ACTIVE AND REFLECTIVE LEARNING 1

Active and Reflective Learning in Online Educational Settings

Steven Carleton, Deborrah Hatt, and Rachael Hayden

OILS 102

University of New Mexico

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Abstract

It is important to examine how learners engage and respond to their learning environments,

especially in online educational settings. There are many important aspects of being a successful

online learner, but two of the most critical involve how active a student is within their online

environment, and how reflective they are as a learner. In this paper, both the active and reflective

learning processes will be reviewed.

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Active and Reflective Learning in Online Educational Settings

Online learning is becoming widely used in education today as an alternative to

traditional face-to-face courses. Being a successful online learner poses unique challenges that

learners must develop to succeed, such as active and reflective learning skills. In the learning

process, whether in traditional kindergarten through twelfth grade, college level, or adult learning

in a professional business setting, many of the same theories apply when it comes to how lessons

are presented and retained by individual learners. Two processes that are crucial for success in

online educational settings are being both an active learner and a reflective learner. A student’s

individual learning performance habits and their attitudes towards instruction influence how well

they will perform in an online learning environment (Zhan, Xu, & Ye, 2010).

Active Learning

The first learning process we would like to present is that of the active learner. The

primary component of being an active learner is to understand that one must be engaged in the

learning process to both benefit from the course material, and to be successful. Another way of

defining the active learning process is that student engagement with their learning process

includes both participation and reflection, tying these two processes together inextricably.

Passive learning is distinguished as being lecture-style, with the learner simply taking

information in, and not necessarily processing it. Generally, this is the method most commonly

used in traditional face-to-face courses. However, online learning, because of its autonomous

nature, requires students to be actively engaged, to frequently interact with materials and other

students, and to manage time and resources in this environment. Choi (2016) states that learning
ACTIVE AND REFLECTIVE LEARNING 4

in the online environment is highly dependent on the individual learner’s ability to direct and

manage their own learning processes.

With active learning, students must also have access to meaningful activities, to think

about how they are interacting with the materials, and to understand that the “core elements of

active learning are student activity and engaging in the learning process” [ CITATION Pri04 \l

1033 ]. One of the first things that we learned in this “Introduction to Online Learning” course,

is that each learner has the most influence of what information they retain, as well as how to

apply that knowledge in the most appropriate manner, including in an online environment.

Another important factor of being a successful online learner is consistency. In learning, as with

most aspects of life, the more consistent one can be, the more positive an experience will be. In

a study conducted by Knight (2010) concerning frequency of student interaction with their online

environment, students who regularly and consistently accessed materials and online resources

throughout their course, and sought to actively understand it, performed much higher than

students who focused on only the beginning or end of online modules with their goal being only

to get a grade. This suggests that positive goals and consistent and frequent interaction with

learning resources in the online educational setting yields the most successful student outcomes

(Knight, 2010).

Now that we have a better understanding of what active learning is, we will describe

various ways that active learning skills might be improved. There are several forms of active

learning that include the following: collaborative learning (working in small groups to

accomplish a common goal), cooperative learning (group working toward a common goal, but

learners being graded individually), and problem-based learning (relevant problems are used to
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provide context and motivation for learning). When active learning principles are in place, these

skills can be improved by using critical thinking, problem-solving and motivation to aid in the

learning retention process. Active learning also helps learners develop positive attitudes and

improve writing and thinking skills. Over the course of this semester we have learned many

techniques that help learners take an active role when it comes to their learning. One of the

practices that we have been working on this semester is to improve our active learning by

pausing more often while trying to process information and when working to retain that

information.

Other factors that help improve active learning are positive interdependence and

accountability. While interdependence and accountability are traits that are innate, other skills

such as rehearsal, critical thinking, metacognition, problem-solving, reflection, collaboration,

information processing, and asking for help, can be improved with practice[ CITATION Cho16 \l

1033 ]. The reason that these skills go hand-in-hand with active learning is that the student is the

one person who is ultimately responsible for the way that they learn and how that knowledge is

put into practice. One final consideration to enable active learner’s success in learning is that the

learner must begin using metacognition, the awareness of how one learns, to actively work to

plan, organize, and evaluate learning as well as use instructor and peer feedback to help revise

and create new strategies for better learning outcomes. The most important way that active

learning helps to promote one’s learning is by improving critical thinking, increasing retention,

and increasing motivation.

Reflective Learning
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“John Dewey, often considered the father of progressive education, viewed reflection as

a central part of active learning” (Darling-Hammond, 2017). Therefore, to be a strong, active

learner, reflection is required. While discussing the importance of reflection, Dr. Mark

Winterbottom said, “Reflection cannot be avoided, it is part of the process in how humans learn,

therefore it makes sense to do it well” [ CITATION Ash17 \l 1033 ]. Reflective learning is a

process that involves many different facets as R. R. Feuerstein described in his book,

Instrumental Enrichment: An intervention program for cognitive modifiability. He described

how reflecting on work enhances the meaning that is being presented, which means that when

the learner spends time reviewing the material, they will ultimately have a better understanding

of that material. Feuerstein (1980) also went on to explain that reflective learning comes in all

different forms including visual and auditory, as well as kinesthetic and tactile to reinforce the

learning process.

Students can improve reflective learning skills by participating in group activities that ask

questions that are grounded in trust, by setting goals, planning, and using feedback to judge

strategy effectiveness. Ming said that “Reflection captures the conceptualization of knowledge,

thought and feeling that are undetected in normal classroom routine”[ CITATION Min14 \l

1033 ]. Another way that reflective learning helps students is by using the student’s internal and

external voices. Internal voices are the learner’s voice which understands the self-knowledge, or

the “what and how” of a topic. This can also be thought of as “metacognition,” which helps

learners to know how, when, and why, they learn, and how to obtain and to use strategies to solve

problems and succeed. These capabilities develop and change over time and rely on the learner’s

knowledge-base and how-to of their learning processes (Darling-Hammond, 2017).

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While internal voices are helpful, the external voice, which includes comments from

others, as well as suggestions and evaluations from peers and instructors, allows the learner to

grow and to increase their knowledge base. Reflection of writing skills is a threefold process,

with the first being that the student becomes more aware of their writing, what makes their

writing work, and what does not. The next step is to help the student take responsibility for their

writing, to realize that it must be understood by an audience, and to learn to anticipate reader

response through their own self-reflection. Finally, the process of recognizing the growth in their

own writing over a period of time enables discussion and further reflection[ CITATION Feu80 \l

1033 ]. Another way of considering the threefold process is by looking at three types of

reflection: content, process and premise. Content reflection is what we perceive, think, feel, or

act upon. Process reflection is considering how we perform the functions of perceiving,

thinking, feeling, or acting. Finally, premise reflection concerns why we perceive, think, feel, or

act as we do, and all can lead to perspective transformation, thereby helping learners improve

their performance (Ming, 2014).

Conclusion

Active and reflective strategies work together to help learners realize that they themselves

oversee their learning experiences and to practice the skills that are especially necessary to be a

successful learner in online learning environments. Khan, Egbue, Palkie, and Madden (2017)

state that “student engagement is a process of continuous improvement and should be constantly

revisited and evaluated” (p.114). Therefore, being an active learner requires reflection and,
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reflection makes learners better at active learning. Darling-Hammond (2017) also mention that

reflective and active learners learn more effectively and intentionally.

Something that we have learned this semester is that whether in a formal school setting,

or a training session in the business world, learning is an ongoing, constant process. Learners

will gain more knowledge if they are motivated to participate in their own learning process.

Metacognition and learning are not set in stone. R. R. Feuerstein (1980) included a passage by

Michael Gelb and Tony Buzan which helps summarize the need for continued learning in our

society, “Many of us grow up thinking of mistakes as bad, viewing errors as evidence of

fundamental incapacity. This negative thinking pattern can create a self-fulling prophecy, which

undermines the learning process. To maximize our learning, it is essential to ask: “How can we

get the most from every mistake we make?”

References
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Feuerstein, R. R. (1980). Instrumental enrichment: An intervention program for cognitive modifiability.

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