Reflective Practice

International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives

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Students’ reflective journaling: an impactful

strategy that informs instructional practices in an
EFL writing university context in Qatar

Abdelhamid M. Ahmed

To cite this article: Abdelhamid M. Ahmed (2019) Students’ reflective journaling: an impactful
strategy that informs instructional practices in an EFL writing university context in Qatar, Reflective
Practice, 20:4, 483-500, DOI: 10.1080/14623943.2019.1638246

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2019.1638246

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REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
2019, VOL. 20, NO. 4, 483–500
https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2019.1638246

Students’ reflective journaling: an impactful strategy that

informs instructional practices in an EFL writing university
context in Qatar
Abdelhamid M. Ahmed
Core Curriculum Program, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Reflective journals are used in the literature to promote students’ Received 27 April 2019
learning, develop writing skills, assess students’ reflection level, Accepted 27 June 2019
promote teachers’ professional development, and gather research KEYWORDS
data. However, the current research bridges the gap in the litera- Reflective journals; EFL
ture by exploring the impact of students’ reflective journals on writing; Gibb's Reflective
informing instructional practices in an EFL writing context at Cycle; teaching strategies;
a university in Qatar. Informed by Gibb’s reflective cycle (1988) classroom management;
(i.e. description, feelings, evaluation, conclusion and action) and challenges with reflection;
social constructionism, the researcher developed a reflective jour- Qatar
nal to help students reflect on the instructional practices. Using
a case study methodology, the researcher collected seventy-eight
reflective journals, written by bilingual female university students
in Qatar. Data was analysed qualitatively using thematic content
analysis. Findings revealed that students preferred the following
teaching strategies: gradual teaching, exemplification, discussion,
comprehension checking, cooperative learning, and graphic orga-
nisers. Findings also showed students’ reported challenges such as
strict classroom management, lack of teacher’s electronic feed-
back, teacher’s frequent questioning, recurrent turn-taking, time
mismanagement, lack of handouts, cooperative learning problems,
mocking students, ringing mobile phones, unpunctual students
and dealing with disruptive students. Implications for instructional
practices are provided.

1. Introduction & background

Reflection is a process in which one’s cognition and socio-cultural context interact. Some
ancient philosophers and educators emphasised the importance of reflection in their
writings (Houston, 1988). Their ideas informed Dewey’s concept of reflection (1933)
whose basic ideas describe reflection as an active and purposeful cognitive process
that involves a sequence of interrelated ideas that take the seminal beliefs and knowl-
edge into consideration (Hatton & Smith, 1995). Four criteria characterise Dewey’s
concept of reflection: (1) a meaning-making process that helps learners deeply under-
stand the relationships inherent in their experiences to guarantee a continuous learning

CONTACT Abdelhamid M. Ahmed aha202@qu.edu.qa Core Curriculum Program, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.
484 A. M. AHMED

process; (2) a disciplined, systematic and rigorous way of thinking, rooted in scientific
inquiry; (3) takes place while interacting with others; and (4) requires attitudes that value
the reflectors’ personal and intellectual growth (Rodgers, 2002, p. 845).
I made use of these criteria to inform the current research. First, I asked multicultural
female university students to reflect on the instructional practices that they experienced in
an English writing course to guarantee a valuable learning process for them and their
teacher. Marsh (2007, p. 319) highlighted that students’ evaluation of teaching effectiveness
is ‘multidimensional, reliable and stable, relatively valid, relatively unaffected by biases, seen
as useful by faculty as feedback about teaching, seen by students as helpful in course
selection, and helped administrators in personnel decisions’. Second, I reviewed the pre-
vious literature to design a reflective journal template that could help students reflect
systematically, rigorously and scientifically. Finally, I ensured that course instructors respond
to students’ reflective journals to make reflective journals dialogic and interactive. The
dialogic nature of reflective journals improves students’ lifelong learning and teachers’
professional practice in higher education (Rodgers, 2002; Rogers, 2001).
Reflection is also defined as ‘a generic term for those intellectual and affective activities in
which individuals engage to explore their experiences in order to lead to new under-
standings and appreciation’ (Boud, Keogh, & Walker, 1985, p. 3). In the same vein, Stevens
and Cooper (2009, p. 5) defined the reflective journal, as ‘a sequential, dated chronicle of
events and ideas, which includes the personal responses and reflections of the writer on
those events and ideas’. The following attributes characterise reflective journals: ‘written,
dated, informal, flexible, private and archival’ (Stevens & Cooper, 2009, pp. 5–7). The current
research defines reflective journals operationally as female students’ responses to and
reflections on the weekly instructional practices of their EFL writing teachers in
a multicultural university context in Qatar. Students expressed their views informally,
openly, privately in their reflective journals to which their teachers reacted promptly to
their concerns. Therefore, I used students’ reflective journals to explore new understandings
and challenges of these instructional practices from students’ perspectives.
The current study took place at a university in Qatar; an Arab country that is marked by its
conservative culture and traditions. Female Qatari students constitute nearly 65% of the total
sample population, among other Arab and non-Arab female students. These students are
shy to express their views and discuss their perceptions openly about learning and teaching.
Therefore, I thought of using reflective journals as a strategy that could help them express
their views and attitudes in writing about EFL writing teachers’ instructional practices.

2. Literature review
This section critically reviews previous research that used reflective journals for different
purposes: learning and course revision, assessing reflection, and improving students’
self-awareness. It also critically sheds light on the drawbacks of using reflective journals.
Some researchers used reflective journals to develop an understanding of students’
learning and course revision (Power, 2012; Watson, 2010). For example, Watson (2010)
conducted a study to explore the use of reflective journals as an intervention strategy to
improve twenty-five failing students’ understanding of the different expository methods
employed as part of the academic writing course for six weeks. Students’ reflective
journals showed a gradual development in students’ knowledge of the expository
 REFLECTIVE PRACTICE 485

method until they were able to apply the learnt concepts, leading to a reflection. I can
argue that the reflective journal questions were very structured leaving little space for
students to reflect openly, the duration of the intervention programme was short and
the sample of this research is not large enough to generalise its findings. Also, Power
(2012) examined the effectiveness of reflective journals in a university language pro-
gramme through students’ written feedback, classroom discussion and the author’s
observation of the experience over three semesters. Students used reflective journals
to record course content and revise for the final exam. Findings revealed that students’
journal entries were mainly descriptive. The researcher believed that some factors could
have helped students to critically reflect on their experiences such as defining reflection,
clarifying its purpose, and provision of feedback and guidelines on assessment. I can
argue that the researcher could have trained students to avoid descriptive journal
entries through the discussion of sample reflective journals.
Other research showed that reflective journals could be used as an engaging tool for
reflection (Gursansky, Quinn, & Le Sueur, 2010; Knapp, 2012; Muncy, 2014) and an evaluation of
critical reflection (Anderson, 2012). For instance, (Gursansky et al., 2010) explored students’
capacity to reflect on the learning process by using an online journal. Findings indicated that
immediacy, intimacy, peer interaction, feedback, and convenience of online access were
reported as conditional factors for improving the quality of journaling and its recognition as
an authentic learning tool and long applicability. This study was useful to the current research
as it highlighted the different factors that helped improve the quality of journal entries such as
instructors’ feedback and convenient online access. In another study, Anderson (2012) used
reflective journals to critically evaluate postgraduate students’ reflection, critique and self-
analysis through focus groups. Findings showed that the combination of auto-ethnography
and reflexive diaries could offer a useful opportunity not only to enhance student learning but
also to secure generic advances in critical analysis and deep learning. I think the methodolo-
gical triangulation in this research made the findings more credible and trustworthy, but
I could not focus groups within the Qatari context as the female participants are shy to discuss
their views openly and preferred the written reflective journals only.
Improving students’ self-awareness is another use of reflective journals reported in the
literature. For example, Pavlovich (2007), in a spirituality and management course at university,
developed two types of assessment: students’ reflective journals throughout the course and
a final reflective report about students’ most significant learning moments. Findings showed
that reflective assignments were powerful in encouraging students to learn how to learn and
to consciously engage in reflective practice that would be beneficial for them as future
managers. However, reflective journals were reported as exhausting for the teachers as they
required much energy for marking. Moreover, teachers were cautioned to build a relationship
of trust with students who express their private and confidential emotions openly in their
reflective journals. Despite presenting students’ real narratives in their reflective journals, how
the author coded the data and protected students’ identity was not clear. There does not
appear to be consistency in the coding scheme as sometimes the author uses names and at
other times, she uses two capital letters. Despite acknowledging that each student has been
contacted to permit using their journal entries, I am wondering how the researcher addressed
the issue of the power relation between the teacher and her students.
Despite the numerous benefits of using reflective journals, they are imperfect in some
respects. First, reflection is a ‘complex, rigorous, intellectual, and emotional enterprise
486 A. M. AHMED

that takes time to do well’ (Rodgers, 2002, p. 845). Second, the definitions of reflection
along with its criteria, processes and teaching techniques do not seem to be clear
(Procee, 2006; Rogers, 2001; Russell, 2005). Third, university students need to be trained
consistently and systematically and taught over time to produce profound reflective
writing (Bain, Ballantyne, & Lester, 2002; Orland-Barak, 2005). In addition, many student
journals have been perceived as descriptive with limited reflection (Jensen & Joy, 2005;
Minott, 2008; Wessel & Larin, 2006). Moreover, teachers find giving feedback to students
on their reflective journals a time-consuming process resulting in not wanting to con-
tinue using journal assignments (Moon, 2006; Pavlovich, 2007; Thorpe, 2004). In addi-
tion, research highlighted that journaling is favoured by female more than male as
female students reacted positively to journal writing whereas male students used it
routinely with little depth in reflection (Blaise et al., 2004). Another challenge is that
when students write their reflective journals, they take into consideration what their
teachers like to read, to get a high mark (Crème, 2005).
To overcome some imperfections of reflective journaling, I did the following procedures.
First, I trained the three instructors of English writing to train their students on how to write
reflective journals. Second, instructors were asked to give their students some electronic
feedback on their reflective journals. Finally, grading was not a big issue for the participants
of the current study as reflective journals were marked out of 5% on completion.
The current study bridges the gap in the literature and contributes to a deeper
understanding of students’ reflective journals to inform instructional practices, with
particular reference to teaching strategies, classroom management strategies, students’
reported challenges. This study may also make EFL writing teachers, curriculum planners
and developers aware of the significance of students’ reflective journals as a rigorous
tool for evaluating teaching effectiveness in a university context. Based on the reviewed
literature, the current study is guided by the two following questions:

(1) What are undergraduate students’ perspectives of the current instructional prac-
tices in the EFL writing course?
(2) What challenges do undergraduate students encounter in the EFL writing course?

3. Methods
An interpretive qualitative research design aims to understand the context where
participants act and the process in which actions happen to interpret and justify why
things happened (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000; Maxwell, 1996). Therefore, the current study
adopts a case study methodology which probes students’ written views through their
weekly reflective journals to inform instructional practices in an EFL writing course in
a university context.
This study is informed by social constructivism and Gibbs’ reflective cycle (1988) as its
theoretical framework. Social constructivism emphasises social construction of knowl-
edge through the views of the study participants (Burr, 1995) and the role of culture and
context in interpreting and understanding reality (Pritchard & Woollard, 2010). Based on
Gibbs’ reflective cycle with its main stages of description, feelings, evaluation, conclusion
and action (See Figure 1), I designed a reflective journal template with some guiding
 REFLECTIVE PRACTICE 487

questions to probe students’ reflections on the instructional practices in an English

writing course to further improve these practices.

3.1. Participants
As shown in Table 1, seventy-eight EFL female students majoring in English, represent-
ing seven nationalities, participated voluntarily in the current study. Only female parti-
cipants were selected as university education is segregated in the concerned university
and the instructors teaching the English writing course were assigned to teach only
female classes at the time of the study. They were a mix of bilingual and multicultural
students at a university in Qatar. Seventy-three students speak L1Arabic as their mother
tongue. The remaining five students speak Bengali as their first language. English as the
Medium of Instruction (EMI) was used in this course.
Students were in three different classes taught by three different teachers. These
students were requested to write a weekly reflective journal using the template in
Appendix. Students were aware that their reflective journals would be read by the
researcher as well as their instructors. However, students were not afraid of the teacher-
student power relations, as they would get the full mark (5%) upon completion of the
weekly reflective journals. In addition, students were not biased, as they knew that the
purpose of this research is to improve instructional practices and their instructors
assured them that their opinions would neither affect their grades nor their relations

Figure 1. Gibbs’ reflective cycle.

Table 1. Participants’ demographics.

# Students’ Gender Nationality Participants’ Number Participants’ Age Instructors’ Gender
1. Female Qatari 50 18–22 Male
2. Palestinan 5
3. Bengali 5
4. Sudanese 5
5. Egyptian 5
6. Jordanian 5
7. Iraqi 3
Total 78
488 A. M. AHMED

with them. This resulted in students’ honest views about their teachers’ instructional
practices.
Purposeful sampling and accessibility criterion (Silverman, 2001) were used as all 78
students in the three different classes signed an informed consent form and agreed to
participate in the current study voluntarily.

3.2. Data collection

Informed by Gibbs’ reflective learning cycle (1988) and the review of the literature along
with the research questions and aims, I designed the reflective journal template (See
Appendix). Among the different reflection models in the literature (Gibb’s reflective cycle,
Atkins & Murphy, 1994; Bass, Fenwick, & Sidebotham, 2017, 1988; Johns, 1994), I chose
Gibb’s reflective cycle as it helps students think systematically about the different stages of
their learning experience (Helyer, 2015). Moreover, female students in the concerned
university in Qatar are not used to reflection; therefore, Gibb’s model provided a guiding
structure and some cue questions to answer which would help smooth their reflection on
the instructional practices employed in the English writing course. Five TESOL specialists
checked this reflective journal for face validity. A trial run was also carried out with three
students to double check the clarity of questions. Some amendments were made accord-
ingly, and a final version of the reflective journal template was designed.
At my request and after reading students’ reflective journals written in week (1),
I trained the three instructors for an hour on how their students need to fill in the
reflective journal with examples of their students’ superficial reflection. Consequently, all
instructors trained their students in one complete class for 50 minutes, in week (2), on
how to respond to the different stages of Gibb’s reflective cycle. In addition, all
instructors assigned five follow-up training sessions, each of which lasted for ten
minutes throughout the course to help students write a more critical, analytical, eva-
luative and conclusive reflection.
A weekly reflective journal is one of the formative assessment methods used in this
course, which is worth 5%, given upon completion. It is noteworthy that reflective journal
template used in the current study is different from that of the teachers who used to have an
unstructured reflective journal in which students write about what they liked and disliked in
their writing class. The reflective journal template was used for this study after obtaining
teachers’ permission and approval. Students’ reflective journals were submitted weekly via
Blackboard online platform where the teachers used to read and respond to each one of
them individually using track changes and comments function in MS Word. The teacher’s
feedback on students’ reflective journals was e-mailed to both students and the researcher
in response to their queries or comments.

3.3. Data analysis

Guided by the research questions and Gibb’s reflective cycle, participants’ reflective
journals were analysed using thematic content analysis (Radnor, 2001) to come up
with themes and sub-themes. Analysed data was quoted and coded to support the
argument as presented in the findings sections.
 REFLECTIVE PRACTICE 489

3.4. Ethical issues

The ethical guidelines of the British Educational Research Association [BERA] (2018)
guided The current study. First, I told the participants about the study aims and gave
them an informed consent form to read and sign voluntarily. Second, I ensured that
participants’ details were kept private, anonymous and confidential. Third, participants
were made aware of their right to withdraw from the study at any time and for any
reason. Also, students’ data was kept in a safe place and used for research purposes
anonymously as real names were replaced by a number in all journal entries.

4. Findings
4.1. Students’ perspectives of the current instructional practices
Analysis of students’ reflective journals showed that students favour the following
teaching strategies: gradual teaching, exemplification, discussion, cooperative learning,
comprehension checking and graphic organisers.

4.1.1. Gradual teaching

Thirty-four journal entries preferred the gradual teaching approach as expressed in the
sample entry below:

I indeed learned how to write a summary and how to design a newsletter from the step-by-step
approach that the professor uses in his teaching. It suits the pacing of many of us (RJ, teaching
strategies that work, gradual teaching, S. 43, week 4).

4.1.2. Exemplification
Exemplification is another teaching strategy praised by twenty-eight students in their
journal entries as exemplified below:

Also, the examples of good and bad reports were used to give us a clear idea about what we
should exactly do in the report. (RJ, teaching strategies that work, exemplification, S. 69, week 3).

4.1.3. Discussion
Discussion is another teaching strategy spotlighted by fifty-five reflective journals as
exemplified below:

Class discussion helped me know which paragraphs are appropriate for my report. It gave me
some good ideas for my assignment. I like discussion because it gives me insight and entertains
me at the same time, I feel motivated to participate more in class. (RJ, teaching strategies that
work, discussion, S 55, week 9).

4.1.4. Cooperative learning

Thirty-nine journal entries referred to the benefits of cooperative learning in students’
learning. A sample example is highlighted below:
490 A. M. AHMED

Group work allowed me to exchange new ideas from my peers. I find that pair work and group
work open up our horizon and help develop my writing and critical thinking skills. (RJ, teaching
strategies that work, cooperative learning, S. 1, week 5).

In addition, forty-four journal entries pinpointed the benefits of group work as expressed
below:
I think the best teaching method is the group activity. If one member does not get the point,
others will explain it to her. For example, I could not paraphrase two lines of a given text, and
all of us worked together to paraphrase the text meaningfully. (RJ, teaching strategies that
work, cooperative learning, S 47, week 6).

4.1.5. Comprehension checking

Teacher’s comprehension checking is another favoured strategy expressed by forty-two
journal entries as exemplified below:
Teacher’s checking of our comprehension is very good and innovative because he makes sure
that we have comprehended what he taught us by asking questions. This motivates us to
concentrate more. (RJ, teaching strategies that work, comprehension checking, S. 68, week 5).

4.1.6. Graphic organizers

Analysis of sixteen reflective journal entries revealed that using graphic organisers is
another useful strategy as exemplified below:
Graphic organisers are very useful for outlining and brainstorming my ideas. My writing was
bad because I did not use brainstorming or graphic organisers to outline my ideas logically. (RJ,
teaching strategies that work, graphic organisers, S. 5, week 6).

4.2. Students’ reported challenges

Figure 2 below shows the eleven students’ reported challenges that emerged from
students’ reflective journals.

4.2.1. Strict classroom management

Ten journal entries commented on the teacher’s strictness as clarified in one sample
journal entry below:
I feel the teacher is strict, so I have to watch my behaviour in class, not to disturb and annoy
the teacher. (RJ, Students’ Reported Challenges, Strict Classroom Management, S. 78, Week 6).

4.2.2. Lack of teachers’ electronic feedback

Lack of teachers’ electronic feedback is another challenge reported by sixty-two journal
entries. A sample journal entry is provided below:
I find it difficult to read the professor’s handwriting. I am used to instructors who used to email
my assignments with some comments and corrections. His feedback is just a matter of some
ticks and very few handwritten comments focusing mainly on grammatical mistakes (RJ,
Students’ Reported Challenges, Lack of Teacher’s Electronic Feedback, S. 77, week 4).
 REFLECTIVE PRACTICE 491

Strict classroom
management
Dealing with Lack of teacher's
disruptive electronic
student feedback,

Teacher's
Unpunctual
frequent
students
questioning

Ringing mobile
Turn-taking
phones

Time
Mocking students
mismanagement

Cooperative
learning Lack of handouts
problems

Figure 2. Students’ reported challenges.

4.2.3. Teacher’s frequent questioning

Seventy-one journal entries focused on students’ complaint about teacher’s frequent
questioning. A sample example is highlighted below:

If the teacher sees a student busy with something else or absent-minded, he abruptly asks her
a question, and then the student loses her face and apologises for not paying attention. This is
not a good strategy as it keeps most of us irritated and threatened. I feel it is a very unsafe
environment that prohibits our learning (RJ, Students’ Reported Challenges, Teacher’s Frequent
Questioning, S. 46, week 4).

4.2.4. Turn-taking
Sixty-one students referred to their unease with the teacher’s use of turn-taking techni-
que in class as pinpointed in the example below:

All students take turns to answer exercises. However, I feel we are still in a school where the
teacher wants to make sure that we can answer the questions well. However, I think the teacher
needs to stop spoonfeeding and understand that we should be responsible for our learning. (RJ,
Students’ Reported Challenges, Turn-Taking, S. 34, week 7).
492 A. M. AHMED

4.2.5. Time mismanagement

Five journal entries commented on how time is mismanaged as exemplified below:
The bad thing is that sometimes the teacher assigns us a short time for class activities to
complete the task. The teacher should note that we have different paces; we do not have the
same writing skills. (RJ, Students’ Reported Challenges, Time Mismanagement, S. 2, week 9).

4.2.6. Lack of handouts

Seventy-three journal entries referred to teacher’s lack of handouts in class. A sample
example is shown below:
When the task is to analyse an argumentative essay for example, I prefer to have a hard copy
to help me understand the structure of the essay, take notes, underline and answer the
questions. (RJ, Students’ Reported Challenges, Lack of Handouts, S. 70, week 4).

4.2.7. Cooperative learning problems

Three journal entries drew attention to student’s inability to be creative while working in
groups as exemplified below:
Sometimes, I cannot develop good ideas with a group of people; I cannot be creative in working
with others in some cases. (RJ, Students’ Reported Challenges, Cooperative Learning, S. 54, week 2).

Another three journal entries revealed student’s difficulty in communication with group
mates as follows:
The bad thing about group work is that we found it difficult to communicate. Many group
mates are talking at the same time, and everyone wants to be the group leader. (RJ, Students’
Reported Challenges, Cooperative Learning, S. 57, week 5).

Talking in Arabic is another problem associated with group work among five non-native
speakers of Arabic as exemplified:
I face a small issue when I sit in group discussions in class. Some girls go on talking in Arabic
with the rest of the group members most of the time. I understand that I am the only non-Arab
in the group so it must be difficult for them to realise that, but I feel weird to sit dumbly in
a group discussion until I announce that I did not understand a word of what they said. (RJ,
Students’ Reported Challenges, Cooperative Learning, S. 18, week 11).

4.2.8. Mocking students

Forty-five students clarified how the teacher makes fun of them in class as exemplified below:
What I do not like about our professor is that he mocks me when I answer a question
incorrectly. He always uses mocking phrases such as ‘really. I did not know that! . . . etc.
These phrases demotivate me from answering questions in class. (RJ, Students’ Reported
Challenges, Mocking Students, S. 28, week 10).

4.2.9. Ringing mobile phones

Twenty students expressed their dislike of the fine paid by late students. A sample entry
is stated below:
 REFLECTIVE PRACTICE 493

Paying QR 5 when one’s mobile phone rings in class is not a good classroom practice as I forget
to put my mobile on silence. I am losing my pocket money to abide by these silly classroom
rules. (RJ, Students’ Reported Challenges, Ringing Mobile Phones, S. 8, week 3).

4.2.10. Unpunctual students

Thirty-Nine students commented in journal entries on the fine paid by unpunctual
students. An example is mentioned thus:
It is my first time to experience an instructor who collects 10 QR from each late student. This
rule encourages students to be more punctual and value time; however, I would rather skip
classes than pay a fine for late arrival to class. (RJ, Students’ Reported Challenges, Unpunctual
Students, S. 31, week 2).

4.2.11. Dealing with disruptive students

Thirteen journal entries reflected on the time wasted by the teacher to deal with
disruptive students. A sample example is shown below:
When a student disrupts students in the class, the teacher normally keeps silent, folds his arms,
and waits until this student notices and keeps quiet. While this is a good strategy, it wastes
much time, and it is very repetitive in class as most girls in the class are chatty. (RJ, Students’
Reported Challenges, Disruptive Students, S. 1, week 6).

This section has revealed students’ reported challenges, which negatively influenced stu-
dents and made them feel at unease. Some of these challenges revolve around teacher’s
instructional and classroom management techniques. Students view lack of handouts,
teacher’s frequent questioning, lack of teacher’s electronic feedback and turn-taking as
the most challenging issues as indicated in the highest number of journal entries as follows:
73, 71, 62, and 61 respectively. Moreover, the less challenging issues reported by students
through their reflective journal entries are mocking students [45], students’ presentation
[43], unpunctual students [39], and ringing mobile phones [20]. However, the least challen-
ging issues from students’ perspectives respectively are dealing with disruptive students
[13], cooperative learning [11], strict classroom management [10] and time mismanagement
[5]. The next section discusses students’ perspectives of their preferred instructional prac-
tices and reported challenges in the concerned EFL writing course.

5. Discussion
Guided by the literature review and the context of the study, I will discuss the following
factors that appear to interpret the findings: students’ views about evaluating teaching
effectiveness, effective teaching strategies, teachers’ provision of feedback, and teacher-
student relationships.

5.1. Students’ views about evaluating teaching effectiveness

The findings highlighted that participants of the current study were significant as they
were able, through their weekly reflective journals, to inform and frame the instructional
practices in an English writing course in a university context in Qatar. Research showed
494 A. M. AHMED

that students’ views about effective teaching practices are important to the course and
the teacher as well (Feldman, 1976, 1988; Young, 2006; Marsh, 2007). For example,
Feldman (1976) revealed that effective teachers are those who stimulate interest, are
clear and understandable, are knowledgeable of the subject matter, well-prepared and
organised, enthusiastic for the course and teaching, concerned about and respectful of
students, helpful and available to students, and open to class questions and discussion.
In another study, students emphasised that teachers need to be interesting, have good
elocutionary skills, pay attention to teaching outcomes (Feldman, 1988). Other charac-
teristics associated with effective teachers include adaptability to students’ needs, use of
clear examples, motivating students to exert efforts, effectively facilitating and delivering
an invaluable course, communicating well with students and showing attention to
students’ learning (Young, 2006). Finally, Marsh (2007, p. 319) highlighted that students’
evaluation of teaching effectiveness is ‘multidimensional, reliable and stable, relatively
valid, relatively unaffected by biases, seen as useful by faculty as feedback about
teaching, seen by students as helpful in course selection, and helped administrators in
personnel decisions’.

5.2. Effective teaching strategies

Findings of the current study highlighted that the following teaching strategies are
beneficial: cooperative learning, discussion, comprehension checking, gradual teaching
approach, exemplification and graphic organisers. First, cooperative learning has proved
successful in providing a context for practising and developing problem-solving, turn
taking and negotiations skills (Hennebry & Fordyce, 2018). However, the optimal coop-
erative learning environment is conditional on individuals’ accountability, face-to-face
interaction, group mechanism, positive interdependence, and social skills (Johnson,
Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, & Skon, 1981). Second, the discussion is seen as one of
the most commonly-used teaching strategies (Dallimore, Hertenstein, & Platt, 2004).
Previous research referred to some characteristics of discussion technique such as
promoting a democratic environment (Brookfield & Preskill, 1999); freedom of speech
(Redfield, 2000); engagement in learning (Leeds, Stull, & Westbrook, 1998), developing
higher order thinking skills (Ewens, 2000); learning from others’ contributions
(Hertenstein, 1991). However, discussion as a teaching technique is limited by students’
unequal participation in discussion (Brookfield & Preskill, 1999). Moreover, research has
shown that comprehension checking by asking questions of clarification, interpretation
and prediction is important as it improves students’ comprehension and allows them to
monitor their understanding (Palinscar & Brown, 1984). In addition, the gradual teaching
approach was a favoured one to students’ learning. Previous research confirmed that
gradual teaching simplifies the taught concepts and elaborates on its meaning
(Velázquez-Iturbide, 2000). Moreover, defined as the presentation of an example or
a nonexample of a concept, research showed that exemplification facilitates the acquisi-
tion of mathematical concepts (Charles, 1980). Using graphic organisers while teaching
English writing was a recommended strategy. Previous research corroborated with this
finding highlighting that graphic organisers helped improve students’ attainment of
facts and concepts and provided more relational knowledge (DiCecco & Gleason, 2002).
 REFLECTIVE PRACTICE 495

5.3. Teachers’ provision of feedback

Findings showed that teachers provide electronic feedback to students’ reflective journals;
however, other students complained about teachers’ preference for hand-written feedback
on students’ other assignments. Teacher’s provision of constructive feedback is helpful and
beneficial to students’ learning, reflection and achievement (Gursansky et al., 2010; Hattie &
Timperley, 2007). For example, Hattie and Timperley (2007) provided evidence of the impact
of teacher’s feedback on students’ learning and achievement depending on the type of
feedback given, its mechanism and timing. Furthermore, it has been reported that teacher’s
feedback on students’ journal entries could help improve their current learning, accomplish
new leaning and become reflective (Gursansky et al., 2010).

5.4. Teacher-student relationships

In the current study, participants showed that their teachers use some strict classroom
management strategies when it comes to disruptive students, ringing mobile phones,
mocking students and unpunctual students. Previous research showed that teachers’ class-
room management and learning environment might be contributing factors that impact on
students’ motivation to learn (Khamis, Dukmak, & Elhoweris, 2008) and avoidance of whole-
class activities (Lee, 1995). Another research indicated that the quality of teacher-student
relationships is negatively affected by students’ problem behaviours (Pianta & Nimetz,
1991). Moreover, these disruptive, unpunctual and annoying students are challenging and
stressful to many teachers (Boyle, Borg, Falzon, & Baglioni, 1995). These challenges may lead
to an increase in conflicts, lack of understanding and disappointing relationships between
students and their teachers (Makinen & Kinnunen, 1986).
Previous research highlighted that teachers need to have some characteristics that
could have a positive impact on students’ learning, motivation and improved student-
teacher relationships. First, teachers need to be emotionally-responsive to students’
problems to result in better relationships (Yoon, 2002). In addition, teachers need to
establish caring relationships with students; exercise authority without being rigid,
threatening or punitive; and make learning fun (Evertson & Weinstein, 2006).

6. Implications, recommendations and conclusion

The current study is limited by a number of issues. First, a sample size of 78 under-
graduate students is quite small. Second, this study is limited by students’ gender as
only female informants participated in the current study. Third, using reflective journals
as the only data collection tool is considered a limitation as I could not use other tools
such as an interview or a focus-group discussion due to female students’ conservative
nature and their disapproval of expressing their views openly in a face-to-face fashion.
Findings of the current exploratory study are important to the field of teaching in
higher education in a multicultural context. The current research is considered an
important step in understanding students’ evaluations of the teaching effectiveness
through their weekly reflective journals. Based on the findings and discussion above,
I am putting forward some implications directed at teachers and stakeholders to
enhance instructional practices further.
496 A. M. AHMED

Firstly, it is important for teachers and stakeholders to take students’ views

seriously to further develop the teaching practices and teachers’ effective character-
istics. Teachers need to stimulate students’ interest, be clear and understandable,
knowledgeable of the subject matter, well-prepared and organised, enthusiastic for
the course and teaching, concerned about and respectful of students, helpful and
available to students, and open to class questions and discussion (Feldman, 1976).
Moreover, teachers need to be adaptable to students’ needs, use clear examples,
motivate students to learn, facilitate and deliver an instrumental course, and com-
municate well with students (Young, 2006).
Secondly, it is also essential for teachers to use teaching strategies that proved effective
in improving students’ learning, acquisition and motivation. First, cooperative learning is
important as it helps develop students’ problem-solving, negotiations and critical thinking
(Hennebry & Fordyce, 2018). Second, discussion is vital as it affords a democratic environ-
ment (Brookfield & Preskill, 1999); freedom of speech (Redfield, 2000); engagement in
learning (Leeds et al., 1998), developing thinking skills (Ewens, 2000); learning from others’
contributions (Hertenstein, 1991). Third, comprehension checking, gradual teaching
approach, exemplification and graphic organisers are four other strategies that ensured
students’ understanding and acquisition of concepts (Charles, 1980; DiCecco & Gleason,
2002; Palinscar & Brown, 1984; Velázquez-Iturbide, 2000).
Thirdly, teachers’ provision of feedback, be it electronic or hand-written, is crucial to
students’ learning, achievement and reflection (Gursansky, Quinn & Le Sueur). Previous
research emphasised some factors that contribute to the effectiveness of feedback such
as the type of feedback, its mechanism and timing (Hattie & Timperley, 2007).
Finally, teachers’ classroom management and learning environment need to motivate
students to learn (Khamis et al., 2008) and encourage whole-class activities (Lee, 1995).
The quality of teacher-student relationships needs to be marked by understanding,
emotionally-responsiveness, mutual respect and democracy in a non-threatening or
non-punitive environment to develop life-long learning (Feldman, 1988; Yoon, 2002).
The current study recommends doing some future research in the following areas. First,
a study that explores the effectiveness of instructional practices from the perspectives of
male or a mixed gender university student is needed. Another study could explore the
effectiveness of reflective journals in developing students’ reflection level. In addition, other
future research could investigate teachers’ instructional practices using other data collection
tools in various contexts such as interviews, auto-ethnography, focus-group discussion, or
questionnaire . . . etc. Finally, a mixed-method study could be a possible venue to explore
students’ perspectives on instructional practices both quantitatively and qualitatively.
The current study contributed to a deeper understanding of reflective journals to
inform instructional practices. Informed by Gibbs’ reflective cycle (1988) (i.e. description,
feelings, evaluation, conclusion and action), I analysed 78 reflective journals from multi-
cultural backgrounds in a university in Qatar. Findings revealed that using reflective
journals informed and framed instructional practices in the English writing course,
particularly the teaching strategies, classroom management and students’ reported
challenges. The current study provided evidence that reflective journals are insightfully
capable of informing and framing instructional practices in a multicultural in an Arab
university context. Considering the proposed implications, reflective journals can be
used in other university contexts to provide feedback about teaching effectiveness.
 REFLECTIVE PRACTICE 497

Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the Core Curriculum Program at Qatar University for funding my conference
presentation at the 21st Century Academic Forum, Martin Conference Center, Harvard University,
Boston, USA, 20–22 March 2016, in which I presented the research findings of the current study. I
would also like to thank Qatar National Library (QNL) for funding the Article Publication Charges
(APCs) and making this article open access. I would also like to thank Prof. Debra Myhill, Professor of
Education, and Dr. Esmaeel Abdollahzadeh, Senior Lecturer in TESOL, Graduate School of Education,
University of Exeter, UK, for their insightful feedback and review of the first draft of this research
paper. Finally, I would like to thank the editor and associate editor of Reflective Practice along with
the anonymous reviewers for their insightful feedback and review of this research paper.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor
Dr. Abdelhamid M. Ahmed is a Lecturer of Education at the Core Curriculum Program, Qatar
University in Qatar. He obtained his PhD degree in Education (TESOL/Applied Linguistics),
Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter, UK. He taught the following courses at
universities in Egypt, UK and Qatar: TESOL, English Writing, Professional Writing, English for
Academic Purposes (EAP), English for Specific Purposes (ESP), and Research Methods. His areas
of research expertise include EFL/ESL writing problems, socio-cultural issues, assessing L2 writing,
feedback in L2 writing, reflective journals and academic literacy. He is the co-editor of the
following books: Teaching EFL Writing in the 21st Century Arab World: Realities & Challenges;
Assessing EFL Writing in the 21st Century Arab World: Revealing the Unknown; Tradition Shaping
Change: General Education in the Middle East and North Africa; and Feedback in L2 English
Writing in the Arab World: Inside the Black Box. He delivered presentations at international
conferences in seven countries [UK, USA, Canada, Spain, Qatar, UAE and Egypt], 2007-2019, and
published research in different formats [edited books, research articles and book chapters].

ORCID
Abdelhamid M. Ahmed http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9667-8630

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Appendix. Students’ Weekly Reflective Journals

Name: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Date: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Week No. (. . .)

Description ● What happened during classes this week?
● What role did you play in class? What role did your classmates play?
● What do you think of the teacher’s method of teaching, interaction, comprehension checking,
treatment, classroom management?
● What do you think of the teaching materials? Helpful/useful/difficult/easy . . . etc.
Feelings ● How do you like classes during this week?
● How will this week’s classes help you in your assignment?
● How do this week’s readings relate to your understanding of the topic?
● How did you feel during this week’s classes? How have your feelings changed?
Reaction ● What was good about this week? Why?
● What was bad about this week? Why?
● What was challenging to you during this week?
● How did deal with it?
Learning & ● What did you learn during this week?
Evaluation ● What else could you have done?
● Assess the impact of this week on you and your future actions.
Future Action ● What are you going to do differently in this type of situation next time?
● What steps are you going to take based on what you have learnt?