S1E7: Exploring Reflections with Dr. Ben Chong

WEBVTT
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There's no single right or wrong way to reflect.
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Now, in simple terms, why it is important?
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Because as academics, we are all learning,
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not just in our discipline, but in
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how we teach teach, how we do research,
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and how we support students. So if we are all
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learning, then we should also be reflecting.
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Hello and welcome back to The Experience Effect, the podcast
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where we sit down with leading voices who are at the forefront of experiential learning
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to discover how learning by doing is reshaping the future of higher education in
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pedagogy and practice. We're your hosts, Anna and
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Imogen, and today we're thrilled to be chatting to Dr. Ben Chong,
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Associate Professor in Electronic and Electrical Engineering and
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Academic Lead for Reflective Practice, about reflection.
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Ben has been driving an experiential learning project exploring how reflective
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practice can be scaled across disciplines, and in our conversation,
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he divulges how meaningful, personal, and authentic reflection
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sits behind education to enhance the experience of both staff and
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students. Ben, welcome to the podcast. Thank you.
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To begin, how do you define experiential learning? And where does reflection fit
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into that? Well, rather than giving a single fixed definition,
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I prefer to describe experiential learning as learning
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through doing, where students actively engage with tasks,
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test ideas, and make sense of real and simulated
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experiences. It is not just about completing
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an activity, but about how those experiences
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shape understanding, confidence, and future direction.
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Within this process, reflection plays a central role.
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Experience on its own is not enough, as we know.
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Learners need time and space to pause,
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look back, and think what happened,
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what— how they felt, and what they learned, and what they
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might do differently next time.
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Reflection helps turn activity into insight.
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It allows learners to move beyond simply describing
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what they did and instead explore how
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they responded, what they noticed, and how their thinking is
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changing. In this way, it connects experience
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with personal meaning. It, it is
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also a very personal process. Reflection can
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take many forms depending on the context.
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It might be written, spoken, visual,
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or even embedded in ongoing tasks.
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What matters is that it feels meaningful and supports learners' engagement.
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Now, in experiential learning, reflection also supports
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self-awareness. It helps learners recognize
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their skills, values, and development over
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time. Through repeated cycles of experience and reflection,
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they begin to act more intentionally and with great
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confidence. So reflection is what
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gives depth to experiential learning. It supports adaptability,
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curiosity, and lifelong learning, especially in environments that
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are active, immersive, and sometimes unpredictable.
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So reflection is almost like the processing layer of learning,
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where raw experience becomes insight. And there's
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often this misconception that experiential learning is just about
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doing more— more projects, more activity.
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Why is reflection so critical in higher education specifically?
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Sometimes we can become very focused on reaching a
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goal. We plan a lot, we do a lot,
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and we keep moving forward. But along
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the way, we may forget to think about the journey itself.
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We may not stop to ask how we experience it and
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why it matters. Now, I tend to use
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the word we here quite intentionally.
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Experiential learning is not just something for students. It is something
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for all of, all of us, you and I
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included. We are all constantly learning through what
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we do. This is where reflection becomes
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critical. It shifts the focus away from just
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what we have done, to how we experience
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it, and why it is meaningful.
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Now, you will often hear me emphasize how and why more
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than what. Reflection can happen in any experiential
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learning activity. It is not about how many activities we
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complete. It is about noticing what
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is happening within the experience how we respond,
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and how our thinking is changing.
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In this way, reflection helps us appreciate
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the journey, not just the outcome. It supports
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deeper understanding, self-awareness,
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and more intentional learning for all of us. That's great.
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Thanks, Ben. So you've implemented this in your own modules,
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particularly in engineering, which is traditionally very technical. So how
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does that look? Actually, it has been quite challenging,
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I must admit, especially in a technical field like engineering.
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In my power electronics modules, this started with student feedback.
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Now, back in 2019, students told me
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they could not see how the circuits they were learning connected
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to the real-world applications.
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I then responded by adding more case studies.
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That helped a little, but I realized
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that adding more content did not necessarily deepen understanding.
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At the same time, external examiners encouraged me to
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include more open-ended design questions.
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I introduced them gradually, but during the pandemic,
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when everything moved to open-book assessments, These questions
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became essential. Students found them difficult,
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but I realised the issue was not difficulty.
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It was that they were not used to this way of thinking.
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Now, that was a turning point for me.
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I began to reflect more deeply on how students were
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experiencing learning, not just what I
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was teaching. So through experiential learning,
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I started to see that students needed more than
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technical knowledge. They needed space to connect
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their learning to their own experiences, their thinking,
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and their future goals. And that is where reflection
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came in. So I introduced
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simple, structured reflection prompts across the modules.
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Most recently, I refined this into a 2-stage
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approach. The first stage is a short structured check-in.
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It is more like a checklist than an essay. Students relate
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their learning to their own experience and how they felt about
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it. The second stage is
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more forward-looking. I use a simple model What?
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So what? Now what? To guide them.
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It is familiar, practical, and works well for
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our engineering students.
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Through these prompts, I also make the expectations of open-ended
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design questions more visible.
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For example, I ask them to explain how they applied engineering
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principles, or or how they justified their decisions.
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So in a simple way, reflection becomes part of their
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learning, not an extra task. It helps students
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make sense of technical knowledge, build confidence,
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and then prepare for more complex thinking.
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Wow, great insights. And now we're moving on to the
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next segment, which is scaling reflection about
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the experiential learning project. Now, this is where
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your recent work becomes really exciting. You're not
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just embedding reflection in one module, you're designing a framework to
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scale it across an entire curriculum. Can you tell us more about that?
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Indeed, it's a big job anyway. So this work is
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part of a wider university initiative to strengthen reflective practice
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in student education through developing shared resources.
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These resources are built on quite extensive
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groundwork. This includes looking across the sector,
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having conversations with colleagues from different disciplines,
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and more importantly, working closely with both students and
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staff to understand their experiences.
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Actually, the aim is not to replace what already exists.
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At least we already have strong materials.
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Instead, this brings key ideas together in
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one place in a way that is more accessible and
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practical. Now, it focuses on, it focuses
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on the question colleagues often ask.
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How to design reflection activities, how to support students,
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how to assess reflection, and how to know
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if it is working. Each section is kept simple
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with clear principles, practical tips, and adaptable
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examples that can be used in different contexts.
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An important part of this work is also about building a community of
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practice. It is not just a static resource.
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It is there to help colleagues share ideas,
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support one another, and develop their approaches together.
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Reflection can feel quite personal, sometimes uncertain
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to teach. So having a space to exchange examples,
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discuss challenges, and co-create solutions is really valuable.
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So overall, the resource acts as a practical companion.
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It helps make reflection clearer, more manageable,
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and more meaningful, while also bringing people together
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to strengthen practice across the university. After all,
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we are not alone. Yeah. Very true.
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And one aspect I find particularly powerful is the partnership model.
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You're not designing this for students, but with them.
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Yes. My approach to co-creation actually
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started within my own engineering discipline.
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For example, some of the lab kits in my module,
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which I use, were actually co-developed with students.
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Those lab kits are now widely used by current
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students, and I continue to refine and improve them
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over time as part of an ongoing open-ended
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development process. Over time,
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and with a growing understanding of design thinking,
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I began to apply this co-creation approach more broadly,
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not just in teaching materials, but also in my pedagogical
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work, including how I design reflection activities
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within my modules, and now across the university.
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At its core, co-creation is really about working closely
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with students rather than designing things for them.
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It allows me to hear their lived experiences from
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different voices and perspectives.
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It is not just about responding to feedback. It is about
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engaging more deeply, trying to understand their context,
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using empathy, and really seeing the full picture
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of their learning experience. Now, that is
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important because we— if we only rely
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on literature or top-down design,
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we may miss what actually matters to students.
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To design something meaningful, we need to think carefully about
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who it is for and what value it brings to them.
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So through co-creation, the aim is to develop
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approaches that are not only theoretically sound,
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but also highly relevant and grounded in real student
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experience. Both at module level and across the
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wider university. And we often talk about students reflecting,
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but what about educators? Like, how important
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is reflective practice among academic staff? I have
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to be honest here, reflective practice is undoubtedly important.
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Not all of us appreciate it at the beginning, myself included.
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So it takes time. It is through learning about
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it, trying it out, and talking with others,
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both colleagues and students, that I began to
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see its value. Early in my
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career, and even when I was a student,
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reflection was almost non-existent. It really
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became more visible to me during my first promotion.
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And when I applied for awards.
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Those moments required me to reflect deeply on my practice.
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From there, it developed quite naturally.
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Over time, it became more like an instinct or
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a life skill rather than something I consciously do all
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the time. Now, I also want
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to highlight that Reflection does not always have to be written.
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I do not write everything down unless I
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need it for CPD or an application.
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Often, my reflection is brief. It happens during
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an activity, maybe like now, or through conversations
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with colleagues and students.
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Then, I would not say I'm an expert. I do not know every
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reflective model, and that's okay. These models are
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just tools. You can choose what works for you and your
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context. In fact, through working
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on reflection, I'm still learning how I reflect,
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when to do it, how to do it, and how to make
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it more meaningful. Now, in that sense,
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it is experiential learning for me as well.
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There's no single right or wrong way to reflect, as I
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told my students, as always. Now, in simple
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terms, why is it important?
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Because as academics, we are all learning,
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not just in our discipline, but in how
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we teach, how we do research, and how
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we support students. So if we are all learning,
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then we should also be reflecting. Yeah, I really like
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that point about how academics are taking part in experiential learning as well.
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That's great. So we can't have this conversation without talking
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about AI. Students are using GenAI tools every day. And so how does
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reflective practice fit into that? Yes, that is very,
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very important question. Now, I would say first that I'm
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not an expert in GenAI,
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and we do have colleagues who look at this in much
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more depth. But I can share how I
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see it from the perspective of reflection.
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At its core, reflection is very personal. It is about
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making sense of your own experience.
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It is often unique to you, and it can even change
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from one day to another.
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So if someone uses GenAI to generate a full
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reflection without giving their own input,
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then it no longer reflects their experience.
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In that case, it becomes quite meaningless.
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However, there's a different way to use it. For example,
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if a student provides their own ideas, their own points,
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and then uses GenAI to help organize the language or
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improve clarity, that is similar to proofreading.
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The reflection can still be meaningful because it is grounded in
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their own thinking. But When it comes to assessment
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for students, it really depends on what we are
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asking students to do. What is the purpose
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of the reflection? What is the learning outcome?
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Are we assessing their language, their ability to
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use a reflective model,
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or their understanding of their own learning?
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So then there should be guidance on what students can and cannot do
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with GenAI. That needs to be very clear.
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Now, GenAI can also be used as a kind of support tool.
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For example, students can use it to learn more about
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reflective models, or to explore ways of expressing
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their ideas more clearly. In that
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sense, it can act like a tutor.
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However, at the same time, we also need to be aware of the wider questions.
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For example, where the information comes from,
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whether it is reliable, and also the ethical and sustainability
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implications. So in short,
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GenAI is not something to avoid completely.
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But in reflection, the key question is always this:
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does the work still represent your own thinking and
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experience? If it does, then it can still have
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value. If it does not, then we need to
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reconsider how it is being used. Okay, yeah,
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that makes sense. And Ben, what are some common misconceptions
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when it comes to reflection? Well, there are quite a few common
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misconceptions when it comes to reflection.
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The first is that reflection has to be written.
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Or follow a fixed model. No, in reality,
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it is not a one-size-fits-all approach.
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Now, students reflect in different ways through conversation,
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thinking, visualization, or short notes.
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We need to recognize and value that diversity rather than
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prescribe a single method.
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Now, another misconception is that reflection is
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easy to implement. In practice, it is a
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skill that takes time to develop for both students
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and staff. Many students feel unsure or lack
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confidence. At the same time, staff may
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underestimate the time and effort needed to design good reflective
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tasks and give meaningful feedback.
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Now, reflection can also become mechanical if we are
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not careful. When it is overused
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or not well designed, it can feel repetitive or even
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overwhelming. Now, that is where reflection overload
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happens. It becomes a box-ticking exercise
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rather than something meaningful, for example, to satisfy
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accreditation requirements. So we need to balance how
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often we ask students to reflect and how
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deep we expect them to go.
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Another point is that we sometimes use the word
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reflection quite loosely. Now, both students and staff may treat
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it as simply describing what happened.
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But reflection goes further than that. It involves making
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meaning, connecting the experience to oneself,
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to others, and to practice.
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There is also an expectation that students will engage with reflection
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straight away, but for many,
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it can feel unfamiliar or even uncomfortable.
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Especially across different cultural and disciplinary contexts.
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So we need to meet students where they are, where they come
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from, provide structure, and be clear about what
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is expected and what is being assessed.
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Then finally, reflection should be inclusive and
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student-centered. When we involve students in shaping
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reflective activities, whether through co-creation or
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feedback, it becomes more relevant and meaningful.
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Otherwise, it risks feeling like just another
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task to tick, rather than a valuable part
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of learning. And thinking about the future of reflective
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learning, if you could give one piece of advice to educators
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trying to build a reflective culture, what would it be?
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Now, there are many, but I will offer one
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piece of advice to educators trying to build a reflective
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culture. It will be this: be part of
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it yourself. As subject specialists,
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we often know what meaningful reflection looks like in our disciplines,
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but it is equally important that we
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we try to see reflection from the student's perspective.
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That is where empathy really matters.
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One of the most powerful things we can do is to model
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reflection. Share your own reflections with students.
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I know it can be difficult, but it takes time. Let them see
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that you are still learning, that you sometimes face
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challenges, and that reflection helps you grow.
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In other words, show your vulnerability.
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When we do that, reflection becomes more than just
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an academic task. It becomes something human.
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We are all human. It also helps build trust.
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When staff reflect openly, it creates a safer space.
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Students feel more comfortable to explore, to question,
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and to develop their own voice. In that sense,
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reflection becomes a shared journey, not something students are
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asked to do alone. Well, Ben, thank you so much for joining us.
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This has been an incredibly insightful conversation. Thank you. Yep.
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Thanks for listening to our conversation with Dr. Ben Cheong, where we discovered
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just how important reflection truly is to cultivate meaningful learning experiences.
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Tune in next time for another episode of The Experience Effect.