Critical Reflection Strategies from Dr. Z: Part 2

A second reflective thinking strategy from Dr. Z was the reflective thinking-writing 3 W’s: What? So What? What next? These W’s represent description, interpretation and outcome. It fits closely to what I already do when I ask students to summarize (describe) and then reflect. Reflect is where they lose it, so what if I said instead:

“Summarize and then add a So what? and a What next? Section.  For So What? think about what was the most important or interesting idea/ How can it be explained? How is it similar to/different from others? In the What next? section think about what you have learned and how it can be connected/applied in the future?”

This simple structure aligns well with that of Gibbs (1998). In that cycle description comes first (What?), then evaluation (So what?) and then an action plan (What next?). The beauty of “So what?” I believe directly addresses a problem that undergraduate students have. They tend to want the right answer to everything and accept anything read as a correct authority. To prepare my students for graduate school, I must help them ask “So what?” and take a step toward evaluating works that we read.

This strategy I can use next week, as my students are beginning to read and discuss and write “reflections”.