Structured Reflection for Durable Learning in Higher Education: An Integrative Review Building the SIRR Framework
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61360/BoniCETRHE262020150101Keywords:
structured reflection, retrieval practice, interleaving, metacognition, higher educationAbstract
This integrative review reconceptualizes reflection as a generative meta‑mechanism that supports durable learning, principled transfer, and coherent knowledge development in higher education. Drawing on classical and experiential accounts of reflection alongside evidence from the learning sciences, the review synthesizes research on retrieval practice, elaboration and self‑explanation, interleaved discrimination, contextualization, and metacognitively supported self‑regulation. The synthesis introduces SIRR (Spaced Interleaved Reflective Retrieval), a design‑oriented framework that coordinates these mechanisms through brief, recurring reflective prompts embedded within ongoing instruction. Rather than treating reflection as an unstructured or purely introspective activity, SIRR conceptualizes reflection as a structured process that activates memory, supports conceptual integration, and improves learners’ ability to select and apply appropriate knowledge across situations. Evidence from across domains suggests that these mechanisms, when combined in short and distributed learning episodes, improve delayed performance, strengthen discrimination among similar concepts, and promote a more coherent understanding of how content connects across contexts and over time. The paper contributes a theoretically grounded and designable account of reflection and positions SIRR as a compact, research‑aligned framework for enhancing learning in conceptually dense and interdisciplinary higher education environments.
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