Poster Presented at the Conference of Interpreter Trainers, September 2022
Table of Contents
Reflective Practices
This the report of a mixed methods project. That data presented here is part of a larger study that used quantitative and qualitative data to understand students’ depth of critical thinking in reflection, topics and themes in the reflection, ways they define self-reflection, how it is practiced, and when they engage in reflective practice.
Research Questions
- Does the depth of reflection increase over the semester?
- What topics do students address in their self-reflective compositions?
- How do reflections change over time?
Methods
Participants
Students enrolled in their last semester of coursework in an baccalaureate degree granting interpreter education program in the United States participated. The Interpreter Education Program students matriculate through the program as a cohort. Students from two cohorts are included in this study. The 2018 cohort and the 2020 cohort (these students completed the program in the spring of 2018 and 2020, respectively).
Data Collection
Student work samples, self-reflective compositions, were collected in the fall semesters prior to their internship (2017 and 2019). The samples in this study are from the English to ASL II course (offered in Fall 2017 and Fall 2019). The English-to ASL II course was designed around sociolinguistic principles addressed by Stevens, Hale, and Roush (2022).
In this study, we focused our analysis on 2 reflection samples from 9 students in each cohort (18 students; 36 self-reflective composition samples). One sample is the midpoint progress check, and the second sample is from the final progress check. The case summaries are from 9 students from each cohort for their mid-point progress check and final progress check (N = 18).
Analysis
For RQ1, we coded each sentence of each reflection sample for depth of reflection using Carr and Carmody’s (2006) study of medical student reflections as a guide. The operationalized definition for each level is provided in the table below along with a quote from the data that was coded with that level. Then we calculated an average depth of reflection score for each data sample (e.g., total scores / # of sentences). We used Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed-Ranks T test to test for significance in the ordinal data.
Table 1
Depth of Reflection Operational Definitions with Sample Quotes
| Depth of Reflection | Example quote |
| 1 = Listing: where students only stated the clinical experience where they believed they had learned significantly; they did not comment on their strengths or weaknesses | “I believe our third interpreting assignment, “Bias and Neutrality in Interpreting,” was a great learning opportunity for me.” – Student 13 Sample 1 2017 “Overall, I think this was a good learning experience because up until this point, we had never practiced interpreting a live presentation to a live audience.” – Student 16 Sample 1 2017 “I am not sure if I want to leave our safe bubble as a student who can make mistakes with little to no impact, but am ready to become an adult and take on more responsibility for my actions.”-Student 8 Sample 2 2017 |
| 2 = Describing: where students described the clinical experience and how they were engaged in that experience, including what they did well and what they did not do well; | “I understood the concepts however putting the concept into ASL I often struggled with it being too English.” Student 4 Sample 1 2017“I think that this is my most significant work going from spoken English into ASL because it shows many areas of my signing and where my progress is thus far.”- Student 32 Sample 1 2019 “The use of cold simultaneous/consecutive interpreting group work and the forced “listen-until-I-pause-then-go” consecutive work in pairs has been extremely beneficial to the progression and advancement of my skills in this class.” – Student 33 Sample 2 2019 |
| 3 = Applying: where students discussed what they might need to change and how to develop their knowledge, skills and⁄ or attitudes; this often included researching information from a variety of sources, | “Another area of growth that I had yet to identify until analyzing this interpretation is, when I become nervous, unsure, or am having to interpret abstract concepts, I tend to bring my arms and hands closer to my body and face.” – Student 24 Sample 1 2019“I am aware that I need to continue to work on reducing my negative self-talk and to increase my lag time which supports the creation of effective ASL concepts.” – Student 33 Sample 1 2019 “I’m glad I got to experience this because now I know to watch for the sign that my team uses, so that I don’t cause confusion for my consumers.” – Student 9 Sample 2 2017 |
| 4 = Integrating: where students applied the reflection to future experience and performance and demonstrated this application with examples. | “This is significant because in the past I’ve had trouble assessing my work while interpreting, I would be too busy focusing on HOW to interpret something that I couldn’t take the time to self-assess. This interpretation was different though because all of these mistakes I made were things I made note of during my interpretation, to hopefully improve upon later.” – Student 23 Sample 1 2019 “This took a lot of retention practice in order for me to still convey a clear and concise message that matched with the person speaking.” – Student 5 Sample 2 2017 “One way I plan to continue to nurture and develop this strength is to pay attention to the way Deaf people convey different words and concepts in ASL, then try to employ those in my interpretations or everyday conversations in ASL.”- Student 30 Sample 2 2019 |
RQ2 was analyzed using qualitative methods. Prior to beginning the coding process, the research team had an idea of topics that students would include in their reflections. Expected topics included global aspects of the process and product of interpreting. For example, the team expected students to discuss salient components of the situation (i.e., Demands) and how they managed them (i.e., control options employed). Additionally, the expectation was students would be able to recognize and discuss the impact of decision making, making repairs as needed, while noting progress on goals over time. Other topics included areas of growth and strengths, accountability, teaming, and integration of topics across the curriculum.
In addition the team agreed to keep our minds open to other topics that students included in their reflections that were not on our list.
Initially the team began by rating each sentence; however, we discovered that not all sentences included salient reflection items for the purposes of this study. Therefore, the team began rating only salient segments of the data. Two team members completed the coding of the data, then the coding across the two coders were compared and discussed.
Results
RQ1: Does the depth of reflection increase over the semester?
On the individual student level, depth of reflection remained relatively stable over time in this study. As shown in Figure 1, most students’ reflection scores were slightly higher during the midpoint progress check.
Figure 1
Depth of Reflection by Student for Sample 1 and Sample 2
In all but a few cases the depth of reflection was slightly higher during the midpoint progress check rather than during the final progress check as expected.
Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed-Ranks T test indicates that there was not a significant difference between the midpoint reflection composition and the final composition T (N = 17) = 116, p > .05. The students’ level of reflection did not change significantly from the midpoint to the end of the semester.
RQ2: What topics do students address in their self-reflective compositions?
Students’ self-reflections addressed a range of discourse levels. In addition to identifying salient demands, they discussed the control options and the consequences of their decisions (i.e.., effectiveness of their decisions). They often did not label these components using the DC-S terminology. Finally, they also considered the interpersonal dynamics of the interpreted event. They considered their team interpreter and the teaming process as well as the audience and presenter.
RQ3: How do reflections change over time?
Our initial analysis suggests that, while the depth of student reflections did not change significantly, there were differences in the discourse level addressed and the concern for the impact on the interactants.
For example, discourse-level concerns were more prevalent in the students’ reflections in sample 2, which was collected at the end of the semester.
In addition our initial analysis suggests that consumers were more central to the reflection process at the end of the term. The word consumer appeared 31 times across all data collected for sample 1. Across sample 2 it appeared 121 times. We admit the second samples were on average longer. They were about twice as long and the appearance more than tripled.
Discussion
Lack of significant change in depth of reflection could be due to several factors. One possibility is that the extra space for completing the reflection allowed students to provide more specific examples of their work, which is level 1 reflection according to the scale we used. Another possibility is that the time between the midpoint progress check and the final progress check within one semester is insufficient time to make significant progress in this domain.
Data from the 2nd samples were weightier qualitatively. They were generally more focused on higher levels of discourse and aimed at making meaning beyond individual words and signs. The use of processing time was frequently referenced related to creating effective interpretations. The students also emphasized their work with their team interpreter and the consumers.
Implications
We currently offer 4 recommendations based on our preliminary findings.
Interpreter educators may consider:
- Making depth of reflection levels explicit
- Providing sample case summaries
- Emphasize reflective practice as a skill for life-long learning
- Connecting the process of goal setting, self-analysis, and reflection to the skills of applying and integrating
References
Carr, S. & Carmody, D. (2006). Experiential learning in women’s health: Medical student reflections. Medical education, 40(8), 768-774.
Dean, R. K., & Pollard, R. Q. (2013). The Demand Control Schema: Interpreting as a Practice Profession (1st edition). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Sowa, S., & McDermid, C. (2018). Self-Reflective Practices: Application Among Sign Language Interpreters. International Journal of Interpreter Education, 10(1), 18–29.
Stevens, T., Hale, K. J., & Roush, D. (2022). Learning to read the room: Sociolinguistic course design for interactive interpretation. In R. P. Moreno & C. A. Villaescusa (Eds.), Interpreting in the classroom: Tools for Teaching: Vol. IV (pp. 83–103). UCOPress.