The work-reflection-learning cycle - Department of Computer and ...

A Model of Retrospective Reflection in Project Based
Learning Utilizing Historical Data in Collaborative Tools
Birgit R. Krogstie
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
birgitkr@gmail.com
Abstract. In project based learning, learning from experience is vital and necessitates
reflection. Retrospective reflection is as a conscious, collaborative effort
to systematically re-examine a process in order to learn from it. In software
development student projects it has been empirically shown that project teams’
retrospective reflection can help the teams collaboratively construct new
knowledge about their process and that historical data in collaborative tools
used in daily project work can aid the teams’ recall and reflection on the different
aspects of project work. In this paper, we draw on these results as well as
other findings on the use of collaborative tools in a similar setting. We use the
framework of distributed cognition to develop a model of retrospective reflection
in which collaborative tools used as cognitive tools for daily project work
are utilized as cognitive tools in retrospective reflection, aiding the creation of
individual and shared representations of the project process.
Keywords: project based learning, reflection, distributed cognition, cognitive
tools.
1 Introduction
In project based learning [1] learning from experience is essential [2-4]. To achieve
this learning, reflection is necessary, both during day-to-day work and with some
distance to the activity reflected upon [4]. In this paper, we will focus on what we will
call retrospective reflection, a form of reflection-on-action in which participants in a
collaborative process systematically re-examine their process.
There exist many techniques and tools to support reflection in project based learning.
Examples include the writing of diaries and reflection notes, and user annotation
of information in the collaborative tools used to support their work. Computerized
tools can be specifically introduced to support learning. Reflection supporting tools
comprise tools showing users their learning process and its result, tools providing
guidance for users’ monitoring of their learning process, and tools providing scaffolding
for comparison with expert thinking [5]. In an organizational setting, advanced
collaboration platforms may include knowledge management functionality [6], but
such tools are untypical in formal education.
The project based learning to be focused in this paper is that which is based on project
work involving the development of artifacts and aided by lightweight collaborative
U. Cress, V. Dimitrova, and M. Specht (Eds.): EC-TEL 2009, LNCS 5794, pp. 418–432, 2009.
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