National studies continue to indicate that the graduating STEM student body is not representative of the diversity of the U.S. population. In addition to, or in the absence of, institutional change, instructors must learn how to implement equity-focused pedagogical changes in order to better support their students. This article describes my…

Research indicates that reading strategy instruction improves comprehension. Conceptualizing strategy training as mediating reading strategy use through collaborative and reflective practices, the present study examined the combined effect of peer-collaborative strategic reading and reflective journaling on strategy use and comprehension. Data…

Background: Formal reflection assignments help students process and learn from engagement experiences more fully. Guided reflection can help students engage more deeply with out-of-the-classroom learning experiences and record personal learning. However, it is unknown if students perceive such assignments as valuable. Purpose: This study examined…

Critical thinking is recognised as instrumental for positive, personal and professional, long-term outlooks. It is also widely accepted that the development of students' critical thinking skills can be achieved through explicit interventions. This paper documents the outcomes of a pilot study that investigated the value and impact of an…

Procrastination is a common source of academic struggles among college students. Prior research suggests that procrastination tendencies are amenable to change, but the mechanisms behind successful interventions are not fully understood. In a small-scale intervention study, college students who self-identified as procrastinators maintained…

This dissertation explores contemplative practices such as mindfulness, meditation, compassionate listening, and journaling as a means to self-awareness, self-compassion, and empathy for self and others. Women's and Gender Studies (WGS) and social justice classrooms and pedagogy include difficult conversations on social justice topics such as…

This study was conducted to examine Thai EFL graduate students' perceptions towards reflective dialogue journal writing (RDJW), their writing fluency as well as self-awareness of their own English language learning and writing development. Thirty-four Thai graduate students aged 23 to 39 were required to carry out the RDJW task for 13 weeks -- one…

Pre-service teachers' reflection is a common professional practice in the context of teacher education. The integration of blogs as reflective journals in teacher education may contribute to bridging practical field know-how with the academic knowledge base. In particular, the blog may serve as a virtual space for a community of practice where all…

The benefits of peer facilitation on the development of students' skills in various fields have been widely discussed. However, we know very little about how teachers could draw on peer facilitation to improve pedagogical designs. This study aimed to investigate the influence of peer facilitation carried out in a tertiary EFL (English as a Foreign…

Many national reports have documented students' writing deficiencies and the need to develop rigorous writing curricula that moves the needle forward in training young professionals to write. The quasi-experimental study described herein explains the effect reflection had on journalistic writing students' media writing self-perception scores. We…

Colleges are currently involved in an epic struggle to keep students enrolled. One reason for student attrition involves non-academic issues such as executive functioning. In the present study, we investigated how journaling helped influence paradigm shifts in students' thinking regarding a growth mindset towards their educational performance. We…

Reflection is a vital part of learning, and yet in early childhood, research work on reflection is most commonly on that undertaken by teachers, and not children. This article draws from a participatory study showing how creative research methods and somatic movement enabled 22 children aged 4-11 to reflect on their experiences and document their…

Contemplative pedagogy is part of the larger emerging field of Contemplative Studies. Louis Komjathy (2018) has observed three characteristics shared by various aspects of Contemplative Studies: practice commitment, critical subjectivity, and character development. This paper uses these three characteristics to describe and define a…

Learner journals, diaries, and logs have been used in a variety of learning contexts, including foreign language learning. This paper investigates how diary writing can be used in the EFL classroom to encourage students to express their identities through the language they are learning; it is also a way of supporting them in their quest for…

Mental health clinicians struggle with self-care; over time, lack of self-care and the accumulation of stressors can lead to burnout and compassion fatigue. Through the lens of self-reflexivity, journaling is one way a therapist can implement self-care by a process of self-monitoring. Using self-reflexivity, a different form of self-reflection, a…