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Learning logs or reflective journals are frequently used in further and higher education to encourage students' reflection on their learning. Such approaches are rare in school. This study employed a learning log over a five-week period, with a class of 14-15 year old students learning about digestion, respiration and breathing at a Suffolk upper school in the UK. The study aimed to establish (1) how the learning log can prompt reflection on the learning benefits of classroom activities and increase cognitive control of learning strategies, and (2) how greater understanding of learning strategies may affects students' motivation to learn. The learning logs themselves formed one source of data. Student reflections on the learning benefits of classroom activities were also assessed through classroom dialogue and semi-structured interviews. Motivation was assessed at the start and at the end of the teaching sequence, using a questionnaire. The learning log did stimulate student reflection, but did not prompt the level of learning strategy awareness that emerged in the semi-structured interviews. Suggestions are made (1) for modifications to the learning log, and (2) for how the learning log can provide a mechanism for continuous student feedback on teaching and learning activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how peer assessment can help students to learn about photosynthesis in a 'high attaining', year nine class in a UK 11-18 comprehensive school. There is limited research on how peer assessment can influence the learning of 'high attaining students'; most existing research focuses on how formative assessment can benefit learning and self-esteem in low-attaining students or those with learning disabilities (Black and Wiliam, 1998a). A conceptually demanding topic like photosynthesis provides an excellent context to examine how peer assessment can impact on the learning of high attaining students. Analysis of data derived from questionnaires, individual interviews and conventional tests suggested that (1) a six week multi-component peer assessment intervention can have an impact on students' learning, and (2) some of the effect on learning may be linked to the way in which peer assessment enhanced students' own understanding of the role they play in their learning, and hence their autonomy in learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]