Reflective Practice for Psychology Students: The Use of Reflective Journal Feedback in Higher Education

Reflective journals have emerged as an effective means of monitoring and developing reflective practice in higher education, as part of a wider metacognitive strategy to transform traditional learning approaches. In addition, assessment procedures of reflective journals appear to be an important factor in enhancing commitment to learning and reflection. This paper explores the effects of the use of journal writing and formative feedback on the quality of reflective practice, by presenting a case study of reflective learning in a master’s degree program in the North of Italy, in 2014/2015. The article contributes to the current debate about the effectiveness of one-to-one writing tuition by analyzing student writing through qualitative analysis and quantitative trend assessment. In particular, it provides evidence on formative feedback efficacy in developing the quality of reflective practice. Unlike much of the research into writing support, this study seeks to evaluate the impact of feedback use not only by measuring student perceptions of effectiveness or level of satisfaction, but also by assessing the development of reflective practices.