learning & Leadership Office of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.