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This paper focuses on reflection and reflective thinking as a means of developing expertise in instructional designers. The need for the reflective instructional designer is discussed, and reflective thinking is examined from several perspectives, i.e., controlled thinking, tacit knowledge, epistemic assumption, abductive reasoning, willingness to act, and social practice. A reflective thinking model made up of the following five phases is then described: problem recognition; problem clarification; hypothesis or suggestion formation and modification; mental elaboration of suggestions; and actions taken on the basis of the best supported hypothesis/suggestion. Six components explain the nature of reflective thinking: willingness to be thoughtful; willingness to recognize and understand the context in which assumptions and actions are formed; willingness to explore and imagine alternatives; understanding and accepting epistemic assumptions; using abductive inference; and exposure to a variety of interpretive considerations in dialogue with others. Three aspects of reflection identified by the preceding model--self-reconstruction; action-reconstruction; and social-reconstruction--are considered, and strategies for promoting reflective thinking in instructional designers based upon these aspects are offered. A figure illustrating the reflective thinking model is included. (Contains 26 references.) (DLS)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert