Logbook
This is an example of a learning activity carried out in a course at KTH. In the course, a logbook was used for the students to reflect on their learning in the course. Every week, students wrote about their thoughts based on a given topic in a shared document. The students were also tasked with reading and commenting on the reflections of two other students.
Logbook that complements project work
The main activity of the course was project work in larger groups that lasted the entire course. As a complementary activity, the students individually wrote a logbook so that they got the opportunity to reflect on what they had done during the course and what they had learned. The logbook was mandatory to pass the course but did not affect the grade. The logbooks were written in OneDrive in order to make sharing easy.
Reflect on a given topic
Each week, the students were given a topic to reflect on that was linked to the course's other activities and where the students were in the project process. For example, the first week's topic was about the start of the course, and the last week's topic concerned the logbook as an activity in the course.
Reading and commenting on other people's reflections
The students were assigned to two other students whose reflections they would read and comment on during the course. They had to leave at least two comments on each person's weekly post. As a guide, students could think about whether they agreed with what the other student had written, and if there was anything that was particularly interesting.
The students who read and commented on each other's logbooks were not part of the same project groups. This way, students gained insight into other projects.
Valuable for course development
For the teachers in the course, the reflections of the students were a valuable contribution to the development of the course. The reflections showed how the course was experienced by the students and whether the course's activities had the desired effect on learning.