Description

The topic of teacher reflection has gained
substantial attention in the education literature.
Yet, teachers' reflective processes have not been
well understood. This study explored characteristics
of professors' post-class reflection. Eight
professors--representing two levels of teaching
experience, teaching a lecture or seminar
undergraduate class in humanities or
engineering--participated in this case study.
Interviews, classroom observations, and instructional
plans and materials comprised the data sources.
Findings show that professors' post-class reflection
became a routine: it happened at different points of
time, mostly right after the class, and as a
continuous process. Their reflection involved a
mixture of having intuitive feelings about the class
as well as thinking logically about how the class
unfolded. Based on the results, a conceptual
framework is proposed that describes professors'
post-class reflection as interrelated with rational
and non-rational information processing. The study
contributes to a better understanding of the complex
process of teacher thinking and informs the design of
faculty development interventions that aim at
promoting reflective practice.