Impact of Structured Reflective Writing on Adult Learners’ Knowledge, Skills and Attitude: A Case Study in a Manufacturing Organization

Abstract

This qualitative case study research was set out to study the impact of a structured reflective writing format named Professional Structured Reflective Writing Report on adult learners' knowledge, skills and attitudes when the format was embedded as a course assignment into a professional adult training. As past studies indicated that reflective writing was effectively and widely applied in education, medical and some professional fields, little was known about what impact this structured reflective writing had on adult learners in the context of manufacturing organization. With the adaptation of Gibbs’ (1988) Reflective Cycle Model and Kirkpatrick's Level 2 "Learning" and Level 3 "Behavior" concept into this format, a specific case study was carried out at a manufacturing organization with a small group of participants. This research discovered that reflective writing as a course assignment was able to enhance adult learners’ knowledge, skills and attitudes towards the training topic after attended a professional adult training. Therefore, this research recommended the use of Professional Structured Reflective Writing Report as one of the course assignments in future professional adult training courses.