This exploratory research aimed to develop a pedagogical tool oriented to teaching of design projects. The research arises from the importance of design methodology, as a structuring content of the empirical design practice, and from the need to encourage critical reasoning on design processes observed in PUC-Rio s design graduation course. To deal with these questions, a drawing exercise – in which the student s task was to draw the process of their design project – was developed and tested with two students in two different disciplines from the Design course at PUC-Rio. The investigation was supported by authors, who dealt with the cognitive processes of learning and also on the cognitive flow of reflection-in-action, a key notion of this research. The activity proved to be a rich educational tool to stimulate critical thinking about the practice of design, as it facilitated an exercise of self-analysis and gave students the pedagogical conditions to recognize and organize their empirical experiences during the course.