The research undertaken showed that there are two key ways of reflection on the BA LTR through which learners develop their learning skills.
The teaching of reflection allows learners to recognise areas which require action and further knowledge or different skills. Moreover the acquisition of reflection skills equips learners with a transferrable way of assessing at a meta level what is happening, what is really going on at a level below the surface.
The second process is the reflection within modules – every module has a period of reflection upon learning. This consolidates learning but also allows the researcher to consider their strengths, weaknesses, factors impacting learning during the unit, where unexpected learning occurred and by what process and also it seeks to identify plans for change in the way learning is undertaken in the light of the module experience.
An unexpected occurrence here again was the prominence of the need to build confidence to become a better learner and the place that reflection could play in this. The meta learner is seen as possessing confidence. Confidence is achieved for some to some extent through the process of celebration which is inherent in looking back over a module and examining the steps taken.Meta learning then or learning to learn is also here about learning what worked and works well, not just about adjusting behaviours but retaining strategies that are seen to work after reflection on the learning process.