According to Craven et al. “Reflection on what has taken place” should be encouraged at the end of a learning unit (2011: 309), as it can help to render the newly gained knowledge more significant to students. In keeping with this guideline, two out of three assessment tasks of Class 1 include a reflective part.

“As the staff involved in this course felt that an exam does not reflect the type of learning they want to convey, the final assessment [is] a reflective one. Thus, personal interests and life experiences can be included in the assignment.” (Class 1: Lecture 06/10/2015)

In addition, S1 notes that “the teacher L2 would purposefully ask questions after each presentation. Just to get the presenter to […] elaborate more on […] their personal connection with their presentation.” (Interview with S1)

In both cases, the students are asked to actively ponder on the significance of their newly gained knowledge and its relation to their life. This makes them consciously aware of a relevance which might before only have been unconscious.

In the last tutorial session, “[w]e are to draw our hand on a sheet of paper, cut it out and write on the one side what we learned in the class and on the other what we personally could do for reconciliation.” (Class 1: Tutorial 29/10/2015) In addition to a reflection on the past semester, this task also includes an outlook for the future. How will the students use their new knowledge and which actions will result from it? By answering this second question, the students will reveal the practical usefulness of the class content.

To put it in a nutshell, reflection tasks help to clarify the significance and practical usefulness of the content.

To move on to the second part of the analysis discussing how the relationship between students and their lecturers and tutors can help to increase the significance of the content, please click here.

To return to the overview over the first part of the analysis, please click here.

(Also see the categories “Connection to students’ world” and “Reflection“)