T1 112012041 Full text
STUDENT TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES TOWARD TEACHING
JOURNAL
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of
The Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
Fajarini Prihastuti
112012041
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2016
1
2
3
4
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
This thesis contains no such material as has been submitter for examination on any
course or accepted for the fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any university. To the
best of my knowledge and my belief, this contains no material previously published or
written by any other person except where due reference is made in the text.
Copyright@2016. Fajarini Prihastuti and Anita Kurniawati, M. Hum
All right reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means without the
permission or at least one of the copyright owners or the English Language Education
Program, Faculty of Language and Literature, Satya Wacana University, Salatiga.
Fajarini Prihastuti
5
6
TABLE OF CONTENT
Cover page …………………………………………………………………….…….... 1
Penyataan Tidak Plagiat ……………………………………………………………... 2
Pernyataan Persetujuan Akses ……………………………………………………….. 3
Approval Page ……………………………………………………………….……...... 4
Copyright Statement ………………………………………………………………...... 5
Publication Agreement Declaration ………………………………………………..… 6
Table of Content ……………………………………………………………..……….. 7
Thesis Body
Abstract ……………………………………………………………………… 9
Key Words ...………………………………………………………………… 9
Introduction ………………………………………………………………….. 9
Literature Review
The Definition of Reflective Journal ………………………………… 13
The Roles of Reflective Journal ……………………………………... 13
Enhancing Teaching Quality through Reflective Journal …………… 14
Reflective Journal as a Motivation Tools …………………………… 15
The Content in Writing a Reflective Journal …………………….….. 16
The Study
Context of the study ………………………………………………… 17
Participants ………………………………………………………….. 17
Data Collection Instrument …………………………………………. 18
Data Collection Procedures ………………………………………… 19
Data Analysis Procedures …………………………………………... 20
7
Findings and Discussion ……………………………………………………. 20
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………….. 34
Acknowledgement ………………………………………………………………..… 37
References …………………………………………………………………….......... 41
Appendix ……………………………………………………….………………....... 41
8
STUDENT TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES TOWARD TEACHING JOURNAL
Fajarini Prihastuti
ABSTRACT
This research aims to investigate the student teachers‟ general perceptions of reflective
journal. The participants of this research were 40 student teachers in English Language
Education Program of Satya Wacana Christian University who taught in junior high
schools. In this research, the data were collected using the questionnaire. The result
revealed that the majority of participants considered reflective journal as a selfassessment tool which helps them improve their teaching performance. They also
considered it as a motivation tool which enables them to share their feelings and
problems they encountered during teaching session. Regarding the reflective journal‟s
contents, student teachers included some important contents which are describing,
comparison and criticism stage. On the describing stage they shared their feelings and
problems they encountered. On comparison stage they included their strength and
weakness and mentor‟s or friends‟ feedback. On criticism stage they shared possible
solution to the problems the encountered and the teaching strategies they used. There
were only few of the student teachers who included the related theories on their
reflective journal which was meant to help them monitor and generate their
improvement in teaching process.
Keywords: Student teachers’ perception, teaching journal, reflective journal
INTRODUCTION
There are some ways for teacher to improve their teaching ability, such as
joining trainings for new teachers and the educational seminars where the teachers may
have new experiences, knowledge and teacher partners that they can share new
experience with. Writing reflective teaching also becomes one of the ways to improve
teachers‟ teaching ability. Richards and Lockhart (1996) as cited in Fatemipour and
HosseingholiKhani (2014) said that reflection is "one in which teachers and student
teachers collect data about teaching, examine their attitudes, beliefs, assumptions and
9
teaching practices, and use the information obtained as a basis for critical reflection
about teaching"(p.1). Based on Richards and Lockhart‟s statement we may say that by
critically reflect on our previous experiences in teaching we can learn how our teaching
process went on. To comply the statement teachers should reflect on their teaching
process continuously. Farrell (2005), as cited in Farrell (2015) mentions that teachers
need to “shape and reshape” their knowledge about teaching learning process during
their careers as a teacher. From this statement teachers or student teachers also need to
develop their teaching skills, one of the methods is through reflecting or writing
reflective journals.
As student teachers who have limited experiences in teaching, reflection could
be one of the important things to improve the teaching ability. Through reflection, some
questions regarding our teaching process should come up on our mind. These questions
could be about the teaching technique we used, the materials, the classroom
management or the assessment we gave to the students. Maarof (2007) stated that
writing a reflective journal will assist student teachers “in evaluating their teaching, in
terms of strengths and weaknesses”. Reflective journal will help us fix our next teaching
which means improving our teaching process and learning from our mistakes.
Moreover, Fendler (2003) as cited in Suratno and Iskandar (2010) stated that “reflection
is considerably beneficial practice to support teacher professional development and
teachers‟ efforts to improve student learning”. Thus, reflective journal become one of
important instruments in helping the student teachers to develop teaching ability.
10
In our department, English Language Education Program (ELEP), student
teachers are required to write a teaching journal as a follow up action after teaching.
Basically teaching journal in our department has the same concept like reflective
journal. The teaching journal should be written right after teaching session and will be
archived. By the end of teaching practicum program the teaching journals should be
included in the teaching portfolio and will be used as an evaluation for the teacher
mentor. Student teachers are required to write teaching journal so they will be able
reflect on the student teachers‟ teaching skills development.
In writing teaching journal, however, my friends and I were confused what we
should write on our teaching journal. We usually simply wrote down what the mentor or
friends said regarding our teaching process. In fact, the teaching journal is not only
sourced from mentor‟s comments or suggestions. We can do self-assessment. By
reflecting, we also learn how to think critically since when we have become a teacher
they will not find a mentor or peers who will assess or give comments. Based on the fact
that writing teaching journal confused me and my friends, through this research we will
discover student teachers‟ opinion toward teaching journal. How actually teaching
journal can help student teachers develop their teaching skills. Since reflection practice
is beneficial to support teaching skills development, this research will find whether the
reflective journal is considered beneficial for the student teachers or not. This research
also will discover the content of student teachers‟ reflective journal, whether the student
teachers have complied the ideal content in writing reflective journal.
11
The aims of this study are to discover what student teachers‟ general opinion of
reflective journal. As Fendler (2013), as cited in Suratno and Iskandar (2010) stated that
reflection is considered beneficial to support teaching development, from this research
we can discover how reflective journal could help student teachers develop their
teaching skills.
This research also has significance to help student teachers to be more aware of
reflective journals‟ benefit. Through this research hopefully the supervisor or faculty
could encourage the student teachers to produce the beneficial reflective journal for the
student teachers.
Regarding the benefit of reflective journal discussed previously, through this
research we will able to know “What are student teachers‟ of ELEP perspectives toward
reflective journal in Teaching Practicum?” Through this research question we will be
able to know what are the student teachers‟ opinion toward reflective journal, whether
they have positive or negative opinion of reflective journal.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Through this literature review I will start my discussion with definition of
reflective journals and the benefit of reflective journals. For the reflective journals‟
benefit, it would specify into two parts: reflective journals as an enhancing quality tool
in teaching and a motivation tool for student teachers. In the last section we will discuss
what should reflective journal contains.
12
The Definition of Reflective Journal
Australian Physiotherapy Council (2006) as cited in Edgar (2013) defined
reflective as an „intentional activity‟ of a person to describe and analyze their thought,
feelings and behaviors and make judgment about their effectiveness. The same opinion,
Britton (n.d) stated that reflective is a combination of “self-awareness, critical thinking
and analytic ability” which is done continuously for their learning process. Through
problem analysis which is done continuously, student teachers are able to think of the
teaching alternatives to bring an improvement for the teaching practices.
From these definitions above, reflective is not simply a text which tells the
reader about what happen in our teaching process but also how we overcome the
problem that appeared while we are teaching. More than that describing the feelings,
critical thinking and analytic ability is needed in writing a reflective journal.
The Roles of Reflective Journals
According to Russell (2005) reflective practice became an important role to
enable students in preparing them to face the real situation as a professional teacher. By
analyzing and thinking critically toward their teaching, student teachers are expected to
prepare themselves as a professional teacher such as managing the classroom effectively
and motivating the students (Rodriguez and McKay, 2010)
It is also known that the reflective journal is a self-assessment tool to evaluate
our teaching process (Britton, n.d). In pre-service teaching program (such as Teaching
13
Practicum) probably they still got feedbacks or evaluation from the mentor teacher or
peers but in real teaching they have to be able to assess or evaluate by themselves.
Therefore, during the pre-service program student teachers need to be familiarized with
reflection practices by writing the reflective journals continuously.
Enhancing Teaching Quality through Reflective Journals
Reflective journals play an important role in helping student teachers to improve
their teaching ability. Vacca, Vacca & Bruneau (1997) as cited in Pedro (2001) stated
that through reflection it will assist the student teachers to strengthen their teaching
ability. By analyzing and evaluating the teaching practice they will be more aware of
the problems and how to deal with them.
According to Rodman (2010) reflective practice may also help the student
teachers evaluate and develope teaching strategies. From the experiences which are
expressed on the reflection, student teachers are able to learn and plan what approach or
method that they should use. From this reflection, the student teachers can use the
appropriate method or approach based on the students needs‟.
In line with Rodman‟s statement, Cengiz & Karatas (2015) also agreed student
teachers could evaluate their teaching and discover their students‟ weakness. Student
teachers are able to focus on planning the lesson which suit with the students‟
deficiency. From their self-evaluation, the student teachers can make sure that their
students could understand the materials and do the exercise correctly after they explain
the lesson.
14
Reflective Journals as a Teaching Motivation Tools
In addition, reflective journals may be considered as a motivation tool for the
student teachers. We are aware that reflective journals may contain our weakness or
problem while teaching. However, Ghaye (2011) stated that in reflective journals we
also need to reflect our positives values, which may lead to „amplify our gifts, talents
and strength‟. From Ghaye‟s statement we may say that reflective journals not merely
about problem solving media or a tool to point out our weakness but also a motivation
to student teachers where they can show their talents or strength in teaching process. By
knowing their strengths they will be more confident to teach
Clarke (n.d) also agreed when the student teachers includes the positive
feedbacks from the mentor on the reflective journals it could motivate and encourage
them to improve their teaching. The student teachers will be more aware of their
strength and positive values within them. The reflective journals which contain of
positive values would help the student teachers to motivate themselves or even the
readers. Fredrickson (2001) has the same opinion that positive feelings such as
compliments from our mentor or pairs, make us more open-minded. It means we can be
more receptive to new ideas and alternatives that would bring a transformation to our
future teaching progress.
Fishbach, Eyal & Finkelstein (2010) also say that positive feedbacks may
increase student teachers‟ confidence. It means they are able to carry out their mission
in teaching and assure that they are successfully able to achieve the goal. Positive
15
feedbacks also signal that the student teachers keep the commitment in enhancing their
teaching.
The Content in Writing a Reflective Journal
In order to achieve practical reflective journals there should be a clear guideline
for student teachers in writing reflective journals. Iwaoka (2007) stated that reflective
journals should contain the short summary of our teaching, reflection upon our teaching
and possible solutions toward the problem which may rise in class. Our reflections have
to be original from our own thought and as critical as possible. Critical here means
constructive for our next teaching activities. Jay and Johnson (2002) as cited in Fatemi,
Shirvan & Rezvani (2007) also have the same thoughts that the reflective journals
should consist of three important things which are „description, comparison and
criticism.‟ The description stage, we need to formulate the problem that we faced. In
comparison stage, we also need to open our mind toward others‟ opinion or different
point of views. The last stage basically is a critical thinking and decision making of our
problem. How we can design an alternative way of our teaching process.
Skill Development Team (2012) stated that in writing reflective journals we can
start with „description, interpretation or analysis and outcome or evaluation‟. In
description stage we can describe or explain what happened in your classroom, who was
our students and what topic we would deliver. The second stage, interpretation where
we express our feelings during teaching process, how we response our classroom and
why response that way. We can also write the most important aspect or even which
16
happen in the classroom and link it to the related theory. In the last stage, outcome or
evaluation we can share what we already learned and if there is any changes we make to
improve our teaching process.
THE STUDY
Context of the study
This research was done in English Language Education Program (ELEP) in Faculty
of Language and Literature (FLL) of Satya Wacana Christian University. ELEP was
seen as a program which always yields the best English teacher candidates. ELEP was
chosen because in this program the student teachers are required to write reflective
journal after they finish teaching during their Teaching Practicum. In Teaching
Practicum the participants also experienced how to deal with the classroom
management and the real students with the variety of characteristic.
Participants
The participants were 40 students of ELEP. The participants consist of 31 female
and 9 male with the range of age between 21 – 27 years old. To be specific the
participants were those who have already experienced or passed the Teaching
Practicum. The participants were taken from the Teaching Practicum groups which had
their student teachers taught in junior high school. My focus would be on student
teachers who taught in junior high schools. According to Ganeson (2006) the teachers in
17
junior high schools are required to “provide a more stimulating and interactive
classroom environment”. This environment in classroom enables the students to
“develop their ability in forming opinions, making decision and drawing conclusion”
(Ganeson, 2006). Junior high school students are in the starting point where they start to
develop their cognitive ability such as critical thinking. Junior high school students‟
cognitive development will also be influence with their learning environment like the
teachers or student teachers. Therefore, as student teachers in junior high school the
participants are also expected to be part of the students‟ development. In this research
purposive sampling was used to select the participant because this research requires the
participant with the certain criteria as already mentioned previously.
Data Collection Instruments
The research used mix-type questionnaire (open-ended and close-ended type). The
questionnaires would help the researcher to get and analyze the data in limited time. The
questionnaire was written in English but participants were allowed to answer it in
Indonesian. Close-ended questions would ease the participants to answer the questions
and the researcher to interpret the data. The participants were also required to give short
explanation on some of close-ended questions. This would help to know the reasons
why they chose the particular answer and provide more space for their ideas. Openended questions also included to give space for the participants to share their opinion or
feelings. Unlike interview, filling open-ended questions would give participants more
time to think and avoid them getting nervous. By doing these, the participants were let
18
to share their perspectives toward reflective journal as much as possible to help the
researcher get the richer data.
There was 7 question items in the questionnaire. Question number 1 and 2 would
enable the researcher to find out the general perspective of the participants toward
reflective journal and its benefit. On the questions 3 and 4 would discover about the
content of their reflective journal and what the problems they analyzed on the reflective
journals. On number 5 and 6 the participants would be given the questions which enable
to find out their preference of feedback and how the feedback from mentor or pair could
help them evaluate their teaching performance. On the last question, number 7, the
participants could share their feelings after finish writing reflective journal. Did they
perceive motivated, relieve or probably disappointed after writing reflective journal.
The consent form was also provided where participants were requested to write their
name, age, phone number and willingness if the researcher needs more information.
Data Collection Procedures
In collecting the data, a pilot study first conducted with 6 participants from each
junior high school in Teaching Practicum program such as SMP Negeri 2 Salatiga, SMP
1 Banyubiru, SMP Negeri 7 Salatiga, SMP Lab Salatiga and SMP Negeri 2 Tuntang.
The pilot study was done to find out whether the questions were understandable or
confusing for the participants. Pilot study also helped the researcher to decide whether
the data provide the required information or not. After piloting the researcher selected
the questions items that need to be revised, changed or omitted. The selected question
19
items were revised and improved to get the richer and reliable data which were able to
answer the research question. The final questionnaires were distributed to the 40
participants without including the participants who were involved in the pilot study.
Data Analysis Procedures
After receiving the questionnaires from the participants, they were numbered. After
the questionnaires were numbered, for the close-ended questions the researcher
calculated the answers in percentage and displayed it in the form of table. Meanwhile,
for the open-ended questions (including the reasoning questions) the researcher read
about 4 times per question in order to understand the answers and categorized the same
answers. After categorizing the answers, the data was calculated in percentage and
displayed it on the table. Then, the researcher decided to categorize the data based on
the themes. After categorizing the answers based on the themes, the result with the
highest number would be related with the theories which already discussed previously,
whether it confirmed or was contrary to the theories.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
In order to answer the research question, the findings were analyzed and
elaborated under three main themes, which are student teachers‟ general perceptions of
reflective journal, the benefits of reflective journals that student teachers got the most
and the student teachers‟ reflective journal contents.
20
Student teachers’ general perception of reflective journals
Britton (n.d) stated that reflective journals are considered as a self-assessment
tool. Not only as an assessment requirement, reflective journal enables pre-service
teachers to assess and evaluate the teaching performance.
Assessment requirement only
22%
Self-assessment
75%
Both
3%
Table 1. Student teachers’ perception toward reflective journal
Based on Table 1, the majority of the participants (75%) of the participants
considered reflective journal as a self-assessment. They agreed that reflective journal is
not only as assessment requirement but also as a tool to help them evaluate their
teaching performance in order to develop their teaching skill in the future.
The participants‟ perception confirms Britton‟s statement that the student
teachers also perceived reflective journal is a self-assessment. However, 22% of the
participants still believed that reflective journal as an assessment requirement which
must be fulfilled to pass the course.
From the table above, we can say that although it is clear that writing reflective
journal helps student teachers evaluate their teaching performance, some of the
participants still considered it as an assessment requirement only. They still denied the
fact that reflective journal is beneficial for their teaching development.
21
The benefits of writing reflective journal according to student teachers
There are two main benefits of reflective journal that will be discussed based on
this research. The first one is how the reflective journal gives assistant for student
teachers to enhance their teaching performance.
On the table below we found out the participants‟ opinion toward reflective
journal.
Yes
80%
No
20%
Table 2. Reflective journal helps enhancing teaching skill
Most of the participants (80%) agreed that reflective journal gives assistant in
enhancing their teaching skill. It is in line with Vacca, Vacca & Bruneau (1997), as
cited in Pedro (2001) which is stated that reflective journal take important role in
enhancing teaching skill. Through reflective journal they will be helped to strengthen
their teaching ability. These are what the participants wrote as their reasons why or why
not reflective journal is considered helpful.
22
The teaching is relatively steady
Helping in reflect their teaching
Recognizing their weakness and how to overcome
Helping in improving their teaching skill
Positive feelings
Recognizing their strength and weakness
Not to repeat the same mistake
Helpful
Helping only in same aspects
Neutral feelings
Forget
Practice is more important than reflecting
Negative feelings Unimportant to write it down
Not giving any suggestion
No reason*)
*) The participants didn’t provide any reason
2%
27%
17%
12%
7%
2%
3%
3%
3%
3%
8%
3%
10%
Table 3. The reasons why or why not reflective journal is helpful
Table 3 shows us that the participants received the benefit of reflective journal
as a self-assessment tool. 27% of the participants perceived how reflective journal assist
them evaluate their teaching through reflective journal. It also enables the student
teachers to increase the teaching performance by recognizing how to overcome their
weakness (17%) and how to discover their strength (7%). However, 3% of the
participants declined the benefit and argued that practice is more important that a
reflection. Moreover, 8% of the participants gave negative feelings toward reflective
journal and believed that writing reflective journal is not important because they are
spontaneously aware of their mistakes and how to overcome them.
23
The table above shows us that the majority of participants have positive feelings
toward reflective journal. However, 3% of the participant was considered that more
practice is important than writing reflective journal. In fact, we know that reflective
journal helps student teachers to discover their weakness so they can improve their
teaching skills. Writing reflective journal is intended for the student teachers to avoid
doing the same mistakes in their future.
The second benefit of reflective journal is motivating the student teachers. After
recognizing the strength, overcoming the weakness and evaluating the teaching process
student teachers should be more motivated to design a better teaching. Evaluating is not
only from self-assessment but can be in a form of feedback. Feedback is necessary to
enrich the student teachers‟ point of view toward their teaching performance. On the
table below will be discussed how feedback also takes an important role in writing
reflective journal.
Positive feedback
12%
Negative feedback
65%
Both
23%
Table 4. Preference of student teachers toward feedback
Based on Table 4, most of the participants prefer to receive negative feedback
from mentor or friends. Up to this point, we can say that the finding does not validate
the statement from Ghaye (2011) and Clarke (n.d) saying that reflective journal with
positive values or compliments enables to motivate them. Below the reasons why the
participants have tendency to choose the negative rather than positive feedback were
elaborated.
24
Negative FB helps the student teachers recognize the weakness
Positive FB is motivating the student teachers
Negative FB is motivating the student teachers
Positive/negative helps in evaluate their teaching practice
No reason*)
*) The participants didn’t provide any reason
80%
12%
2%
3%
3%
Table 5. The reasons why student teachers prefer negative or positive FB
Table 5 shows that the majority of participants (80%) prefer negative feedback
and only 12% who choose positive feedback. The positive feedback could be in the
form of compliments and revealing the strengths, while the negative feedback included
critics or revealing the student teachers‟ weakness. It is based on the student teachers‟
judgment which believes that through negative feedback they will be more aware of the
weakness. Their weakness, in the future, will be their duty to be improved on the next
teaching. According Hattie & Timperley (2007), it has already been noted how powerful
negative feedback is for enhancing learning. Through negative feedback we could be
more aware of our weakness and encourage us to improve or cover our weakness in the
future. However, to make negative feedback effective it needs to be corresponded by the
information regarding what student teachers need to do in the next time (Hattie &
Timperley, 2007). In order to make the negative feedback effective, the student teachers
need to be given suggestion or advice how to cover the weakness. The table below
shows some the kinds of feedback which is expected by student teachers to help them
improve their teaching performance as written in the questionnaire.
25
Not giving any feedback*)
7%
Advising the problem solving
7%
Pointing the mistakes or weakness
35%
Suggestion for improvement
43%
Learning from mentor's experiences
5%
Telling DOs & DON'Ts in teaching
3%
*) The participants didn’t get any feedback from their mentor
Table 6. How mentor’s/friends’ feedback helps in self-evaluation
On Table 6 their preference of negative feedback is proven by 35% of the
participants who stated that mentor‟s or friends‟ feedback helps them to point out their
weakness and mistakes. By pointing out their weakness the student teachers are able to
make it as a starting point to improve their teaching performance. On Table 6 also
shows 43% of the participants tend to prefer information in the form of suggestion for
their improvement. They perceive the suggestion from mentor or friends enables them
to learn new things and have others point of view in solving the problems. It is true that
pointing out the mistake is preferred by the student teachers in order to bring an
improvement on the next teaching. However, it needs to be corresponded with
suggestion on what should the student teachers do in the future in order to make the
negative feedback effective.
On the Table 6 it is proven that feedback which pointed out the weakness and
suggestion is preferred by the student teachers. Pointing out the weakness can be the
stepping stone for student teachers to improve the next teaching and suggestion enables
them to be aware of new knowledge to solve their problem or enhance their teaching
skill. Not only suggestion but writing reflective journal also gives significant motivation
for student teachers in making an improvement. On the table below how the
26
participants‟ feelings after they write reflective journal and their reasons will be
displayed.
Relieve
Motivated
Positive feelings
Reflective
Nothing
Neutral feelings
Anxious
Negative feelings
Disappointed
Table 7. Feelings after writing reflective journal
31%
52%
2%
6%
4%
6%
Table 7 reveals that most of the participants feel motivated after writing
reflective journal. After receiving the suggestion followed by reflecting on their
performance, they feel more motivated to make a better performance. It is seen that
through writing reflective journal they were able to see the potential which needed to be
explored and the weakness which needed to be improved. 31% of the participants also
felt relieve after writing their reflective journal. The student teachers were relieved
probably because they have done their teaching and received compliments or feedback
from their mentor or friends.
Motivation is not only from positive feedback which cover our strength. In this
research the participants felt more motivated through negative feedback. Receiving
negative feedback such as critics from mentor or friends (which is corresponded with
advice) did not make most of the participants felt inferior or discourage. They even felt
more motivated to improve and develop their teaching skills.
After writing reflective journal some of the participants felt nothing, either
motivated or disappointed. This feeling is considered neutral in this research because it
27
didn‟t have tendency to agree or refuse the fact that reflective journal is motivated for
the student teachers.
Although most of the participants were motivated and relieve, some of the
participants felt disappointed anxious after writing their reflective journal. It might
happen when the participants doing the mistakes or experience decadence compare to
the previous teaching. In fact, writing reflective journal is intended for the participants
to uncover their weakness so they can evaluate and improve their teaching performance
in the future, not to make the participants felt inferior when they did mistakes.
On the table below participants also show various reasons why or why not they
consider that reflective journal is part of their motivation tool.
Sharing their problems
Positive feelings Able to see their improvement
Motivated making improvement for next teaching
Considering as requirement
Neutral feelings Mix (between improvement & weakness)
Regret
Negative feelings Disappointed a lots of weakness
Afraid if mentor mistaken the TJ
Surrender
Regret
No reason*)
*) The participants didn’t provide any reason
25%
12%
37%
5%
3%
3%
2%
2%
3%
3%
8%
Table 8. The reasons why or why not the reflective journal is motivated
From Table 8 we can see why participants consider reflective journal as a
motivation tool. 37% of the participants are motivated to make an improvement after
exploring their weakness and strength and receiving feedback from mentor or friends
28
because they have a vision how to make their teaching better than the previous teaching.
Writing reflective journal also enables them to share about the problems which they
encounter during teaching session. This would give the readers which could be mentor
teachers, other student teachers or supervisor) an idea about what the student teachers‟
obstacles were during teaching session. From this discussion, we can conclude that
reflective journal helps them discover the weakness which should be repaired and the
strength which should be explored. Writing reflective journal also helps student teachers
reveal their anxiety before and during the teaching session. Table 8 shows 12% of the
participants are relieved after writing reflective journal because they can see their
improvement from the last teaching. This enables the student teachers to keep
improving on the next teaching.
Table 8 shows that the participant might also feel between disappointed and
motivated. The participant might felt disappointed because he has attempted to improve
their teaching skills but the mentor still gave critics and considered he still needed to do
improvement. Although he felt disappointed, he also felt motivated to develop his
teaching skills. The participant is considered inconsistent between felt disappointed and
motivated because these two feelings are contradictory.
Under this theme, we discuss the benefit of reflective journal that the student
teachers could receive. From Table 2 and 3 we can conclude that the majority of
participants perceive positive impact by writing reflective journal. The participants
approve that reflective journal give significant assistance in enhancing the teaching
skill. They perceive reflective journal is helpful in overcoming their weakness,
29
recognizing their strength and reflecting on their teaching. Table 4 up to 6 show that the
majority of participants prefer negative rather than positive feedback. They are able to
know their weakness which needs to be improved on the next teaching. In order to
achieve the improvement the participants prefer the mentor or friends to point out their
mistakes and weakness corresponded with the suggestion on what they should do on the
next meeting. Table 7 and 8 show that participants perceive that they were motivated
after writing reflective journal because it enabled them to discover the potential and
weakness to improve their teaching performance.
Student teachers’ reflective journal content
Although the department already provided the guidelines how the student
teachers should write their reflective journal, they still got confused what they need to
write on their journals. In fact there are some important contents that should be written
on reflective journal. On the table below we will see the most common contents which
the participants usually wrote.
Teaching procedure
Feeling toward your teaching
Problems you encounter in teaching
Strength and weakness
Comparison
Compliments
stage
Suggestion or feedback
Possible solutions
Criticism
Teaching alternatives or strategies
stage
Related theories
Table 9. The contents on participants’ reflective journal
Description
stage
30
Number of the
occurrences (… of 40
participants)
23
33
36
37
10
26
29
18
3
From Table 9 there are two the most common contents which the participants
usually write. 36 participants habitually share what problems they encounter and 37
participants prefer to share their strength and weakness in teaching performance. There
are only small numbers of the participants who relate their teaching performance or
problems with the theories (1%).
According to Jay and Johnson (2002) as cited in Fatemi, Shivarn & Rezvani
(2007), reflective journal should cover of three main contents which are description,
comparison and criticism stage. Based on Table 9, the participants were already aware
of the first stage which is description. It is proven by including the description of the
problems, teaching procedure and feelings towards their teaching on the reflective
journal. The participants also started to achieve the second stage, comparison. 26
participants included the suggestion or feedback from mentor or friends on their journal
and 37 participants included the comments about their weakness. It is seen that the
participants start to be open minded of others feedback or suggestion and comments
about their weakness for their improvement. On the criticism stage, 29 participants
included the possible solution on their reflective journal. It shows that actually he
participants began to be aware of the criticism stage which requires them to make the
possible solution for their problems. However, there are still 18 participants who shared
their teaching alternatives or strategies. In fact, designing teaching alternatives or
strategies are also part of the criticism stage which expects the participants to solve the
problems or anticipate the same problems in the future.
31
Criticism stage also requires the participants to relate their teaching performance
with the theories. Table 9 shows there are only 3 participants who included the related
theories on their reflective journal. As a matter of fact, the theories which are included
on the reflective journal may help them generate and monitor their improvements in the
teaching process. According to Tang (2002) reflective journal requires the student
teachers to observe the strengths or weaknesses of the teaching process and evaluate
them in light of related theories. However, Table 9 shows only 3 the participants who
include the related theories on their reflective journal.
Reflective journal also provides the participants to explore the problems they
encounter during teaching process. There are many problems they encounter and below
are the most common problem they share on reflective journal.
Number of the occurrences
(… of 40 participants)
Classroom management
39
Material
25
Classroom activities
29
Lesson plan
14
Exercise
20
Their performance
3
Students & teacher's behavior
1
Table 10. Problem analyzing in reflective journal
From Table 10, 39 participants shared the same idea about what the most
common problem they shared on reflective journal, which is classroom management. It
seems like participants really concern about this issue because in classroom
management usually the problems occur. According to Oliver & Reschly (2007),
classroom management becomes the most common issue because there is a belief that
32
the ability of teachers in classroom management will influence the students‟ behavior
inside or outside the class. This is probably the reason why classroom management
becomes the main concern in the teaching learning process. A belief which considers
that teachers are the example for the students therefore student teachers are also
expected to disseminate the positive behavior to the students.
In the other hand, only 11% (14 participants) analyze about lesson plan on their
reflective journal. It seems that participants give more concern on classroom
management rather than lesson plan. In fact, according to Gafoor & Farooque (2010)
lesson plan also helps the student teachers in organizing content, materials and methods.
Based on the statement, analyzing problems on lesson plan also needs to be considered
for the student teachers. It is intended so the teaching process will be in a good
organization and ensure the students are able to follow the lesson well. Lesson plan also
helps the student teachers to prepare the materials or other teaching equipment.
To conclude, participants actually have been aware of reflective journal‟s
contents such as describing the teaching process and being open of others perspective
by receiving the feedback and suggestion. However, participants also need to be
exposed to find the teaching alternatives or strategies and relate the teaching process
with the related theories. It enables participants to give improvement for the next
meeting.
33
CONCLUSION
This research aims to investigate the junior high school student teachers‟
perception toward reflective journal in English Language Education Program in Faculty
of Language and Literature, Satya Wacana Christian University. Based on the result, it
is found that the student teachers have positive perception of reflective journal. The
majority of student teachers agree that reflective journal is part of evaluation process
which is self-assessment. In receiving feedback, negative feedback from mentor or
friends also gives significant for them because it points out the deficiency of their
teaching which should be improved. They find it helpful in overcoming their weakness
and reflecting on their teaching. Reflective journal also enables to motivate them in
discovering their potential and weakness that they can improve for the next teaching. In
order to have a worthwhile reflective journal there are some contents to be included.
Student teachers have been aware of reflective journal‟s content which requires them
describe their feelings and the teaching process (description stage) and being open
minded of suggestion and feedback (comparison stage). However student teachers still
need to be exposed to find the teaching alternatives or strategies (criticism stage) and
relate the teaching process with the related theories that will give them new knowledge
from the experts.
On this research there are some important keywords need to be noted. This
research mainly discuss about reflective journal. The reflective itself based on Richards
and Lockhart (1996) as cited in Fatemipour and HosseingholiKhani (2014) is "one in
which teachers and student teachers collect data about teaching, examine their attitudes,
34
beliefs, assumptions and teaching practices, and use the information obtained as a basis
for critical reflection about teaching"(p.1). From the definition we can say that reflective
journal is teachers‟ or student teachers‟ written journal about the evaluation of their
teaching.
Although the majority of participants have considered reflective journal as a
self-assessment to, the minority of participants also should be encouraged to value
reflective journal not only as assessment requirement only. There are some benefits
generated from reflective journal so student teachers need to consider it as a selfassessment for the sake of their improvement. For the supervisor or the department it is
necessary to provide a clear guideline which encourages student teachers‟ critical
thinking and reflection or self-assessment in order to produce the beneficial reflective
journal for the student teachers. For suggestion the reflective journal could include the
description, comparison and criticism stage. In description stage the student teachers are
required to share about their feeling and the problems they encountered during teaching
session. The comparison stage requires the student teachers to see their teaching process
from others‟ perspective, such as feedback and suggestion from mentor or friends
toward the teaching process. The criticism stage would enable student teachers to find
or create teaching alternative if they face the same problem in the future. Besides those
three stages, the student teachers also should be required to write their reflective journal
based on the related theories. The related theories could help to monitor and generate
the student teachers‟ development teaching.
35
Although the research has reached its aims, there were some unavoidable
limitations. First, the result cannot be generalized to other student teachers because the
participants are only taken from junior high school student teachers which are 40
students. Other student teachers may have different perceptions and problems during
their teaching practicum. Second, since the questionnaire is mixed type for the open–
ended answers the participants had various types of answers which difficult to
categorize.
For the further research, it might be wise to investigate the entire of student
teachers in the program in order to discover the perceptions of senior high school,
elementary school and kindergarten school student teachers which have various
problems.
36
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First, I am grateful to the God for the health and wellbeing that were necessary
for me to complete this thesis. I wish to express my sincere thanks to Anita Kurniawati,
M. Hum, my supervisor, for giving me encouragements, knowledge and guidance in
finishing my thesis. I place on record, my sincere thank you to Victoria Usadya Palupi,
M. A-ELT, my examiner, for the continuous encouragements and knowledge. I am also
grateful to Teaching Practicum students in English Language Education Program of
SWCU year 2015/2016 for being cooperative as my participants. Gratuitous thanks are
also dedicated to my beloved parents Slamet Priyatin and Ester Budiastuti, my sister
Sawitri Prihastuti and my family who always pray for me and support me, and my
partner Nurtinandu Aksama Nugraha who support and give assistance in finishing my
thesis. Special thanks are also dedicated to my beloved friends: Grace, Novi, Ulfa,
Yayas, Sisil, Annisa and others Twelvers‟ family who always support me and give good
times. I also place on record, my sense of gratitude to one and all, who directly or
indirectly, have help and support me in finishing my thesis.
37
REFERENCES
Britton, B. (n.d). Capacity Developmet in Practice. Improving on Result, 264-276
Cengiz, C., & Karatas, F. O. (2015). Examining The Effects of Reflective Journals on
Pre-service Science Teachers‟ General Chemistry Laboratory Achievement.
Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(10), 124-146.
Clarke, P. A. J. (n.d). Reflective Teaching Model: A Tool for Motivation, Collaboration,
Self-reflection, and Innovation in Learning. Georgia State University.
Edgar , S., Francis-Coad, J., & Connaughton, J. (2013). Undergraduate Reflective
Journaling in Work Integrated Learning: Is it Relevant to Professional Practice?
Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 14(3), 147-156.
Farell, T. S. C. (2014). Teacher You Are Stupid! – Cultivating a Reflective Disposition.
The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language, 18(3), 1-10.
Fatemi, A. H., Shirvan, M. E., & Rezvani, Y. (2011). The Effect of Teachers‟ Selfreflection
on
EFL
Learners‟
Writing
Achievement.
Cross-Cultural
Communication, (7)3, 177-183.
Fatemipour, H., HosseingholiKhani, F. (2014). The Impact of Reflective Teaching on
the EFL Teachers' Performance. Journal of Educational and Management
Studies, 4(4), 796-799.
Fishbach, A., Eyal, T., & Finkelstein, S. R. (2010). How Positive and Negative
Feedback Motivate Goal Pursuit. Social and Personality Psychology Compass,
(4)8, 517-530.
Fredrickson, B. (2001). The Role of positive Emoticons in Positive Psychology: The
Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emoticons‟. American Pychologist, 56(3),
218-226.
38
Gafoor, K. A. & Farooque, U. (2010). Ways to Improve Lesson Planning: A Student
Teacher Perspective. International Seminar Cum Conference on Teacher
Empowerment and Institutional Effectiveness. Maharaja Madakarinayaka
FG/PG College, Chitradurga, Karnataka, India
Ganeson, K. (2006). Students’ Lived Experience of Transition into High School: A
Phenomenological
Study(Doctoral
thesis).
Retrieved
from
http://eprints.qut.edu.au/16249/1/Krishnaveni_Ganeson_Thesis.pdf
Ghaye, T. (2011). Teaching Learni
JOURNAL
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of
The Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
Fajarini Prihastuti
112012041
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2016
1
2
3
4
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
This thesis contains no such material as has been submitter for examination on any
course or accepted for the fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any university. To the
best of my knowledge and my belief, this contains no material previously published or
written by any other person except where due reference is made in the text.
Copyright@2016. Fajarini Prihastuti and Anita Kurniawati, M. Hum
All right reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means without the
permission or at least one of the copyright owners or the English Language Education
Program, Faculty of Language and Literature, Satya Wacana University, Salatiga.
Fajarini Prihastuti
5
6
TABLE OF CONTENT
Cover page …………………………………………………………………….…….... 1
Penyataan Tidak Plagiat ……………………………………………………………... 2
Pernyataan Persetujuan Akses ……………………………………………………….. 3
Approval Page ……………………………………………………………….……...... 4
Copyright Statement ………………………………………………………………...... 5
Publication Agreement Declaration ………………………………………………..… 6
Table of Content ……………………………………………………………..……….. 7
Thesis Body
Abstract ……………………………………………………………………… 9
Key Words ...………………………………………………………………… 9
Introduction ………………………………………………………………….. 9
Literature Review
The Definition of Reflective Journal ………………………………… 13
The Roles of Reflective Journal ……………………………………... 13
Enhancing Teaching Quality through Reflective Journal …………… 14
Reflective Journal as a Motivation Tools …………………………… 15
The Content in Writing a Reflective Journal …………………….….. 16
The Study
Context of the study ………………………………………………… 17
Participants ………………………………………………………….. 17
Data Collection Instrument …………………………………………. 18
Data Collection Procedures ………………………………………… 19
Data Analysis Procedures …………………………………………... 20
7
Findings and Discussion ……………………………………………………. 20
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………….. 34
Acknowledgement ………………………………………………………………..… 37
References …………………………………………………………………….......... 41
Appendix ……………………………………………………….………………....... 41
8
STUDENT TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES TOWARD TEACHING JOURNAL
Fajarini Prihastuti
ABSTRACT
This research aims to investigate the student teachers‟ general perceptions of reflective
journal. The participants of this research were 40 student teachers in English Language
Education Program of Satya Wacana Christian University who taught in junior high
schools. In this research, the data were collected using the questionnaire. The result
revealed that the majority of participants considered reflective journal as a selfassessment tool which helps them improve their teaching performance. They also
considered it as a motivation tool which enables them to share their feelings and
problems they encountered during teaching session. Regarding the reflective journal‟s
contents, student teachers included some important contents which are describing,
comparison and criticism stage. On the describing stage they shared their feelings and
problems they encountered. On comparison stage they included their strength and
weakness and mentor‟s or friends‟ feedback. On criticism stage they shared possible
solution to the problems the encountered and the teaching strategies they used. There
were only few of the student teachers who included the related theories on their
reflective journal which was meant to help them monitor and generate their
improvement in teaching process.
Keywords: Student teachers’ perception, teaching journal, reflective journal
INTRODUCTION
There are some ways for teacher to improve their teaching ability, such as
joining trainings for new teachers and the educational seminars where the teachers may
have new experiences, knowledge and teacher partners that they can share new
experience with. Writing reflective teaching also becomes one of the ways to improve
teachers‟ teaching ability. Richards and Lockhart (1996) as cited in Fatemipour and
HosseingholiKhani (2014) said that reflection is "one in which teachers and student
teachers collect data about teaching, examine their attitudes, beliefs, assumptions and
9
teaching practices, and use the information obtained as a basis for critical reflection
about teaching"(p.1). Based on Richards and Lockhart‟s statement we may say that by
critically reflect on our previous experiences in teaching we can learn how our teaching
process went on. To comply the statement teachers should reflect on their teaching
process continuously. Farrell (2005), as cited in Farrell (2015) mentions that teachers
need to “shape and reshape” their knowledge about teaching learning process during
their careers as a teacher. From this statement teachers or student teachers also need to
develop their teaching skills, one of the methods is through reflecting or writing
reflective journals.
As student teachers who have limited experiences in teaching, reflection could
be one of the important things to improve the teaching ability. Through reflection, some
questions regarding our teaching process should come up on our mind. These questions
could be about the teaching technique we used, the materials, the classroom
management or the assessment we gave to the students. Maarof (2007) stated that
writing a reflective journal will assist student teachers “in evaluating their teaching, in
terms of strengths and weaknesses”. Reflective journal will help us fix our next teaching
which means improving our teaching process and learning from our mistakes.
Moreover, Fendler (2003) as cited in Suratno and Iskandar (2010) stated that “reflection
is considerably beneficial practice to support teacher professional development and
teachers‟ efforts to improve student learning”. Thus, reflective journal become one of
important instruments in helping the student teachers to develop teaching ability.
10
In our department, English Language Education Program (ELEP), student
teachers are required to write a teaching journal as a follow up action after teaching.
Basically teaching journal in our department has the same concept like reflective
journal. The teaching journal should be written right after teaching session and will be
archived. By the end of teaching practicum program the teaching journals should be
included in the teaching portfolio and will be used as an evaluation for the teacher
mentor. Student teachers are required to write teaching journal so they will be able
reflect on the student teachers‟ teaching skills development.
In writing teaching journal, however, my friends and I were confused what we
should write on our teaching journal. We usually simply wrote down what the mentor or
friends said regarding our teaching process. In fact, the teaching journal is not only
sourced from mentor‟s comments or suggestions. We can do self-assessment. By
reflecting, we also learn how to think critically since when we have become a teacher
they will not find a mentor or peers who will assess or give comments. Based on the fact
that writing teaching journal confused me and my friends, through this research we will
discover student teachers‟ opinion toward teaching journal. How actually teaching
journal can help student teachers develop their teaching skills. Since reflection practice
is beneficial to support teaching skills development, this research will find whether the
reflective journal is considered beneficial for the student teachers or not. This research
also will discover the content of student teachers‟ reflective journal, whether the student
teachers have complied the ideal content in writing reflective journal.
11
The aims of this study are to discover what student teachers‟ general opinion of
reflective journal. As Fendler (2013), as cited in Suratno and Iskandar (2010) stated that
reflection is considered beneficial to support teaching development, from this research
we can discover how reflective journal could help student teachers develop their
teaching skills.
This research also has significance to help student teachers to be more aware of
reflective journals‟ benefit. Through this research hopefully the supervisor or faculty
could encourage the student teachers to produce the beneficial reflective journal for the
student teachers.
Regarding the benefit of reflective journal discussed previously, through this
research we will able to know “What are student teachers‟ of ELEP perspectives toward
reflective journal in Teaching Practicum?” Through this research question we will be
able to know what are the student teachers‟ opinion toward reflective journal, whether
they have positive or negative opinion of reflective journal.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Through this literature review I will start my discussion with definition of
reflective journals and the benefit of reflective journals. For the reflective journals‟
benefit, it would specify into two parts: reflective journals as an enhancing quality tool
in teaching and a motivation tool for student teachers. In the last section we will discuss
what should reflective journal contains.
12
The Definition of Reflective Journal
Australian Physiotherapy Council (2006) as cited in Edgar (2013) defined
reflective as an „intentional activity‟ of a person to describe and analyze their thought,
feelings and behaviors and make judgment about their effectiveness. The same opinion,
Britton (n.d) stated that reflective is a combination of “self-awareness, critical thinking
and analytic ability” which is done continuously for their learning process. Through
problem analysis which is done continuously, student teachers are able to think of the
teaching alternatives to bring an improvement for the teaching practices.
From these definitions above, reflective is not simply a text which tells the
reader about what happen in our teaching process but also how we overcome the
problem that appeared while we are teaching. More than that describing the feelings,
critical thinking and analytic ability is needed in writing a reflective journal.
The Roles of Reflective Journals
According to Russell (2005) reflective practice became an important role to
enable students in preparing them to face the real situation as a professional teacher. By
analyzing and thinking critically toward their teaching, student teachers are expected to
prepare themselves as a professional teacher such as managing the classroom effectively
and motivating the students (Rodriguez and McKay, 2010)
It is also known that the reflective journal is a self-assessment tool to evaluate
our teaching process (Britton, n.d). In pre-service teaching program (such as Teaching
13
Practicum) probably they still got feedbacks or evaluation from the mentor teacher or
peers but in real teaching they have to be able to assess or evaluate by themselves.
Therefore, during the pre-service program student teachers need to be familiarized with
reflection practices by writing the reflective journals continuously.
Enhancing Teaching Quality through Reflective Journals
Reflective journals play an important role in helping student teachers to improve
their teaching ability. Vacca, Vacca & Bruneau (1997) as cited in Pedro (2001) stated
that through reflection it will assist the student teachers to strengthen their teaching
ability. By analyzing and evaluating the teaching practice they will be more aware of
the problems and how to deal with them.
According to Rodman (2010) reflective practice may also help the student
teachers evaluate and develope teaching strategies. From the experiences which are
expressed on the reflection, student teachers are able to learn and plan what approach or
method that they should use. From this reflection, the student teachers can use the
appropriate method or approach based on the students needs‟.
In line with Rodman‟s statement, Cengiz & Karatas (2015) also agreed student
teachers could evaluate their teaching and discover their students‟ weakness. Student
teachers are able to focus on planning the lesson which suit with the students‟
deficiency. From their self-evaluation, the student teachers can make sure that their
students could understand the materials and do the exercise correctly after they explain
the lesson.
14
Reflective Journals as a Teaching Motivation Tools
In addition, reflective journals may be considered as a motivation tool for the
student teachers. We are aware that reflective journals may contain our weakness or
problem while teaching. However, Ghaye (2011) stated that in reflective journals we
also need to reflect our positives values, which may lead to „amplify our gifts, talents
and strength‟. From Ghaye‟s statement we may say that reflective journals not merely
about problem solving media or a tool to point out our weakness but also a motivation
to student teachers where they can show their talents or strength in teaching process. By
knowing their strengths they will be more confident to teach
Clarke (n.d) also agreed when the student teachers includes the positive
feedbacks from the mentor on the reflective journals it could motivate and encourage
them to improve their teaching. The student teachers will be more aware of their
strength and positive values within them. The reflective journals which contain of
positive values would help the student teachers to motivate themselves or even the
readers. Fredrickson (2001) has the same opinion that positive feelings such as
compliments from our mentor or pairs, make us more open-minded. It means we can be
more receptive to new ideas and alternatives that would bring a transformation to our
future teaching progress.
Fishbach, Eyal & Finkelstein (2010) also say that positive feedbacks may
increase student teachers‟ confidence. It means they are able to carry out their mission
in teaching and assure that they are successfully able to achieve the goal. Positive
15
feedbacks also signal that the student teachers keep the commitment in enhancing their
teaching.
The Content in Writing a Reflective Journal
In order to achieve practical reflective journals there should be a clear guideline
for student teachers in writing reflective journals. Iwaoka (2007) stated that reflective
journals should contain the short summary of our teaching, reflection upon our teaching
and possible solutions toward the problem which may rise in class. Our reflections have
to be original from our own thought and as critical as possible. Critical here means
constructive for our next teaching activities. Jay and Johnson (2002) as cited in Fatemi,
Shirvan & Rezvani (2007) also have the same thoughts that the reflective journals
should consist of three important things which are „description, comparison and
criticism.‟ The description stage, we need to formulate the problem that we faced. In
comparison stage, we also need to open our mind toward others‟ opinion or different
point of views. The last stage basically is a critical thinking and decision making of our
problem. How we can design an alternative way of our teaching process.
Skill Development Team (2012) stated that in writing reflective journals we can
start with „description, interpretation or analysis and outcome or evaluation‟. In
description stage we can describe or explain what happened in your classroom, who was
our students and what topic we would deliver. The second stage, interpretation where
we express our feelings during teaching process, how we response our classroom and
why response that way. We can also write the most important aspect or even which
16
happen in the classroom and link it to the related theory. In the last stage, outcome or
evaluation we can share what we already learned and if there is any changes we make to
improve our teaching process.
THE STUDY
Context of the study
This research was done in English Language Education Program (ELEP) in Faculty
of Language and Literature (FLL) of Satya Wacana Christian University. ELEP was
seen as a program which always yields the best English teacher candidates. ELEP was
chosen because in this program the student teachers are required to write reflective
journal after they finish teaching during their Teaching Practicum. In Teaching
Practicum the participants also experienced how to deal with the classroom
management and the real students with the variety of characteristic.
Participants
The participants were 40 students of ELEP. The participants consist of 31 female
and 9 male with the range of age between 21 – 27 years old. To be specific the
participants were those who have already experienced or passed the Teaching
Practicum. The participants were taken from the Teaching Practicum groups which had
their student teachers taught in junior high school. My focus would be on student
teachers who taught in junior high schools. According to Ganeson (2006) the teachers in
17
junior high schools are required to “provide a more stimulating and interactive
classroom environment”. This environment in classroom enables the students to
“develop their ability in forming opinions, making decision and drawing conclusion”
(Ganeson, 2006). Junior high school students are in the starting point where they start to
develop their cognitive ability such as critical thinking. Junior high school students‟
cognitive development will also be influence with their learning environment like the
teachers or student teachers. Therefore, as student teachers in junior high school the
participants are also expected to be part of the students‟ development. In this research
purposive sampling was used to select the participant because this research requires the
participant with the certain criteria as already mentioned previously.
Data Collection Instruments
The research used mix-type questionnaire (open-ended and close-ended type). The
questionnaires would help the researcher to get and analyze the data in limited time. The
questionnaire was written in English but participants were allowed to answer it in
Indonesian. Close-ended questions would ease the participants to answer the questions
and the researcher to interpret the data. The participants were also required to give short
explanation on some of close-ended questions. This would help to know the reasons
why they chose the particular answer and provide more space for their ideas. Openended questions also included to give space for the participants to share their opinion or
feelings. Unlike interview, filling open-ended questions would give participants more
time to think and avoid them getting nervous. By doing these, the participants were let
18
to share their perspectives toward reflective journal as much as possible to help the
researcher get the richer data.
There was 7 question items in the questionnaire. Question number 1 and 2 would
enable the researcher to find out the general perspective of the participants toward
reflective journal and its benefit. On the questions 3 and 4 would discover about the
content of their reflective journal and what the problems they analyzed on the reflective
journals. On number 5 and 6 the participants would be given the questions which enable
to find out their preference of feedback and how the feedback from mentor or pair could
help them evaluate their teaching performance. On the last question, number 7, the
participants could share their feelings after finish writing reflective journal. Did they
perceive motivated, relieve or probably disappointed after writing reflective journal.
The consent form was also provided where participants were requested to write their
name, age, phone number and willingness if the researcher needs more information.
Data Collection Procedures
In collecting the data, a pilot study first conducted with 6 participants from each
junior high school in Teaching Practicum program such as SMP Negeri 2 Salatiga, SMP
1 Banyubiru, SMP Negeri 7 Salatiga, SMP Lab Salatiga and SMP Negeri 2 Tuntang.
The pilot study was done to find out whether the questions were understandable or
confusing for the participants. Pilot study also helped the researcher to decide whether
the data provide the required information or not. After piloting the researcher selected
the questions items that need to be revised, changed or omitted. The selected question
19
items were revised and improved to get the richer and reliable data which were able to
answer the research question. The final questionnaires were distributed to the 40
participants without including the participants who were involved in the pilot study.
Data Analysis Procedures
After receiving the questionnaires from the participants, they were numbered. After
the questionnaires were numbered, for the close-ended questions the researcher
calculated the answers in percentage and displayed it in the form of table. Meanwhile,
for the open-ended questions (including the reasoning questions) the researcher read
about 4 times per question in order to understand the answers and categorized the same
answers. After categorizing the answers, the data was calculated in percentage and
displayed it on the table. Then, the researcher decided to categorize the data based on
the themes. After categorizing the answers based on the themes, the result with the
highest number would be related with the theories which already discussed previously,
whether it confirmed or was contrary to the theories.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
In order to answer the research question, the findings were analyzed and
elaborated under three main themes, which are student teachers‟ general perceptions of
reflective journal, the benefits of reflective journals that student teachers got the most
and the student teachers‟ reflective journal contents.
20
Student teachers’ general perception of reflective journals
Britton (n.d) stated that reflective journals are considered as a self-assessment
tool. Not only as an assessment requirement, reflective journal enables pre-service
teachers to assess and evaluate the teaching performance.
Assessment requirement only
22%
Self-assessment
75%
Both
3%
Table 1. Student teachers’ perception toward reflective journal
Based on Table 1, the majority of the participants (75%) of the participants
considered reflective journal as a self-assessment. They agreed that reflective journal is
not only as assessment requirement but also as a tool to help them evaluate their
teaching performance in order to develop their teaching skill in the future.
The participants‟ perception confirms Britton‟s statement that the student
teachers also perceived reflective journal is a self-assessment. However, 22% of the
participants still believed that reflective journal as an assessment requirement which
must be fulfilled to pass the course.
From the table above, we can say that although it is clear that writing reflective
journal helps student teachers evaluate their teaching performance, some of the
participants still considered it as an assessment requirement only. They still denied the
fact that reflective journal is beneficial for their teaching development.
21
The benefits of writing reflective journal according to student teachers
There are two main benefits of reflective journal that will be discussed based on
this research. The first one is how the reflective journal gives assistant for student
teachers to enhance their teaching performance.
On the table below we found out the participants‟ opinion toward reflective
journal.
Yes
80%
No
20%
Table 2. Reflective journal helps enhancing teaching skill
Most of the participants (80%) agreed that reflective journal gives assistant in
enhancing their teaching skill. It is in line with Vacca, Vacca & Bruneau (1997), as
cited in Pedro (2001) which is stated that reflective journal take important role in
enhancing teaching skill. Through reflective journal they will be helped to strengthen
their teaching ability. These are what the participants wrote as their reasons why or why
not reflective journal is considered helpful.
22
The teaching is relatively steady
Helping in reflect their teaching
Recognizing their weakness and how to overcome
Helping in improving their teaching skill
Positive feelings
Recognizing their strength and weakness
Not to repeat the same mistake
Helpful
Helping only in same aspects
Neutral feelings
Forget
Practice is more important than reflecting
Negative feelings Unimportant to write it down
Not giving any suggestion
No reason*)
*) The participants didn’t provide any reason
2%
27%
17%
12%
7%
2%
3%
3%
3%
3%
8%
3%
10%
Table 3. The reasons why or why not reflective journal is helpful
Table 3 shows us that the participants received the benefit of reflective journal
as a self-assessment tool. 27% of the participants perceived how reflective journal assist
them evaluate their teaching through reflective journal. It also enables the student
teachers to increase the teaching performance by recognizing how to overcome their
weakness (17%) and how to discover their strength (7%). However, 3% of the
participants declined the benefit and argued that practice is more important that a
reflection. Moreover, 8% of the participants gave negative feelings toward reflective
journal and believed that writing reflective journal is not important because they are
spontaneously aware of their mistakes and how to overcome them.
23
The table above shows us that the majority of participants have positive feelings
toward reflective journal. However, 3% of the participant was considered that more
practice is important than writing reflective journal. In fact, we know that reflective
journal helps student teachers to discover their weakness so they can improve their
teaching skills. Writing reflective journal is intended for the student teachers to avoid
doing the same mistakes in their future.
The second benefit of reflective journal is motivating the student teachers. After
recognizing the strength, overcoming the weakness and evaluating the teaching process
student teachers should be more motivated to design a better teaching. Evaluating is not
only from self-assessment but can be in a form of feedback. Feedback is necessary to
enrich the student teachers‟ point of view toward their teaching performance. On the
table below will be discussed how feedback also takes an important role in writing
reflective journal.
Positive feedback
12%
Negative feedback
65%
Both
23%
Table 4. Preference of student teachers toward feedback
Based on Table 4, most of the participants prefer to receive negative feedback
from mentor or friends. Up to this point, we can say that the finding does not validate
the statement from Ghaye (2011) and Clarke (n.d) saying that reflective journal with
positive values or compliments enables to motivate them. Below the reasons why the
participants have tendency to choose the negative rather than positive feedback were
elaborated.
24
Negative FB helps the student teachers recognize the weakness
Positive FB is motivating the student teachers
Negative FB is motivating the student teachers
Positive/negative helps in evaluate their teaching practice
No reason*)
*) The participants didn’t provide any reason
80%
12%
2%
3%
3%
Table 5. The reasons why student teachers prefer negative or positive FB
Table 5 shows that the majority of participants (80%) prefer negative feedback
and only 12% who choose positive feedback. The positive feedback could be in the
form of compliments and revealing the strengths, while the negative feedback included
critics or revealing the student teachers‟ weakness. It is based on the student teachers‟
judgment which believes that through negative feedback they will be more aware of the
weakness. Their weakness, in the future, will be their duty to be improved on the next
teaching. According Hattie & Timperley (2007), it has already been noted how powerful
negative feedback is for enhancing learning. Through negative feedback we could be
more aware of our weakness and encourage us to improve or cover our weakness in the
future. However, to make negative feedback effective it needs to be corresponded by the
information regarding what student teachers need to do in the next time (Hattie &
Timperley, 2007). In order to make the negative feedback effective, the student teachers
need to be given suggestion or advice how to cover the weakness. The table below
shows some the kinds of feedback which is expected by student teachers to help them
improve their teaching performance as written in the questionnaire.
25
Not giving any feedback*)
7%
Advising the problem solving
7%
Pointing the mistakes or weakness
35%
Suggestion for improvement
43%
Learning from mentor's experiences
5%
Telling DOs & DON'Ts in teaching
3%
*) The participants didn’t get any feedback from their mentor
Table 6. How mentor’s/friends’ feedback helps in self-evaluation
On Table 6 their preference of negative feedback is proven by 35% of the
participants who stated that mentor‟s or friends‟ feedback helps them to point out their
weakness and mistakes. By pointing out their weakness the student teachers are able to
make it as a starting point to improve their teaching performance. On Table 6 also
shows 43% of the participants tend to prefer information in the form of suggestion for
their improvement. They perceive the suggestion from mentor or friends enables them
to learn new things and have others point of view in solving the problems. It is true that
pointing out the mistake is preferred by the student teachers in order to bring an
improvement on the next teaching. However, it needs to be corresponded with
suggestion on what should the student teachers do in the future in order to make the
negative feedback effective.
On the Table 6 it is proven that feedback which pointed out the weakness and
suggestion is preferred by the student teachers. Pointing out the weakness can be the
stepping stone for student teachers to improve the next teaching and suggestion enables
them to be aware of new knowledge to solve their problem or enhance their teaching
skill. Not only suggestion but writing reflective journal also gives significant motivation
for student teachers in making an improvement. On the table below how the
26
participants‟ feelings after they write reflective journal and their reasons will be
displayed.
Relieve
Motivated
Positive feelings
Reflective
Nothing
Neutral feelings
Anxious
Negative feelings
Disappointed
Table 7. Feelings after writing reflective journal
31%
52%
2%
6%
4%
6%
Table 7 reveals that most of the participants feel motivated after writing
reflective journal. After receiving the suggestion followed by reflecting on their
performance, they feel more motivated to make a better performance. It is seen that
through writing reflective journal they were able to see the potential which needed to be
explored and the weakness which needed to be improved. 31% of the participants also
felt relieve after writing their reflective journal. The student teachers were relieved
probably because they have done their teaching and received compliments or feedback
from their mentor or friends.
Motivation is not only from positive feedback which cover our strength. In this
research the participants felt more motivated through negative feedback. Receiving
negative feedback such as critics from mentor or friends (which is corresponded with
advice) did not make most of the participants felt inferior or discourage. They even felt
more motivated to improve and develop their teaching skills.
After writing reflective journal some of the participants felt nothing, either
motivated or disappointed. This feeling is considered neutral in this research because it
27
didn‟t have tendency to agree or refuse the fact that reflective journal is motivated for
the student teachers.
Although most of the participants were motivated and relieve, some of the
participants felt disappointed anxious after writing their reflective journal. It might
happen when the participants doing the mistakes or experience decadence compare to
the previous teaching. In fact, writing reflective journal is intended for the participants
to uncover their weakness so they can evaluate and improve their teaching performance
in the future, not to make the participants felt inferior when they did mistakes.
On the table below participants also show various reasons why or why not they
consider that reflective journal is part of their motivation tool.
Sharing their problems
Positive feelings Able to see their improvement
Motivated making improvement for next teaching
Considering as requirement
Neutral feelings Mix (between improvement & weakness)
Regret
Negative feelings Disappointed a lots of weakness
Afraid if mentor mistaken the TJ
Surrender
Regret
No reason*)
*) The participants didn’t provide any reason
25%
12%
37%
5%
3%
3%
2%
2%
3%
3%
8%
Table 8. The reasons why or why not the reflective journal is motivated
From Table 8 we can see why participants consider reflective journal as a
motivation tool. 37% of the participants are motivated to make an improvement after
exploring their weakness and strength and receiving feedback from mentor or friends
28
because they have a vision how to make their teaching better than the previous teaching.
Writing reflective journal also enables them to share about the problems which they
encounter during teaching session. This would give the readers which could be mentor
teachers, other student teachers or supervisor) an idea about what the student teachers‟
obstacles were during teaching session. From this discussion, we can conclude that
reflective journal helps them discover the weakness which should be repaired and the
strength which should be explored. Writing reflective journal also helps student teachers
reveal their anxiety before and during the teaching session. Table 8 shows 12% of the
participants are relieved after writing reflective journal because they can see their
improvement from the last teaching. This enables the student teachers to keep
improving on the next teaching.
Table 8 shows that the participant might also feel between disappointed and
motivated. The participant might felt disappointed because he has attempted to improve
their teaching skills but the mentor still gave critics and considered he still needed to do
improvement. Although he felt disappointed, he also felt motivated to develop his
teaching skills. The participant is considered inconsistent between felt disappointed and
motivated because these two feelings are contradictory.
Under this theme, we discuss the benefit of reflective journal that the student
teachers could receive. From Table 2 and 3 we can conclude that the majority of
participants perceive positive impact by writing reflective journal. The participants
approve that reflective journal give significant assistance in enhancing the teaching
skill. They perceive reflective journal is helpful in overcoming their weakness,
29
recognizing their strength and reflecting on their teaching. Table 4 up to 6 show that the
majority of participants prefer negative rather than positive feedback. They are able to
know their weakness which needs to be improved on the next teaching. In order to
achieve the improvement the participants prefer the mentor or friends to point out their
mistakes and weakness corresponded with the suggestion on what they should do on the
next meeting. Table 7 and 8 show that participants perceive that they were motivated
after writing reflective journal because it enabled them to discover the potential and
weakness to improve their teaching performance.
Student teachers’ reflective journal content
Although the department already provided the guidelines how the student
teachers should write their reflective journal, they still got confused what they need to
write on their journals. In fact there are some important contents that should be written
on reflective journal. On the table below we will see the most common contents which
the participants usually wrote.
Teaching procedure
Feeling toward your teaching
Problems you encounter in teaching
Strength and weakness
Comparison
Compliments
stage
Suggestion or feedback
Possible solutions
Criticism
Teaching alternatives or strategies
stage
Related theories
Table 9. The contents on participants’ reflective journal
Description
stage
30
Number of the
occurrences (… of 40
participants)
23
33
36
37
10
26
29
18
3
From Table 9 there are two the most common contents which the participants
usually write. 36 participants habitually share what problems they encounter and 37
participants prefer to share their strength and weakness in teaching performance. There
are only small numbers of the participants who relate their teaching performance or
problems with the theories (1%).
According to Jay and Johnson (2002) as cited in Fatemi, Shivarn & Rezvani
(2007), reflective journal should cover of three main contents which are description,
comparison and criticism stage. Based on Table 9, the participants were already aware
of the first stage which is description. It is proven by including the description of the
problems, teaching procedure and feelings towards their teaching on the reflective
journal. The participants also started to achieve the second stage, comparison. 26
participants included the suggestion or feedback from mentor or friends on their journal
and 37 participants included the comments about their weakness. It is seen that the
participants start to be open minded of others feedback or suggestion and comments
about their weakness for their improvement. On the criticism stage, 29 participants
included the possible solution on their reflective journal. It shows that actually he
participants began to be aware of the criticism stage which requires them to make the
possible solution for their problems. However, there are still 18 participants who shared
their teaching alternatives or strategies. In fact, designing teaching alternatives or
strategies are also part of the criticism stage which expects the participants to solve the
problems or anticipate the same problems in the future.
31
Criticism stage also requires the participants to relate their teaching performance
with the theories. Table 9 shows there are only 3 participants who included the related
theories on their reflective journal. As a matter of fact, the theories which are included
on the reflective journal may help them generate and monitor their improvements in the
teaching process. According to Tang (2002) reflective journal requires the student
teachers to observe the strengths or weaknesses of the teaching process and evaluate
them in light of related theories. However, Table 9 shows only 3 the participants who
include the related theories on their reflective journal.
Reflective journal also provides the participants to explore the problems they
encounter during teaching process. There are many problems they encounter and below
are the most common problem they share on reflective journal.
Number of the occurrences
(… of 40 participants)
Classroom management
39
Material
25
Classroom activities
29
Lesson plan
14
Exercise
20
Their performance
3
Students & teacher's behavior
1
Table 10. Problem analyzing in reflective journal
From Table 10, 39 participants shared the same idea about what the most
common problem they shared on reflective journal, which is classroom management. It
seems like participants really concern about this issue because in classroom
management usually the problems occur. According to Oliver & Reschly (2007),
classroom management becomes the most common issue because there is a belief that
32
the ability of teachers in classroom management will influence the students‟ behavior
inside or outside the class. This is probably the reason why classroom management
becomes the main concern in the teaching learning process. A belief which considers
that teachers are the example for the students therefore student teachers are also
expected to disseminate the positive behavior to the students.
In the other hand, only 11% (14 participants) analyze about lesson plan on their
reflective journal. It seems that participants give more concern on classroom
management rather than lesson plan. In fact, according to Gafoor & Farooque (2010)
lesson plan also helps the student teachers in organizing content, materials and methods.
Based on the statement, analyzing problems on lesson plan also needs to be considered
for the student teachers. It is intended so the teaching process will be in a good
organization and ensure the students are able to follow the lesson well. Lesson plan also
helps the student teachers to prepare the materials or other teaching equipment.
To conclude, participants actually have been aware of reflective journal‟s
contents such as describing the teaching process and being open of others perspective
by receiving the feedback and suggestion. However, participants also need to be
exposed to find the teaching alternatives or strategies and relate the teaching process
with the related theories. It enables participants to give improvement for the next
meeting.
33
CONCLUSION
This research aims to investigate the junior high school student teachers‟
perception toward reflective journal in English Language Education Program in Faculty
of Language and Literature, Satya Wacana Christian University. Based on the result, it
is found that the student teachers have positive perception of reflective journal. The
majority of student teachers agree that reflective journal is part of evaluation process
which is self-assessment. In receiving feedback, negative feedback from mentor or
friends also gives significant for them because it points out the deficiency of their
teaching which should be improved. They find it helpful in overcoming their weakness
and reflecting on their teaching. Reflective journal also enables to motivate them in
discovering their potential and weakness that they can improve for the next teaching. In
order to have a worthwhile reflective journal there are some contents to be included.
Student teachers have been aware of reflective journal‟s content which requires them
describe their feelings and the teaching process (description stage) and being open
minded of suggestion and feedback (comparison stage). However student teachers still
need to be exposed to find the teaching alternatives or strategies (criticism stage) and
relate the teaching process with the related theories that will give them new knowledge
from the experts.
On this research there are some important keywords need to be noted. This
research mainly discuss about reflective journal. The reflective itself based on Richards
and Lockhart (1996) as cited in Fatemipour and HosseingholiKhani (2014) is "one in
which teachers and student teachers collect data about teaching, examine their attitudes,
34
beliefs, assumptions and teaching practices, and use the information obtained as a basis
for critical reflection about teaching"(p.1). From the definition we can say that reflective
journal is teachers‟ or student teachers‟ written journal about the evaluation of their
teaching.
Although the majority of participants have considered reflective journal as a
self-assessment to, the minority of participants also should be encouraged to value
reflective journal not only as assessment requirement only. There are some benefits
generated from reflective journal so student teachers need to consider it as a selfassessment for the sake of their improvement. For the supervisor or the department it is
necessary to provide a clear guideline which encourages student teachers‟ critical
thinking and reflection or self-assessment in order to produce the beneficial reflective
journal for the student teachers. For suggestion the reflective journal could include the
description, comparison and criticism stage. In description stage the student teachers are
required to share about their feeling and the problems they encountered during teaching
session. The comparison stage requires the student teachers to see their teaching process
from others‟ perspective, such as feedback and suggestion from mentor or friends
toward the teaching process. The criticism stage would enable student teachers to find
or create teaching alternative if they face the same problem in the future. Besides those
three stages, the student teachers also should be required to write their reflective journal
based on the related theories. The related theories could help to monitor and generate
the student teachers‟ development teaching.
35
Although the research has reached its aims, there were some unavoidable
limitations. First, the result cannot be generalized to other student teachers because the
participants are only taken from junior high school student teachers which are 40
students. Other student teachers may have different perceptions and problems during
their teaching practicum. Second, since the questionnaire is mixed type for the open–
ended answers the participants had various types of answers which difficult to
categorize.
For the further research, it might be wise to investigate the entire of student
teachers in the program in order to discover the perceptions of senior high school,
elementary school and kindergarten school student teachers which have various
problems.
36
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First, I am grateful to the God for the health and wellbeing that were necessary
for me to complete this thesis. I wish to express my sincere thanks to Anita Kurniawati,
M. Hum, my supervisor, for giving me encouragements, knowledge and guidance in
finishing my thesis. I place on record, my sincere thank you to Victoria Usadya Palupi,
M. A-ELT, my examiner, for the continuous encouragements and knowledge. I am also
grateful to Teaching Practicum students in English Language Education Program of
SWCU year 2015/2016 for being cooperative as my participants. Gratuitous thanks are
also dedicated to my beloved parents Slamet Priyatin and Ester Budiastuti, my sister
Sawitri Prihastuti and my family who always pray for me and support me, and my
partner Nurtinandu Aksama Nugraha who support and give assistance in finishing my
thesis. Special thanks are also dedicated to my beloved friends: Grace, Novi, Ulfa,
Yayas, Sisil, Annisa and others Twelvers‟ family who always support me and give good
times. I also place on record, my sense of gratitude to one and all, who directly or
indirectly, have help and support me in finishing my thesis.
37
REFERENCES
Britton, B. (n.d). Capacity Developmet in Practice. Improving on Result, 264-276
Cengiz, C., & Karatas, F. O. (2015). Examining The Effects of Reflective Journals on
Pre-service Science Teachers‟ General Chemistry Laboratory Achievement.
Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(10), 124-146.
Clarke, P. A. J. (n.d). Reflective Teaching Model: A Tool for Motivation, Collaboration,
Self-reflection, and Innovation in Learning. Georgia State University.
Edgar , S., Francis-Coad, J., & Connaughton, J. (2013). Undergraduate Reflective
Journaling in Work Integrated Learning: Is it Relevant to Professional Practice?
Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 14(3), 147-156.
Farell, T. S. C. (2014). Teacher You Are Stupid! – Cultivating a Reflective Disposition.
The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language, 18(3), 1-10.
Fatemi, A. H., Shirvan, M. E., & Rezvani, Y. (2011). The Effect of Teachers‟ Selfreflection
on
EFL
Learners‟
Writing
Achievement.
Cross-Cultural
Communication, (7)3, 177-183.
Fatemipour, H., HosseingholiKhani, F. (2014). The Impact of Reflective Teaching on
the EFL Teachers' Performance. Journal of Educational and Management
Studies, 4(4), 796-799.
Fishbach, A., Eyal, T., & Finkelstein, S. R. (2010). How Positive and Negative
Feedback Motivate Goal Pursuit. Social and Personality Psychology Compass,
(4)8, 517-530.
Fredrickson, B. (2001). The Role of positive Emoticons in Positive Psychology: The
Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emoticons‟. American Pychologist, 56(3),
218-226.
38
Gafoor, K. A. & Farooque, U. (2010). Ways to Improve Lesson Planning: A Student
Teacher Perspective. International Seminar Cum Conference on Teacher
Empowerment and Institutional Effectiveness. Maharaja Madakarinayaka
FG/PG College, Chitradurga, Karnataka, India
Ganeson, K. (2006). Students’ Lived Experience of Transition into High School: A
Phenomenological
Study(Doctoral
thesis).
Retrieved
from
http://eprints.qut.edu.au/16249/1/Krishnaveni_Ganeson_Thesis.pdf
Ghaye, T. (2011). Teaching Learni