The Role of Pre-Service Teachers’ Reflective Journals in Authentic Assessment

This study explored how pre-service teachers used reflective journals during an Authentic Assessment Intervention Program in Educational Test and Measurement. The study formed part of an explanatory sequential mixed-methods project involving 42 BEd Fourth Year (Second Semester) pre-service teachers at Yangon University of Education. This study focuses on qualitative evidence from journals completed throughout the intervention. Seven journal questions, organised around pre-topic and post-topic reflection, invited participants to record prior knowledge, feelings, participation, learning difficulties, beliefs about authentic tasks, and suggestions for instruction. The entries indicated that journal writing helped participants review and evaluate their learning, recognise strengths and weaknesses, monitor participation and collaboration, express affective responses, and connect course concepts with real-life situations and future teaching. The journals also gave the teacher timely formative evidence about misconceptions, readiness, learning needs, and requests for clearer explanations, realistic examples, additional feedback, and more time for discussion. Reflective journaling therefore served a dual purpose within authentic assessment: it supported learner self-monitoring and reflective thinking while also informing responsive instructional adjustment. These findings suggest that reflective journals are most useful when they are deliberately integrated with authentic tasks, feedback, and opportunities for subsequent improvement.