Think twice: exploring the effect of reflective practices with peer review on reflective writing and writing quality in computer-science education

ABSTRACT

Reflective writing is a proven way to increase the quality of learning and knowledge construction. However, its use in computer science education has received little attention. In this mixed-methods study, we investigated the effect of reflective writing practices, including peer review, on students’ reflective writing and writing quality scores in a computer science education context. Three reflective writing assignments were required in a Human Computer Interaction course and two peers reviewed each assignment to give feedback. Rubrics were used to measure the reflective writing and writing quality characteristics of student work, and a peer feedback coding scheme was used to determine the characteristics of the feedback students provided to one another. Results revealed that students’ reflective writing and writing quality did not differ across projects and they offered solutions as their most common type of feedback. Our results revealed further studies need to keep investigating new approaches in terms of timing, guidelines, and supportive tools to promote reflective writing to determine which activity designs facilitate student improvement.

KEYWORDS:

• Reflective practice
• reflective writing
• writing quality
• peer review
• computer-science education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Alberta, Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund Seed Grant.

Notes on contributors

Carrie Demmans Epp

Dr. Carrie Demmans Epp is an assistant professor in the Department of Computing Science at the University of Alberta, where she leads the Educational Technology, Knowledge, Language, and Learning Analytics (EdTeKLA) research group. Her work has two streams. One focuses on understanding how people use educational technologies through the use of analytics and other methods so that these technologies and their use can be improved. The other focuses on developing adaptive educational technologies and reporting systems to support learning across a variety of contexts.

Gokce Akcayir

Dr. Gokce Akcayir is a postdoctoral research fellow in the EdTeKLA research group at University of Alberta. She received both of her masters and Ph.D. degrees in Educational Technology. Her research interests include augmented reality and social networking sites in education, flipped classrooms and computer science education.

Krystle Phirangee

Dr. Krystle Phirangee is a senior researcher for the PeppeR project. She has a Bachelor of Arts Honours in Sociology, a Bachelor of Education in the Primary and Junior divisions, and a Master of Education in Educational Technology from York University. Her MEd thesis explored teachers’ views and experiences of web 2.0 technologies in the elementary classroom. Krystle also has a Ph.D. in Educational Technology from the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto which focused on the role of community in online learning. Her research focuses on how online/blended learning contexts expand and reshape student development in higher education. Such as fostering a sense of community, social-emotional behaviour, mobile learning, instructional design, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL).