Reflective Practice in Science Education

Rommel C. Balaoing

In teaching Science, reflection is a method of meaning-making that transfers the learner from one perspective to another with a greater awareness of his interactions and links to other experiences and concepts. Reflection is a thread that allows continuity of learning and guarantees the development of the learner.

Teachers must build on their past knowledge to have opportunities for them to fully participate in what they are experiencing. Active participation is carried out by a process of reflection, a type of reaction of the learner to experience. Only the learners themselves can understand, and they can rely on their interactions.

The reflection process is a dynamic one in which emotions and intellect are tightly interlinked and interactive. It's not an idle mind or day-dreaming, but a purposeful practice is driven toward a goal. It's a way of dealing with a wide variety of inputs and communicating with the feelings that are produced. Learners need to process the information they have been given, compare it to their previous experience, and assess their comprehension. Reflective practice makes for effective problem-solving and increases the effectiveness of learning.

Reflective practice is a continuous phase that requires a learner to examine important events in his or her learning or life history. Reflective practice requires understanding one's history in bringing expertise to practice while being coached by practitioners in the field. A reflective practice model will encourage learners and beginning teachers within a discipline to equate their own experiences with those of seasoned teachers, leading to growth and change.

With students focusing on challenges, reading about what has happened, and assessing consequences, they can be encouraged to develop their intellectual comprehension and long-term information retention. In this way, a reflection is a deliberate act, involving students in challenging their reasoning to construct comprehension of it.

In science education, reflection can allow students to express their ideas, existing knowledge, and experience, which ultimately contribute to academic performance and achievement.

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The author is Teacher III at Marawi High School