Using Reflective Writing Exercises to Enhance Analysis and Synthesis of Individual Learning Outcomes

Many study programs in social and political sciences today are modularized and provide students with much choice as to which courses to take and when to complete them. Choice allows students to construct individual learning pathways and shape studies in line with their academic and intellectual interests. Choice also means that students are called to fit the modules and courses together and integrate learning outcomes into a meaningful learning experience. This task can be especially difficult at the undergraduate level as it requires advanced skills in analysis and synthesis of learned material, going beyond individual courses and thus not guided by instructor. This complex analytical effort demands that instructors and designers of study programs provide a supportive structure. In this paper we present results of a pilot study testing one such possible support framework. We focus on the use of reflective writing exercises as a means of enhancing learning and integration of knowledge and skills gained in different courses in undergraduate curriculum. The setup we tested is a combination of a pass/fail or graded reflective comment on connections between courses (topics, concepts, authors, and methods) scheduled in the middle of the course (‘building bridges’), with an individual forward‐aiming reflection at the end of the course (‘letter to the future self’). We present aggregated results from three courses (N=57) on the nature of connections in learned material that students establish with most and least ease, and discuss which factors (grading, seniority, structural features of courses and topics) impact students’ success in this analysis and synthesis