International Journal of Linguistics and Communication December 2015, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 52-64 ISSN: 2372-479X (Print) 2372-4803 (Online) Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. Published by American Research Institute for Policy Development DOI: 10.15640/ijlc.v3n2a6 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.15640/ijlc.v3n2a6 Agent of Change: Empowering Teachers and Students through Reflection Asli Hassan 1 & Muna Balfaqeeh 2 Abstract Freshman students begin their engineering studies at the Petroleum Institute after having met the Institute’s language proficiency prerequisites. In many of their courses these engineering students are required to write in a concise form in accord with all aspects of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS). In this pilot research, students produced three in-class pieces of writing at five -week intervals between the writings. After their first writing, students were exposed to Bloom’s Taxonomy table. The paper is based on the reflection/observation of the teachers and students whilst and after the exposure to Bloom’s taxonomy, and student focus groups in which students were asked to reflect back on their experiences of the best practices from their point of view that can be inferred that this exposure helps facilitate some level of HOTS transferability. The aim of this paper is to intensify the role teachers in teaching Higher Order Thinking Skills in a systematic way that would allow students to grasp its essence and take an active role in the redesign of its instruction. Keywords: Higher Order thinking Skills, Reflective Writing, Bloom’s Taxonomy, Project Based Learning 1. Introduction Although teaching Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) seems to be logical andis often included in language-related courses, both teachers and students often struggle with either sending or receiving its concept. We as teachers find difficult to verbalize what HOTS actually is and what it encompasses in the learning sphere. According to our observation, regardless of the tools used to explain or demonstrate HOTS, students’ realization of what it means seems to be different from teachers’ and their reflection does not coincide with our expectation. This paper is an extension of a research paper titled, “Broadening the E xposure of E ngineering Students to the HOTS (2014)” in which a pilot project was conducted where students produced three in-class writing at 4-5 weeks intervals between the writings in order to measure their transferability of HOTS development. However, this paper focuses only on the reflection during and after the exposure to the Bloom’s Taxonomy by students and teachers. The aim of this research is to address the challenges teachers encounter in reflective writing classes especially for engineering students as they attempt to apply cognitive processes required for their fundamental academic growth. It also aims to allow students to take a fundamental role in this process and join their teachers in what Kolb calls an ‘experiential learning cycle’ (see fig. 1) which goes form having a concrete experience, to reflective observation, to an abstract conceptualization and then an active experiment. A model that resembles on one hand the action research model (Maudsley & Strivens, 2000:539) for us as teachers and researcher, and on the other hand it resembles the process in which our students follow in the Communication course and the journey towards Higher Order thinking skills. 1 ahassan@ pi.ac.ae , Petroleum Institute- PO Box 2533, Abu Dhabi, United Arab E mirates. 2 mbalfaqeeh@ pi.ac.ae , Petroleum Institute- PO Box 2533, Abu Dhabi, United Arab E mirates.