1. What have you learned this week about reflection and reflective practice? How did you learn this?
Reflections are useful to improve teaching practice. It can be explored through reflections of our own experience and other colleagues’.

2. What have you learned this week about the practice of supporting student learning in HE?
These incidental matter occurred and observed during teaching practice has fundamental effects of students through the act of self reflections.

3. How has your understanding changed from doing this week’s topic and activities?
Reflections are beneficial not just for educators, but also for students and institutions.

4. What has challenged you?
Finding a systematic analysis to conduct a meaningful reflective practice. Through my peers, I learnt that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, and I believe it is a growing practice.

5. What has surprised you?
Learning from peers provides a strong analytical baseline to inform our own reflective practice.

6. What has this taught you about your strengths in your practice?
Ability to response quickly to a problem, which then any positives and negatives reflections need to be recorded immediately for future purpose.

7. What actions might you take to further develop your practice?
A template which I use for basic self-reflections. Draft of template as follow:
Class’ details (time, place, about the module, aim and objectives of the session, number of students, etc)
Issues arising
How I dealt with the issues
What would I do differently
Additional remarks

Here is my Week 1 reflection. I used the questions to guide me.

1. What have you learned about the practice of supporting student learning in HE?
There are many aspects to be considered on supporting student learning. The common themes I identified were: 1) understanding learners and appropriate learning styles to develop 2) appropriate learning methods, 3) feedback and assessment of students and also for teachers, which then lead to 4) awareness of quality assurance and 5) understanding of wider HE context.

2. How has your understanding of this changed from doing this week’s topic and activities?
The UKPSF provides a systematic framework to self- evaluate our teaching practice the common themes I have identified, through the A,K and V dimensions.

3. What has challenged you?
Being able to take into account all of these perimeters at the same time without prior knowledge.

4. What has surprised you?
Case study number one on the digital resource list, in a book entitled “The Handbook for Teaching and Learning in HE”. The three major categories lecturers are being appraised are by demonstrating sufficient contribution in terms of: knowledge creation, knowledge dissemination and enabling activities. I was struck with the way these three were classified.
Also diversity of learners is a concept I did not consider before.

5. What have you learned about your own experience and practice of supporting student learning?
My curriculum design skill is in the top list of improvement.

6. In which specific aspects of supporting student learning do you have strong experience?
Possibly in design and planning learning activities, although with my limited experience, there are rooms for big improvements.

7. In which specific aspects of supporting student learning do you think you need to develop stronger experience, knowledge and skills?
Curriculum design, time management, systematic ways to appraise myself and my effectiveness to create suitable learning environment and experience and identifying learners’ needs better.

8. What actions might you take to develop your practice in each of the different aspects you identified for further development?
Continuously use the UKPSF framework to self-evaluate my skills from time to time.

Note: I am undertaking a 30 weeks PGCHE course with Falmouth University, United Kingdom. PGCHE is a British teaching qualification for higher education professionals. In this page I will post my weekly reflections. Stay tuned.