[M.K. THOMPSO] Finding time for reflection important

Research in cognitive psychology and education has shown that reflection is one of the keys to learning. During the reflection process, individuals describe experiences or information. They ask questions and make observations. They attempt to explain what they have observed, think about how and where their observations are applicable and explore the implications of their observations. Each thought leads to a new thought, building connections between ideas. This, in turn, aids conceptual understanding and increases the transfer of knowledge and skills.

Reflection is especially important for fields where learning-by-experience and judgment play a major role. Such fields include design, management, law, history and literature. Classes in these areas encourage debate and discussion and often require their students to write reflective essays. However, reflection is not limited to academia or professional settings.

Humans learn by experience every day and in every situation. And humans naturally reflect on those experiences. Thus, reflection in education is not something that humans created. Rather, it is something that we have observed and have adapted for the classroom.



Writing in a diary is a natural reflective exercise. Conversation with others and thinking out loud are other important examples of reflection. Reflection is part of the process which transfers thoughts to words. Thus, most activities that involve the written or spoken word will encourage reflection.

Individuals who seem to be daydreaming are often engaged in reflection. The vacant look in people`s eyes as they stare out the window or stare off into space does not necessarily mean that their minds have shut down. Just the opposite: it often means that they have turned inward and that they are busy consciously or subconsciously thinking about something.

Much of my reflection is done in transit: in a car, on a bus, on the train, in the subway or walking to or from a destination. This time is not well suited to working. The ride is bumpy. There are usually no electrical outlets. The length of the trip can be short or unpredictable. Sometimes conditions are very crowded and you have to watch where you`re going.

Instead, I use time on the subway to observe fashion trends, advertising strategies and the social dynamics of who does and does not get a seat on the subway. I use it to think about yesterday`s meeting, tomorrow`s lecture and next week`s conference paper. I wonder about the design of the subway network and contemplate its efficiency. It seems that many individuals who are my age (late 20s) or older do the same. But the younger generation is different.

In the Seoul subway, the majority of younger passengers are attached to MP3 players as they bob ever so slightly to the music. They watch television on tiny screens and tap text messages to each other. These individuals are fully immersed in an electronic world with unlimited on-demand media. Quiet time for reflection can be chosen, but it is no longer imposed by circumstance or necessity.

There was a time when students would use dull lectures as an opportunity to reflect. There seems to be less of that these days as well. Today`s classroom is a sea of cell phones, electronic dictionaries and ultra portable PCs. Who has time to be bored?

It seems that there are only a few places left on earth where you can reliably find peace and quiet. The sky at 30,000 feet on a relatively empty flight, the middle of the ocean and the shower are still all relatively safe bets.

Many people do their best thinking in the shower. I enjoy long, empty flights over the Pacific. I cherish warm days on a boat with nothing to do but stare at the water. When I return home, I often find that I have made great leaps forward in my research because I had time for reflection. The time away is always well spent.

In some ways, today`s technology aids reflection. The word processor makes keeping a journal or diary far less time-consuming that it once was. Email forces us to clearly articulate our thoughts on a daily basis. And instant messaging allows us to share our reflections with people around the world. The key is finding the balance between technology that supports our thoughts and efforts and technology that distracts us from them.

Finding time for reflection in our increasingly wired world can be difficult but life with ubiquitous information technology is here to stay. We will adapt to it. We will adapt it for our own use. Eventually, we will find the balance.





Mary Kathryn Thompson, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. She can be reached at mkthompson@an.kaist.ac.kr. - Ed.