Learning Journals have a variety of uses and certainly do not need to be confined by these parameters.
Through these levels of reflection, students are encouraged to criticize and evaluate their beliefs and ideas, even their actions.
Reflective Practice is not a passive event. It takes effort from an individual to process the information. Think of it as a mathematical equation:
Knowledge + Emotion + Past-Experiences or Knowledge = Reflection
Metacognition is simply stated as an awareness of how one thinks, or the ability to understand one’s thought processes. Basically, it is a self-awareness, being perceptive of one’s thinking processes.
Learning methodologies can be found on a spectrum from the more teacher-centered approaches to the more learner-centered approaches. This is demonstrated by noting how lectures are teacher-centered while experiential learning is learner-centered.
For all of the positive aspects to experiential learning and those who support this method of learning, there are also noted criticisms or weaknesses to this approach.
Starting a learning journal can be daunting for many people, especially for individuals who are not avid writers.
Nationally, 89 percent of low-income first-generation students leave college within six years without a degree. More than a quarter leave after their first year — four times the dropout rate of higher-income second-generation students.
A five stage process to learner autonomy was first identified by Curran in 1976 but further expounded upon by Candy in his 1991 work, Self-Direction for the Lifelong Learner. This five stage process looks at the progression of the learner through the process of moving from a dependent learner to an independent learner.
A conversation in research of the autonomous learner is the dichotomy between heteronomy versus autonomy in learning. Heteronomy, in the simplest of terms, is deferring to others, action that is influenced by a force outside the individual, while autonomy is the control of the individual.