Assessing students' self-reflective thinking in the classroom: the self-reflective thinking questionnaire

The development of a questionnaire to assess students' use of self-reflective thinking in the classroom is described. On the basis of a literature search, items were selected. The items are students' self-report measures and open-ended questions. The participants were 96 fourth grade secondary vocational students from six classes in The Netherlands, all of whom were used to learning in cooperative groups. Complementary data were selected to validate this questionnaire. Visual inspection of the frequencies indicated a difference between levels of students' self-reflecting thinking. Between-subjects t tests showed that students' motivational engagement and marks could be used to validate the measure of self-reflective thinking. The implication of the questionnaire to assess students' self-reflective thinking within the classroom are discussed.