The reflection level and the construction of professional identity of university students

Figures & data

Table 1. Context and characteristics

Education	Study year	Number of reports (total N = 25)and gender	Number of lessons	Worked with AUTHORS rubric	Worked with 5 components of PI	Assessment (reflection report)
Bio	4^th year	N = 5 4 female	One- to- one and collective tutorials, 4 in total	No	No	Formative
PPE	4^th year	N = 3 3 female	8 lessons, each of 1.5 hours	Yes	No	Formative
MathEd	2^nd year	N = 3 3 female	8 lessons, each of 1.5 hours	Yes	No	Formative
PhysEd	4^th year	N = 4 3 female	8 lessons, each of 2 hours	Yes	Yes	Formative
SW	2^nd year	N = 10 8 female	8 lessons, each of 1.5 hours	Yes	Yes	Summative

Bio = biology, PPE = preschool and primary education, MathEd = mathematics teacher education, PhysEd = physical education, SW = social work. NARRA = Narrative Reflection Assessment rubric.

Table 2. Inter-rater reliability score (Krippendorff’s alpha)

	Round 1	Round 2
Self-image	1.0	1.0
Self-esteem	.78	.95
Task perception	.44	.71
Job motivation	.73	1.0
Future perspective	1.0	.86

Table 3. The five components of PI and the reflection level

	Not related	Descriptive writing	Descriptive reflection	Reflection	Critical reflection	Total components
Self-image	11 (44%)	1	2	9	2	14 (56%)
Self-esteem	4 (16%)	4	6	9	2	21 (84%)
Task perception	2 (8%)	3	4	9	7	23 (92%)
Job motivation	8 (32%)	6	9	1	1	17 (68%)
Future perspective	7 (28%)	2	9	3	4	18 (72%)

Table 4. Number of components and average level

	Number of reflection reports divided by level
Study programme (N)	Level 1 Descriptive writing	Level 2 Descriptive reflection	Level 3 Reflection	Level 4 Critical reflection	Average number of components of PI in reflection reports
Bio (5)	1	1	3	0	3.0
PPE (3)	0	0	3	0	3.3
MathEd (3)	1	2	0	0	4.0
PhysEd (4)	0	2	1	1	3.3
SW (10)	0	2	8	0	4.3
Total 25	2 (8%)	7 (28%)	15 (60%)	1 (4%)	3.7

Bio = biology, PPE = preschool and primary education, MathEd = mathematics teacher education, PhysEd = physical education, SW = social work.

Component 2 Self-esteem

Refection level	Quote
Descriptive	Only when I previously organize the activity, I carry it out, and as a result, I come to project myself as a future teacher. That's when I feel more satisfied (11 PhysEd).
Descriptive reflection	While I initially felt unsure about doing my placement in Cape Verde, now, after the stay, I think I feel confident about doing my final degree project anywhere in the world (2 Bio).
Reflection	I also started to doubt whether I had made the right decision by… .(…) These were all questions I asked myself and in the end it became a vicious circle in my head that I could not get out of. (…) When I look back, my decision still feels right (22 SW).
Critical reflection	During this year I realized, that the realization of the reflexive practice seminar has given me many new apprentices. I could see that before I worked, my performance was more practical and now I see that it is necessary to reflect on what I am doing and contrast it with the theory. The research-action seminar, too, has helped me a lot, for example: before, when something did not work, I withdrew it for some time and after a few months I put it back. Now I have changed, I am generating more questions. Why does not it work? What could I do? (18 MathEd)

Component 5 Future Perspective

Reflection level	Quote
Descriptive	And, finally, I would like to highlight that the placement has helped me think about my future and to trace out the path I would like to follow (8 Bio).
Descriptive reflection	In the future I would probably follow my colleague's advice in situations like this. See the student and his behavior separately (22 SW).
Reflection	The aspects I think should be strengthened to face my future as a teacher are some of the following: to find more resources that are effective when dealing with the group- class (…); to become more communicative (…) - To learn more about the methodologies and techniques of teaching and evaluation (20 MathEd).
Critical reflection	It is with this kind of practice, based more on active methodologies, where I, the teacher, can see myself as a future teacher: I mean when we ask what percentage of professional practice should be active, reactive and maybe reflexive. I think that including a critical reflexive component on our own activity can help improve the activities and strategies developed on a day-to-day basis at school. I imagine that, in schools, decisions like this are often taken collectively by staff. But being able to have training in this really does help (3 PPE).

Distribution of fragments related to reflection levels of students (N = 25)