EXPLORING REFLECTIVE JOURNALING IN DESIGN EDUCATION: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Structured reflective journaling is a valuable tool in design education, enabling students to critically evaluate their learning, track progress, and refine their design decisions. This study explores the impact of structured reflective journaling on student learning in a five-week modular furniture design course at Tecnológico de Monterrey. Using a rubric-guided approach, students documented their progress, insights, challenges, and self-assessments. Analysis of journals and questionnaires reveals that while journaling helped students track progress and refine ideas, challenges included time constraints and student engagement with journalling. The structured rubric played a key role in guiding deeper engagement with the reflection process. Findings suggest that integrating flexible reflection milestones, alternative formats, and structured prompts can enhance journaling’s effectiveness. This paper highlights the potential of reflective journaling to develop critical thinking and self-directed learning in design students, offering insights for educators seeking to integrate structured reflection into project-based design courses.