A Mixed Methods Approach to Quality and Content Analysis of Reflective Logs

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 42
  In Roundtable Session: Learning From Empirical Mixed Method Research

Abstract

Considerable literature in education demonstrates the use of reflective logs as a valuable data source to capture participants’ teaching and learning experience and address research and evaluation questions. Reflective logs may include quantitative and/or qualitative content and their analysis presumably adheres to the methodology in the study/evaluation design. Besides content analysis literature, little research exists on methodological approaches to analyzing log content. The present study illustrates a mixed methods analytical approach to weekly reflective logs used in the evaluation of an immersive urban teacher residency program. The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework to inform the design of reflective logs, maximize the information gleaned from reflective logs, and analyze log quality and content in educational contexts.

Authors

• Divya Varier, George Mason University

• Lisa M. Abrams, Virginia Commonwealth University