Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2012

Publication Title

Currents in Teaching and Learning

Volume

4

Issue

2

Pages

18-30

Abstract

This study examines low-stakes, written commentaries from a graduate counseling course to better understand the role writing plays in the transition from being a student to becoming a professional practitioner. The cross disciplinary research team used methods from Grounded Theory to analyze 60 commentaries and found that: (1) low-stakes, reflective writing revealed changes in self-awareness from Situational Self-Knowledge to Pattern Self-Knowledge (Weinstein & Alschuler, 1985); (2) low-stakes writing provided evidence of students connecting personally to learning and then connecting learning to professional practice; and (3) low-stakes writing encouraged the instructor to make mid-course adjustments to his teaching methods. This study provides empirical evidence that low-stakes writing-to-learn both supports and records the transition students make from hoping to know how to knowing how to imagine themselves in their professional field.

Comments

Posted with the permission of the publisher.

Original Publication Citation

Neff, J., McAuliffe, G. J., Whithaus, C., & Quinlan, N. P. (2012). Low-stakes, reflective writing: Moving students into their professional fields. Currents in Teaching and Learning, 4(2), 18-30.

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