Moroccan university students’ interest in reflective thinking: the role of age, gender, and academic level

ABSTRACT

Given the contemporary global issues and recent advances in technology, 21^st-century skills are deemed necessary to successfully adapt to the challenges inherent in today’s world. Reflective thinking is one of the crucial skills for fostering critical thinking, lifelong learning, and employability skills among students. In light of the scarcity of research on reflection in Moroccan higher education, the current study investigates the extent to which Moroccan university students are interested in engaging in reflective thinking and the role of age, gender, and academic level in their interest in reflective thinking. The data are collected from 107 Moroccan English department students. The results indicate the absence of gender-based differences in interest in reflective thinking among the students. Nevertheless, age and academic level significantly differentiate Moroccan university students in terms of their interest in reflective thinking. Building on this, the current study suggests some pedagogical implications for integrating reflective practice in university courses and programs, and highlights several issues that can serve as avenues for future research.

KEYWORDS:

• Reflection
• interest in reflective thinking
• age
• gender
• academic level

Acknowledgement

We extend our sincere appreciation to the journal editors and anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful consideration of this paper. We are particularly grateful to Dr. Hassan El Hadim for his meticulous proofreading and insightful feedback.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hanane Aqadoh

Hanane Aqadoh is a doctoral student at the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, Agadir, Morocco. She is also a teacher of English in secondary school. Her research interests include reflection in education and language-in-education policy.

Naima Trimasse

Naima Trimasse is a Professor at the department of English studies at Ibn Zohr University, Morocco. She holds a Ph.D. in Education from the Faculty of Education, Rabat, Morocco. Her research interests include second language acquisition and language teaching.