In this activity, students explore their learning habits and the ways these habits affect focus, motivation, confidence and collaboration. Through guided reflection and discussion with a partner at multiple reflection stations, students identify habits they want to keep, habits they want to change and insights about how they learn best. This process encourages self-awareness, helps students make intentional choices about their learning and supports strategies for personal and academic growth.
- Activity goal
- Activate prior knowledge | Brainstorm | Exchange knowledge | Get to know each other | Reflect
- When
- In class
- Where
- Offline
- Duration
- < 30 minutes | < 60 minutes
- Group size
- Small | Medium
Step-by-step plan
Step 1: Introduction
Explain to students that everyone has unique learning habits, ways they approach studying, time management, motivation, and collaboration. Often these habits are unconscious, but becoming aware of them helps you make intentional choices about how you learn and grow. Emphasize that reflection is not about judging oneself, but about understanding what works for you. Tell students that in this activity they will explore their learning habits by interviewing peers at different stations.
Step 2: Interview stations
Set up four reflection stations (see below for examples) around the room, each focusing on a different theme related to learning habits. Students will complete a reflection walk in pairs, moving together through all stations. At each station, they take turns as interviewer and interviewee, using the guiding questions below to explore their experiences and perspectives. Provide students with a graphic organizer (see tips & tricks for download) divided into three columns: keep, change and learned. Students use the organizer to take notes on insights from their partner and from their own reflections. Mention that students will have time after the reflection walk to complete their graphic organizer.
- Keep: habits or strategies that work well for them or that they want to try out.
- Change: habits or strategies they want to improve.
- Learned: what they learned about themselves and remaining insights gained from the reflection walk.
Station themes and example questions:
1. Focus, Attention & procastination
- What helps you stay focused during challenging tasks?
- What situations or feelings make you procrastinate or lose focus?
- How do you usually respond when distractions or procrastination happen?
- How do you recover and get back on track after a setback?
2. Motivation & Energy
- At what moments do you feel most motivated or energized to learn?
- When do you feel least motivated or drained, and why?
- What strategies help you maintain energy and effort over time?
3. Confidence & Mindset
- When do you feel most confident as a learner? What contributes to that feeling?
- How do you respond when you make mistakes or face difficult problems?
- What strategies help you grow from setbacks or challenges?
- How do you think your mindset affects your confidence when facing challenges?
4.Collaboration & Learning with others
- How do you learn best when working with others?
- How do you contribute to group work or discussions?
- How do you give or receive feedback from peers during collaboration?
- What challenges do you face in collaboration, and how do you overcome them?
Step 3: Individual reflection & wrap-up
After completing all stations, ask students to review their graphic organizer and add any additional insights to the three columns: Keep, Change, and What I learned about myself.
To wrap up the activity, you can:
- Ask students to share one key insight from each column with their partner.
- Facilitate a short plenary discussion or small-group sharing.
Consider the tools and materials mentioned here as suggestions. In many cases it’s possible to use alternative tools. Please turn to the Learning & Innovation team of your faculty first to see which online and offline tools are available and how to apply them.
Offline
- Graphic organize with three columns: Learning habits I want to keep, change and what I learned about myself.
Tip 1
- Demonstrate your own example as a teacher by briefly sharing your reflection on one of the station topics. Modeling vulnerability in this way invites students to be honest and reflective about their own learning habits.
