reflection. Thus, students will not just record their teaching experiences or events that took place during the class but also make sense of what they have written.
The process above, thus, can trigger critical reflection. This kind of reflection is defined as an activity or process of recalling, thinking, and assessing
an experience for more extensive aims Richards, 1998: 21. Richards 1998: 21 divides the process in reflecting critically into three parts, namely the event actual
teaching, the recollection of the eve nt producing an account of what happened, and the review and response to the event reviewing and evaluating the event in
order to be at a deeper level. This reflection process is hoped to be taken place on students when weekly reflections are applied i n microteaching class.
2. Weblogs as Media for Weekly Reflection
According to Dudeney and Hockly 2007: 86, a weblog is basically a web page to have a regular diary. It is generally managed by one person. He will
regularly post many forms of content s, such as comments, ideas, opinions, and experiences, to a web page. Dudeney and Hockly, 2007: 87.
Nowadays, together with the big leap of technology innovation, learning in some ways also has been set up to follow this phenomenon. One of the uses of
technology in educational fields is utilizing weblog as students’ journals or diaries. Blogs which serve as students’ diaries are called student blogs Dudeney
and Hockly, 2007: 87. In microteaching classes, lecturers can utilize weblog as a means of assessing their students by encouraging each of them to post their blogs
once or twice a week. Blogs also can provide an environment for students to
communicate with lecturers and with their peers. In addition, teachers also can encourage their students and th emselves to post comments on blog entries.
Comments given, in the setting of microteaching class, are hoped to provide constructive and beneficial feedbacks to the blog’s owner. Thus, here, blogs
establish a cyber-community around teaching topics social s oftware, and serve as “reflective blogs”. Dudeney and Hockly, 2007: 87.
3. Weekly Reflection and Student’s Motivation
Previous research carried out by Nuryadin 2007 entitled Weekly
Reflection in Microteaching Class of The English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University: The Implementation and Students’
Perception showed positive responses from the students towards weekly
reflection as a tool of assessment in the class. The result of the study pointed out that:
a. Most students preferred to do weekly reflection in written form. b. Most students preferred to do weekly reflection as home assignment.
c. Most students did weekly reflection truly based on the s ituation happening.
d. Most students did weekly reflection based on what is ideal to happen. e. Most students did weekly reflection based on the rules and the form given.
f. Most students did weekly reflection based on their own concept, which were often contradictory to what it should be.
g. Most students did weekly reflection not just because it is compulsory or obligatory; it helped them improve their learning.
h. Most students felt that doing weekly reflection helped them reviewing each week lesson and improve their learning.
i. After doing their weekly reflection and knowing their weaknesses, most students reacted to make improvements.
j. Most students did weekly reflection not just to get good marks.
Nuryadin, 2007: 53-58
From the results above, some important points are recorded. It is obviously seen from the results that students generally agree that weekly reflection is a
written take-home assignment which has its rules and form and has to be developed in students’ own concept, in order to help them improve their learning
in microteaching class. Some result points g and j also indicate that there is one factor influencing students in doing weekly reflection. It is student’s motivation.
According to Woolfolk 2005: 341, “to be motivat ed means to move energetically towards a goal or to work hard, even if we are bored by the task.”
There are two types of motivation, namely intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is motivation which is stimulated by internal factors. The
person will consider activities he does are his own reward. While, extrinsic motivation is stimulated by external factors such as rewards and punishments
Woolfolk, 2005: 341. The results of previous study show that most students did weekly reflectio n
due to both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. It can be seen from four last points of the result g, h, i, and j. These findings also show that the motivation that the
students experience was a combination of trait and state factors Woolfolk, 2005: 342. It implies that the students did the reflection due to two reasons. Firstly, they
had to report what they have learnt since it would also influence their mark. Secondly, they valued reflection and learning process they took in order to
achieve their goals, which were to perform well in their class teaching in the microteaching class.
The results of the study indicate that most students are in the level in which they are motivated to fulfill their intellectual achievement Need for Self-
Actualization: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, 1973 though this level in fact can
never be completely filled. They did the weekly reflection to review what they have learnt and make improvements from their failure in the learning they had
attended every week. They wanted to have better teaching performance as their goal.
However, the new implementation of weekly reflection in microteaching class using weblog as the media also could affect students’ motivation in doing
weekly reflection. The result of previous study indeed shows that most students like if it is done in the written form. Despite the similar form applied to
implement weekly reflection which is written form, one weblog’s feature, which provides larger dialogue opportunity so that it enables students to obtain
feedbacks, may increase their motivation in doing it.
4. Microteaching
