Reflective journals (RJs) are a type of written document in which students record their thoughts, experiences, and beliefs over a period of time for the purpose of gaining self-awareness and improving their learning abilities. This tool allows students to self-observe their learning process and demonstrate reflection (Wallin & Adawi, 2018).

One of the main benefits of using RJs as an assessment tool is that it creates a supportive and safe environment for students to express their concerns and ideas, reflect on their values, experiences, and assumptions that impact their learning, and track their development over time (Minott, 2008). Additionally, research has shown that the act of reflection can influence behavior, as students evaluate their work and adjust their learning processes based on their reflections (Fabriz et al., 2014). Thus, the ability to reflect on one's own learning is a crucial skill for lifelong learning (Ryan, 2015). Consequently, promoting reflective practices among students is considered a crucial goal in higher education to effectively prepare them for future professional experiences (Adie & Tangen, 2015). While the potential of reflective practices to bring about lasting and effective changes in students' lives is widely acknowledged (Waggoner-Denton, 2018), there is still a lack of clarity regarding the dimensionality of reflection and the potential link between using reflective writing and the adoption of reflective practices in students' personal and professional lives (Griggs et al., 2018).

Furthermore, despite some previous research on the measurement and assessment of reflection and RJ writing (e.g., Kember et al., 2008), there is currently no widely accepted method for identifying and assessing reflection (Waggoner-Denton, 2018). The lack of consensus on the optimal ways of assessing reflective practices is also reflected in the limited empirical research on the dimensionality of reflective writing, particularly in higher education. In light of this, the present research aims to analyze students' RJ writing, design a reflection scheme, and create and validate a questionnaire based on the scheme to measure higher education students' perceptions of their reflective writing experiences. Moreover, this study aims to quantitatively assess the connection between perceived reflective writing skills and students' tendency to transfer these skills to their future professional and personal lives, based on their own reports. To achieve this, an exploratory sequential research design was employed, starting with qualitative data and then collecting quantitative data. This design is commonly used to identify themes, design an instrument, and subsequently test it (Creswell, 2012). In line with previous research suggesting that activities that foster deep learning, such as reflective writing, may lead to greater transferability (e.g., Griggs et al., 2018), two hypotheses were evaluated. It was expected that students' perceived reflective writing skills gained during the learning process would be positively correlated with their perceived tendency to transfer these skills to their professional lives (H1) and personal lives (H2).

Participants Data were gathered from 141 students, of whom 75 undergraduate second-year Education students (pre-service teachers) from one major college located in northern Israel, and 66 undergraduate 3rd-year students of Management of Health Service Organizations program from a central academic college in Israel. Procedure The procedure included the design of a new measurement to assess students’ perceptions of reflective writing experiences. RJ was used in two courses. Experts' review and analysis of the RJ entries were attained. This step led to the design of a theoretical scheme of reflective writing. Next, the RJ scale’s item formulation was based on the newly developed scheme. To formulate items related to transfer of learning, two statements were phrased. Next, to ascertain the structural validity and reliability of the newly developed questionnaire data were collected from pre-service teachers and Health Management students. Measurement design and evaluation The journal entries (1312 in total) were reviewed, and their content was analyzed. The content analysis of the RJ entries revealed a reflection scheme comprising two dimensions: The first refers to students’ current experiences, or “short-term related reflections.” This dimension deals with students’ in-process experiences during the course. The reflection included the following levels: 1. Cognitive – relates to the content of the course, learning skills, and learning purposes. 2. Behavioral – refers to the student’s behavior during the learning process. 3. Affective (emotional) – pertains to emotions that arose during the learning experience. The second dimension concerns long-term related reflections and includes students’ learning experience in relation to their future from the aspects of: 1. Academic development. 2. Professional development. 3. Personal development. 4. Multicultural development. In addition, three essential metacognitive abilities were foregrounded within the scheme: 1. Awareness of one’s learning experience. 2. Evaluation of the learning experience. 3. Regulation in attitude and behavior to perform better in the future. Based on this analysis, the Reflective Journal Scale (RJs) was constructed and validated including 31 items along two sub-scales: short-term (16 items) and long-term (15 items). All items were scored on a Likert-type score ranging from 1 = not true at all to 6 = completely true. PLS-SEM was used to establish confirmatory validity for the RJs.

To assess H1 and H2, using the health management data, a PLS-SEM model was constructed for the total sample. This parsimonious path model includes two independent constructs, represented in the model as cycles: The Short-term scale accompanied by its three indicators: Cognitive level, Behavioral level, and Affective level; and the Long-term scale with its four indicators: Personal Development, Academic Development, Professional Development, and Multicultural Development. The dependent constructs are RJ usage in professional life, and RJ usage in personal life. The bootstrapping routine results of the direct effects showed that both dependent variables (RJ usage in professional life and RJ usage in personal life) were positively explained by the independent variables. The highest coefficient result was shown between the Long-term scale and RJ usage in professional life, the lowest was detected between the Short-term Scale and RJ usage in professional life. H1and H2 were confirmed. To assess H1 and H2 for the pre-service teachers’ data another model was constructed. This model was identical to the above model, however, included data gathered from pre-service teachers. Both dependent variables (RJ usage in professional life and RJ usage in personal life) were positively and significantly explained by the independent variables. The highest coefficient result was shown between the Long-term scale and RJ usage in professional life. The current study’s suggested validated generic scheme can be adapted and integrated into different curricula, thereby possibly increasing the potential of infusing RJ instructional strategies into higher education curricula, improving the quality of reflection in student journals, and promoting lifelong learning skills.

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