| A problem facing education today is that learning typically requires rote memorization rather than the use of higher-order thinking skills. Higher-order thinking is needed in a global society to solve real world problems, therefore students should be required to develop and practice higher-order thinking skills. The purpose of this mixed method concurrent triangulation study was to examine whether college students benefited from reflective learning practices and whether the tool, The Module Reflection Worksheet, was effective in helping college students master logical reasoning, critical thinking, and knowledge construction to meet the challenges of globalization. Convenience sampling was used for the quantitative component, and systematic sampling, the Nth sampling method in which every third student was interviewed, was used for the qualitative component. The research instruments were the Reflective Learning through Practice-Based Assignments Survey for quantitative analysis and the Interview Guide for qualitative analysis. The setting was a university in southeast Louisiana, and the 100 participants were students enrolled in a four-month long UNIV 101 Freshman Seminar. Student benefit was examined through the reflection of individual ideas, insights, questions, and actions. The effectiveness of the worksheet was examined through the development and practice of higher-order thinking skills. Findings from the quantitative study show self-perception of benefits from the reflective learning practices, ( t(99) = 150.81), p < .001) and effectiveness of the worksheet for developing and practicing higher-order thinking skills, (t(99) = 232.58), p < .001). Participants in the qualitative study reported experiencing a deep learning approach by being engaged in reflective learning activities, being willing to integrate previous ideas in order to understand new knowledge, and being willing to reconsider and change understanding, if necessary. The overall findings imply that education move beyond passive learning and recall, and toward higher-order thinking skills to prepare youth for globalization. The Reflective Learning Preparedness Paradigm helps students to be engaged in the learning process and to develop creative and critical thinking skills through reflecting on individual ideas, insights, question, and actions. In order to improve global competitiveness, more research is needed that focuses on higher-order thinking skills in various levels of American education. |
