{"id":4504,"date":"2026-04-03T15:18:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T15:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/faculty-development-center\/?post_type=furman-update&p=4504"},"modified":"2026-04-03T15:18:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T15:18:27","slug":"making-space-for-reflection-as-the-semester-winds-down","status":"publish","type":"furman-update","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/faculty-development-center\/updates\/making-space-for-reflection-as-the-semester-winds-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Space for Reflection as the Semester Winds Down"},"content":{"rendered":"

The end of semester rarely looks the way we imagined it in January, and this one was no exception (snow and ice, anyone?)\u00a0Maybe you\u00a0had to revise your syllabus or\u00a0delete\u00a0a fun but not foundational reading or project.\u00a0\u00a0Perhaps you\u00a0had to down-shift to think pair share every. single. class. And yet: there was some form of progress, inchoate learning that will bloom in ways and on a timescale that we may never\u00a0witness.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lest we dwell upon pedagogical dreams deferred too early, a few weeks of classes\u00a0remain\u00a0in which we might help students further\u00a0consolidate\u00a0their self-assessment abilities, one of the least developed and most valuable skills\u00a0freshly-hired\u00a0college graduates and new graduate or professional school students. In a recent American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)\u00a0<\/span>Liberal Education\u00a0<\/span><\/i>opinion piece<\/span><\/a>, organization president Lynn Pasquarella shares the results of a recent survey of employers and the skills and experiences they value in recent graduate new hires: \u201cFor employers, preparation is increasingly defined by learning processes students can\u00a0<\/span>demonstrate\u00a0<\/span><\/b>and less by accumulated knowledge.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 In other words, students who can analyze and interrogate their own thought processes (aka metacognition) are better able to\u00a0monitor, assess progress, and adjust as needed.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Supporting students in their reflection challenging\u00a0tasks in particular, rather\u00a0than illuminating the step by step of less cognitively\u00a0difficult work, has enhanced benefits for future self-assessment.\u00a0\u00a0A\u00a0<\/span>recent article<\/span><\/a>\u00a0suggests that differentiating between metacognitive experiences and skills can help refine students\u2019 ability to self-assess: \u201c…<\/span>explicitly teaching students the metacognitive processes of self-assessment and supporting students in making their self-assessment metacognition explicit, educators may use self-assessment to foster co-regulated learning and develop students\u2019 self-regulated learning\u201d (Rickey, Panadero, and DeLuca, 2025).\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some specific prompts to support self-assessment and learning transfer to future contexts (for more intel, review this\u00a0<\/span>Georgia State University blogpost<\/span><\/a>):<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. What were some of the most interesting discoveries I made during this class? About the subject? About myself? About others?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. What were some of my most challenging moments and what made them so?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. What most got in the way of my\u00a0progress, if\u00a0anything?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. How will I use the skills I have learned in this class in the future?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As you wrap up the semester and look forward to summer, you may also welcome a chance to dig into your own reflective self-assessment\u2014on your projects, or on the alignment between your everyday activities and your ultimate\u00a0<\/span>why<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0A\u00a0 tool\u00a0that’s\u00a0helped many coaching clients self-assess and re-connect with or refine their “reason for being” is the Japanese-inspired\u00a0<\/span>Ikigai<\/span><\/i><\/a>. And, if learning in community stokes your inner fire, consider joining\u00a0<\/span>one of our summer institutes<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to enjoy colleagues’ company, share teaching and learning inspiration, and get a jump start on your future teaching adventures.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The end of semester rarely looks the way we imagined it in January, and this one was no exception (snow and ice, anyone?)\u00a0Maybe you\u00a0had to revise your syllabus or\u00a0delete\u00a0a fun […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","update-categories":[],"class_list":["post-4504","furman-update","type-furman-update","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/faculty-development-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/updates\/4504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/faculty-development-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/updates"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/faculty-development-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/furman-update"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/faculty-development-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/updates\/4504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4505,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/faculty-development-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/updates\/4504\/revisions\/4505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/faculty-development-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"furman-update-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/faculty-development-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/update-categories?post=4504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}