In lab-based, hands-on curriculum, opportunities for written and verbal reflection are not always built into the assignments or the assessments. Content heavy courses often have to forgot the time necessary for students to reflect on their learning experience in lieu of covering content requirements. However, educational research shows that the reflection process and projecting forward how knowledge might be used in the future is a vital part of the learning process.

Technical reports, research papers, and project proposals, are all examples of educational tools that have been used to assess a student's communication about their learning; however, this study analyzes data collected through customizable online forms and asynchronous tools developed specifically to promote students to think deeply about their own learning prior to submitting their assignments for assessment.

This presentation will look at the student development of epistemic frames and the use of industry-specific terminology across two lab-based projects, one from the beginning and one from the end of a unit. One set of data was collected in an intro design class and the other set was collected in an intermediate photography class. Quantitative analysis using LIWC (Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count), a language analysis tool that analyzes texts for psychologically meaningful categories of language, will look for pre/post growth in language usage. Findings will provide guidance for educators and instructional designers on the value of frequent reflection built into the curriculum as well as inform tools, frequency, and types of questions that are valuable for assessing student growth in communication skills and epistemic frames within course content.

Keywords: Reflection, graphic communications, assessment.