Research Approaches, Methods and Design.

This post relates to the following article:

Hubner S, et al (2008):  Writing Learning Journals: Instructional support to overcome learner strategy deficits in Learning and Instruction 20 (2010) 18-29    

Writing Learning Journals: Instructional support to overcome learner strategy deficits.

Writing is a way of reinforcing learning it supports cognitive and metacognitive strategies.  Learning journals are becoming increasingly used in education to promote learning and are in many cases a core component of majority of online courses.

Learning journals are a writing task which is generally used as a follow up to traditional course work. Learning journals can be completed in both an online capacity or in a traditional face to face component.  Research into the use of the learning journals has found that learners who use learning journals have a greater knowledge in the area being written about than those who do not. Learning journals are intended to induce productive, cognitive and metacognitive strategies through self regulated learning. (Hubner S,2008)

On a cognitive level, journals allow learners to organize and elaborate on learning materials. Journals also allow for learners to implement elaboration strategies as they get to generate examples of application of the learning and using analogies to that relate to the material they have learned.

Developing appropriate scaffolding structures to be used in these learning journals remained a key component throughout the article. The study undertaken involved using learners from differing levels of study e.g. kindergarten to university level structures, each with differing degrees and types of scaffolding. The results found that at each of the levels of learning a different type of scaffolding was required.  For example the use of prompts – that is those questions or hints which  promote productive learning behaviour, remained a key factor in the university based student group, whilst different techniques were needed at the kindergarten level.

My personal reflection on the article.

This article brought up the valuable point that, you write differently if your writing for yourself than what you do if you are for writing for a supervisor or a peer. Learning journals or blog writing remains a key component of most online courses, for example this blog here itself can be classified as a learning journal that is one in where reflection of learning occurs. Reflection can also be gained by commenting or posting on others blogs and posts, which itself reinforces that component of scaffolding (peer to peer).