how to write a reflective report on a presentation

Tips to Write a Reflective Essay on a Presentation

📅 Updated on September 20th, 2023

Reflective writing is an important skill that helps people think about their experiences and share their thoughts and feelings about something special. When we reflect on a presentation, like a group project, a lecture, or a talk we gave, it’s essential to know how to write a great reflective essay.

Here we will provide helpful tips and guidelines to assist you in writing an effective and meaningful reflective essay on a presentation. By following these suggestions, you’ll be able to express your thoughts and reflections in a clear and powerful way. Let’s explore the key aspects of writing a perfect reflective paper on a presentation .

Reflective Writing on Presentation – Key Steps and Ideas

Reflective writing on presentation involves looking closely at the experience of the presentation and analyzing how it has influenced your learning and personal growth. Here are some helpful tips to assist you throughout the reflective writing process:

• Understand the purpose: Before you begin writing your reflective essay, take some time to comprehend the purpose of the presentation and the goals you aimed to achieve. Consider who the intended audience was, what the topic was, and the objectives set for the presentation.
• Recall the presentation: Take a moment to reflect on the presentation itself. Think about the content, structure, and delivery of the presentation. Consider its strengths and weaknesses, the challenges you encountered, and the overall effectiveness of the presentation.
• Identify key learnings: Reflect on what you have learned from the presentation. Did it help you gain a better understanding of the topic? Did it challenge your existing knowledge or beliefs? Identify the significant insights or new perspectives you gained through the presentation.
• Analyze your performance: Evaluate your own performance as a presenter or group member. Assess your presentation skills, such as how well you communicated, organized, and engaged with the audience. Reflect on the aspects that went well and areas where you could improve.
• Connect personal experiences: Relate the presentation to your own experiences, knowledge, or values. Did the topic resonate with you on a personal level? How did it connect to your life or previous experiences? Reflect on the significance of these connections and how they influenced your understanding or perspective.
• Consider different perspectives: Think about different viewpoints or opinions that were presented during the presentation. Did it challenge your own beliefs or expose you to alternative perspectives? Reflect on how these differing viewpoints affected your thinking and whether they prompted any changes in your own perspective.
• Reflect on the presentation’s impact: Consider the overall impact of the presentation on your learning and personal growth. Did it broaden your knowledge, sharpen specific skills, or inspire you in any way? Reflect on the lasting effects the presentation had on you and how it may influence your future endeavors.
• Use examples and evidence: Support your reflections with specific examples and evidence from the presentation. This could include famous or motivational quotes, anecdotes, or references to specific moments or visuals. Using concrete examples strengthens your reflective essay and adds depth to your reflections.
• Express emotions and thoughts: Remember that reflective writing allows you to express your emotions and thoughts freely. Don’t shy away from sharing how the presentation made you feel or the thoughts that arose during and after the presentation. Reflect on the emotional impact and its significance to your overall experience.

Try to Write a Perfect Reflective Essay on a Presentation

Writing a perfect reflective essay requires careful consideration of the structure and content. Follow these tips to ensure your essay is well-crafted:

• Introduction: Begin your essay with a brief introduction that provides context for the presentation. Mention the topic, purpose, and any relevant background information.
• Body paragraphs: Organize your essay into several paragraphs, each focusing on a specific aspect of the presentation. Use clear subheadings to guide the reader. Here are some suggested subheadings:
• Presentation Overview: Provide a summary of the presentation , including the format (oral, video, PowerPoint presentation), the topic, and the main points covered.
• Personal Reflection: Share your personal thoughts and feelings about the presentation. Discuss how it impacted you, what you found most interesting or challenging, and any personal connections you made.
• Learning Outcomes: Reflect on the knowledge and skills you acquired or developed as a result of the presentation. Discuss how the presentation contributed to your learning and any changes in your perspective or understanding.
• Strengths and Weaknesses: Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the presentation. Evaluate the effectiveness of the content, delivery, visuals, and overall organization.
• Group Dynamics (if applicable): If the presentation was a group project, reflect on the dynamics within the group. Discuss how the group worked together, the challenges faced, and any lessons learned from collaborating with others.
• Use examples: To support your reflection, provide specific examples and anecdotes from the presentation. Use these examples to illustrate your points and provide evidence for your reflections.
• Conclusion: Conclude your essay by summarizing the key insights and learnings from the presentation. Reflect on how the experience has contributed to your personal and academic growth.

Enhance Your Skills with Valuable Guidance

Students can find a wealth of advice and tips on writing a reflective essay on a presentation from various sources. Here are some places where they can seek guidance and support:

• Academic Writing Centers: Many educational institutions have writing centers that assist students. These centers provide resources, workshops, and one-on-one consultations where students can receive guidance on reflective writing and essay composition. One specific example of an academic writing center is the Writing Center at Harvard University .
• Online Writing Resources: There are numerous websites and online platforms dedicated to providing writing tips and guidelines. These resources often include step-by-step guides, sample essays, and explanatory videos that can help students understand the process of writing a reflective essay on a presentation. Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) is a prominent example of an online platform dedicated to providing writing tips and guidelines.
• Writing Guides and Books: Students can also refer to writing guides and books that focus on reflective writing. These resources provide comprehensive information on various aspects of reflective writing, including structuring an essay, using appropriate language, and analyzing experiences.
• Online Forums and Communities: Participating in online forums and communities dedicated to academic writing can be beneficial. Students can engage with peers and experts in discussions, ask questions, and seek advice specific to their reflective essay on a presentation.
• Professional Writing Services: In some cases, students may choose to get help from a trustworthy essay writing service which offers personalized support and guidance, helping students develop their reflective essays effectively. While this website offers professional writing assistance, it can also be a valuable tool in helping students solve the problem of crafting a reflective essay on a presentation.
• Al Tools for Enhanced Writing: In the digital age, AI-driven tools are crucial for students. Paraphrasing tools assist in rephrasing sentences without altering their meaning, helping to avoid plagiarism. However, they should be used judiciously. Grammar checkers, like Grammarly or grammarcheck, identify and rectify errors, ensuring polished and error-free essays. Using these tools enhances the quality of student writing.

Avoid Common Reflective Essay Mistakes

When writing a reflective essay on a presentation, it is important to avoid some common mistakes that can hinder the effectiveness of your essay. Here are a few key mistakes to avoid:

• Superficial Reflection: Avoid providing a shallow or superficial reflection on the presentation. Instead, strive to delve deeper into your thoughts, feelings, and insights regarding the experience. Be thoughtful and introspective in your analysis.
• Lack of Structure: Avoid writing the essay without a clear structure. Ensure your essay has an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. This will help you present your ideas in a logical and organized manner.
• Focusing Only on the Positive: Avoid solely focusing on the positive aspects of the presentation. Reflect on both the strengths and weaknesses of the presentation, as well as the challenges faced. This will demonstrate a more balanced and critical reflection.
• Neglecting Personal Growth: Don’t forget to discuss how the presentation has contributed to your personal growth and learning. Reflect on how the experience has influenced your knowledge, perspectives, and skills.

By avoiding these mistakes and striving for a thoughtful, well-structured, balanced, and growth-oriented reflection, you can enhance the quality and impact of your reflective essay on a presentation.

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How to Write a Reflection Paper: An Easy-to-Follow Guide

Last Updated: May 1, 2024 Fact Checked

Sample Outline and Paper

Brainstorming, organizing a reflection paper, as you write, expert q&a.

This article was co-authored by Alicia Cook . Alicia Cook is a Professional Writer based in Newark, New Jersey. With over 12 years of experience, Alicia specializes in poetry and uses her platform to advocate for families affected by addiction and to fight for breaking the stigma against addiction and mental illness. She holds a BA in English and Journalism from Georgian Court University and an MBA from Saint Peter’s University. Alicia is a bestselling poet with Andrews McMeel Publishing and her work has been featured in numerous media outlets including the NY Post, CNN, USA Today, the HuffPost, the LA Times, American Songwriter Magazine, and Bustle. She was named by Teen Vogue as one of the 10 social media poets to know and her poetry mixtape, “Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately” was a finalist in the 2016 Goodreads Choice Awards. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 3,819,580 times.

Reflection papers allow you to communicate with your instructor about how a specific article, lesson, lecture, or experience shapes your understanding of class-related material. Reflection papers are personal and subjective [1] X Research source , but they must still maintain a somewhat academic tone and must still be thoroughly and cohesively organized. Here's what you need to know about writing an effective reflection.

How to Start a Reflection Paper

To write a reflection paper, first write an introduction that outlines your expectations and thesis. Then, state your conclusions in the body paragraphs, explaining your findings with concrete details. Finally, conclude with a summary of your experience.

• These sentences should be both descriptive yet straight to the point.

• For lectures or readings, you can write down specific quotations or summarize passages.
• For experiences, make a note of specific portions of your experience. You could even write a small summary or story of an event that happened during the experience that stands out. Images, sounds, or other sensory portions of your experience work, as well.

• In the first column, list the main points or key experiences. These points can include anything that the author or speaker treated with importance as well as any specific details you found to be important. Divide each point into its own separate row.
• In the second column, list your personal response to the points you brought up in the first column. Mention how your subjective values, experiences, and beliefs influence your response.
• In the third and last column, describe how much of your personal response to share in your reflection paper.

• Does the reading, lecture, or experience challenge you socially, culturally, emotionally, or theologically? If so, where and how? Why does it bother you or catch your attention?
• Has the reading, lecture, or experience changed your way of thinking? Did it conflict with beliefs you held previously, and what evidence did it provide you with in order to change your thought process on the topic?
• Does the reading, lecture, or experience leave you with any questions? Were these questions ones you had previously or ones you developed only after finishing?
• Did the author, speaker, or those involved in the experience fail to address any important issues? Could a certain fact or idea have dramatically changed the impact or conclusion of the reading, lecture, or experience?
• How do the issues or ideas brought up in this reading, lecture, or experience mesh with past experiences or readings? Do the ideas contradict or support each other?

• Verify whether or not your instructor specified a word count for the paper instead of merely following this average.
• If your instructor demands a word count outside of this range, meet your instructor's requirements.

• For a reading or lecture, indicate what you expected based on the title, abstract, or introduction.
• For an experience, indicate what you expected based on prior knowledge provided by similar experiences or information from others.

• This is essentially a brief explanation of whether or not your expectations were met.
• A thesis provides focus and cohesion for your reflection paper.
• You could structure a reflection thesis along the following lines: “From this reading/experience, I learned...”

• Your conclusions must be explained. You should provide details on how you arrived at those conclusions using logic and concrete details.
• The focus of the paper is not a summary of the text, but you still need to draw concrete, specific details from the text or experience in order to provide context for your conclusions.
• Write a separate paragraph for each conclusion or idea you developed.
• Each paragraph should have its own topic sentence. This topic sentence should clearly identify your major points, conclusions, or understandings.

• The conclusions or understandings explained in your body paragraphs should support your overall conclusion. One or two may conflict, but the majority should support your final conclusion.

• If you feel uncomfortable about a personal issue that affects the conclusions you reached, it is wisest not to include personal details about it.
• If a certain issue is unavoidable but you feel uncomfortable revealing your personal experiences or feelings regarding it, write about the issue in more general terms. Identify the issue itself and indicate concerns you have professionally or academically.

• Avoid dragging someone else down in your writing. If a particular person made the experience you are reflecting on difficult, unpleasant, or uncomfortable, you must still maintain a level of detachment as you describe that person's influence. Instead of stating something like, “Bob was such a rude jerk,” say something more along the lines of, “One man was abrupt and spoke harshly, making me feel as though I was not welcome there.” Describe the actions, not the person, and frame those actions within the context of how they influenced your conclusions.
• A reflection paper is one of the few pieces of academic writing in which you can get away with using the first person pronoun “I.” That said, you should still relate your subjective feelings and opinions using specific evidence to explain them. [8] X Research source
• Avoid slang and always use correct spelling and grammar. Internet abbreviations like “LOL” or “OMG” are fine to use personally among friends and family, but this is still an academic paper, so you need to treat it with the grammatical respect it deserves. Do not treat it as a personal journal entry.
• Check and double-check your spelling and grammar after you finish your paper.

• Keep your sentences focused. Avoid squeezing multiple ideas into one sentence.
• Avoid sentence fragments. Make sure that each sentence has a subject and a verb.
• Vary your sentence length. Include both simple sentences with a single subject and verb and complex sentences with multiple clauses. Doing so makes your paper sound more conversational and natural, and prevents the writing from becoming too wooden. [9] X Research source

• Common transitional phrases include "for example," "for instance," "as a result," "an opposite view is," and "a different perspective is."

• For instance, if reflecting on a piece of literary criticism, you could mention how your beliefs and ideas about the literary theory addressed in the article relate to what your instructor taught you about it or how it applies to prose and poetry read in class.
• As another example, if reflecting on a new social experience for a sociology class, you could relate that experience to specific ideas or social patterns discussed in class.

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.csuohio.edu/writing-center/reflection-papers
• ↑ https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/assignments/reflectionpaper
• ↑ Alicia Cook. Professional Writer. Expert Interview. 11 December 2020.
• ↑ https://www.trentu.ca/academicskills/how-guides/how-write-university/how-approach-any-assignment/how-write-reflection-paper
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/thesis-statements/
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/conclusions/
• ↑ https://www.anu.edu.au/students/academic-skills/writing-assessment/reflective-writing/reflective-essays
• ↑ https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/scholarlyvoice/sentencestructure

About This Article

To write a reflection paper, start with an introduction where you state any expectations you had for the reading, lesson, or experience you're reflecting on. At the end of your intro, include a thesis statement that explains how your views have changed. In the body of your essay, explain the conclusions you reached after the reading, lesson, or experience and discuss how you arrived at them. Finally, finish your paper with a succinct conclusion that explains what you've learned. To learn how to brainstorm for your paper, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to write a reflective report with examples

A reflective report is a written piece that summarizes the critical reflection of a person. It differs from an essay in that it is more structured. It is also personal and subjective. Here are some examples of reflective reports: Sage, UNSW, and Monash University. The models provide some ideas and can be use to guide your work.

It is a written report that summarises the critical reflection of a person.

A reflective report is a written document summarising a person’s critical reflection on an experience or a particular topic. It is usually between 250 and 750 words long and should start with a clear line of thought. It must be based on a personal experience to be meaningful.

A reflective report is a type of academic assignment that aims to give students a self-view of the topic they are studying. It should be written in the first person, with an introduction and thesis statement. The report must contain a detailed description of the event or situation and the learnings the student made from it.

It is more structured than an essay.

A reflective essay is a structure different from a report. It is structured differently and follows a stricter format. It should start with a strong introduction. List the main topics, restate the thesis statement and end with a strong conclusion. It should also include a bibliography and references. And works cited list.

A good reflective essay should reflect a specific experience. The author must honestly describe how they felt and the lesson they learned from the experience. They should also attempt to analyze the situation. This requires evaluating the thoughts, feelings, and reactions. They should also be able to judge the merit of their own experiences.

The introduction is an important part of a reflection paper. It should provide background information about the course content, summarize key readings, and narrate their experience of the course objectives. The introduction does not need to be very long but should be informative and catchy. However, it should not start with the thesis.

It is personal

When writing a reflective report, it’s important to keep your subject personal. You want the readers to know what you learned and how those experiences shaped your future. Thoughtful words can be written on various topics, including books, places, and experiences. Here are some tips to help you get start.

When writing a reflective report, you want to start with an introduction that acknowledges your subject and gives the reader an impression of what you are trying to communicate. The introduction should include a thesis statement, serving as your focal point. You can provide facts to support your thesis statement in the second body paragraph.

The body of your reflective essay should be the focus and include an appropriate critique. It should describe the experiences and how they shaped you, including the lessons you learned. Remember to proofread your reflective essay before you submit it.

It is subjective

A reflective report writing service with examples should be written in the first person, which allows you to focus on your thoughts, feelings, and experiences. It is important to state your opinion clearly, support it with arguments, and include examples from your life. Finally, in conclusion, restate your thesis statement.

While reflective reports are meant to be personal, they should still be professionally written. Avoid using slang words and double-check your grammar. Also, use transitional words that draw connections between your ideas. This will make your report look much more professional.

It is academic

When you write reflective academic reports, the goal is to convey your personal learning experiences and take the time to reflect on them. Unlike a personal journal, academic reflective writing needs to be formally structured and written in a formal language. As such, it must begin with a strong thesis statement.

An academic reflective report requires you to be critical and analytical. This means focusing on the negative aspects of the situation rather than the positive aspects. For example, suppose you observe that a leader does not follow the leadership style of his followers.

Alvin Nicolas is a research-based content writer, who works for Cognizantt, a globally recognized professional E-commerce SEO company  provider and Essays.UK,  A leading dissertation and essay writing service in the UK . Mr Alvin Nicolas holds a PhD degree in English Literature. He loves to express his views on a range of issues including education, technology, and more.

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Writing reflectively is essential to many academic programmes and also to completing applications for employment. This page considers what reflective writing is and how to do it. 

What is reflection?

Reflection is something that we do everyday as part of being human. We plan and undertake actions, then think about whether each was successful or not, and how we might improve next time. We can also feel reflection as emotions, such as satisfaction and regret, or as a need to talk over happenings with friends. See below for an introduction to reflection as a concept. 

Reflection in everyday life [Google Slides]

What is reflective writing?

Reflective writing should be thought of as recording reflective thinking. This can be done in an everyday diary entry, or instruction in a recipe book to change a cooking method next time. In academic courses, reflective is more complex and focussed. This section considers the main features of reflective writing. 

Reflective writing for employability

When applying for jobs, or further academic study, students are required to think through what they have done in their degrees and translate it into evaluative writing that fulfils the criteria of job descriptions and person specifications. This is a different style of writing, the resource below will enable you to think about how to begin this transition. 

There are also lots of resources available through the university's careers service and elsewhere on the Skills Guides. The links below are to pages that can offer further support and guidance. 

• Careers and Placements Service resources Lots of resources that relate to all aspects of job applications, including tailored writing styles and techniques.

The language of reflective writing

Reflective academic writing is: 

• almost always written in the first person.
• evaluative - you are judging something.
• partly personal, partly based on criteria.
• analytical - you are usually categorising actions and events.
• formal - it is for an academic audience.
• carefully constructed. 

Look at the sections below to see specific vocabulary types and sentence constructions that can be useful when writing reflectively. 

Language for exploring outcomes

A key element of writing reflectively is being able to explain to the reader what the results of your actions were. This requires careful grading of language to ensure that what you write reflects the evidence of what happened and to convey clearly what you achieved or did not achieve. 

Below are some ideas and prompts of how you can write reflectively about outcomes, using clarity and graded language. 

Expressing uncertainty when writing about outcomes:

• It is not yet clear that…
• I do not yet (fully) understand...
• It is unclear...
• It is not yet fully clear...
• It is not yet (fully?) known… 
• It appears to be the case that…
• It is too soon to tell....

Often, in academic learning, the uncertainty in the outcomes is a key part of the learning and development that you undertake. It is vital therefore that you explain this clearly to the reader using careful choices in your language. 

Writing about how the outcome relates to you:

• I gained (xxxx) skills… 
• I developed… 
• The experience/task/process taught me… 
• I achieved…
• I learned that…
• I found that… 

In each case you can add in words like, ‘significantly’, ‘greatly’, ‘less importantly’ etc. The use of evaluative adjectives enables you to express to the reader the importance and significance of your learning in terms of the outcomes achieved. 

Describing how you reached your outcomes:

• Having read....
• Having completed (xxxx)...
• I analysed…
• I applied… 
• I learned…
• I experienced… 
• Having reflected…

This gives the reader an idea of the nature of the reflection they are reading. How and why you reach the conclusions and learning that you express in your reflective writing is important so the reader can assess the validity and strength of your reflections. 

Projecting your outcomes into the future:

• If I completed a similar task in the future I would…
• Having learned through this process I would… 
• Next time I will…
• I will need to develop…. (in light of the outcomes)
• Next time my responses would be different....

When showing the reader how you will use your learning in the future, it is important to be specific and again, to use accurate graded language to show how and why what you choose to highlight matters. Check carefully against task instructions to see what you are expected to reflect into the future about. 

When reflecting in academic writing on outcomes, this can mean either the results of the task you have completed, for example, the accuracy of a titration in a Chemistry lab session, or what you have learned/developed within the task, for example, ensuring that an interview question is written clearly enough to produce a response that reflects what you wished to find out. 

Language choices are important in ensuring the reader can see what you think in relation to the reflection you have done. 

Language for interpretation

When you interpret something you are telling the reader how important it is, or what meaning is attached to it. 

You may wish to indicate the value of something:

• superfluous
• non-essential

E.g. 'the accuracy of the transcription was essential to the accuracy of the eventual coding and analysis of the interviews undertaken. The training I undertook was critical to enabling me to transcribe quickly and accurately' 

You may wish to show how ideas, actions or some other aspect developed over time:

• Initially 
• subsequently
• in sequence 

E.g. 'Before we could produce the final version of the presentation, we had to complete both the research and produce a plan. This was achieved later than expected, leading to subsequent rushing of creating slides, and this contributed to a lower grade'. 

You may wish to show your viewpoint or that of others:

• did not think
• articulated
• did/did not do something

Each of these could be preceded by 'we' or 'I'.

E.g. 'I noticed that the model of the bridge was sagging. I expressed this to the group, and as I did so I noticed that two members did not seem to grasp how serious the problem was. I proposed a break and a meeting, during which I intervened to show the results of inaction.'

There is a huge range of language that can be used for interpretation, the most important thing is to remember your reader and be clear with them about what your interpretation is, so they can see your thinking and agree or disagree with you. 

Language for analysis

When reflecting, it is important to show the reader that you have analysed the tasks, outcomes, learning and all other aspects that you are writing about. In most cases, you are using categories to provide structure to your reflection. Some suggestions of language to use when analysing in reflective writing are below:

Signposting that you are breaking down a task or learning into categories:

• An aspect of…
• An element of…
• An example of…
• A key feature of the task was... (e.g. teamwork)
• The task was multifaceted… (then go on to list or describe the facets)
• There were several experiences…
• ‘X’ is related to ‘y’

There may be specific categories that you should consider in your reflection. In teamwork, it could be individual and team performance, in lab work it could be accuracy and the reliability of results. It is important that the reader can see the categories you have used for your analysis. 

Analysis by chronology:

• Subsequently
• Consequently
• Stage 1 (or other)

In many tasks the order in which they were completed matters. This can be a key part of your reflection, as it is possible that you may learn to do things in a different order next time or that the chronology influenced the outcomes. 

Analysis by perspective:

• I considered

These language choices show that you are analysing purely by your own personal perspective. You may provide evidence to support your thinking, but it is your viewpoint that matters. 

• What I expected from the reading did not happen…
• The Theory did not appear in our results…
• The predictions made were not fulfilled…
• The outcome was surprising because… (and link to what was expected)

These language choices show that you are analysing by making reference to academic learning (from an academic perspective). This means you have read or otherwise learned something and used it to form expectations, ideas and/or predictions. You can then reflect on what you found vs what you expected. The reader needs to know what has informed our reflections. 

• Organisation X should therefore…
• A key recommendation is… 
• I now know that organisation x is… 
• Theory A can be applied to organisation X

These language choices show that analysis is being completed from a systems perspective. You are telling the reader how your learning links into the bigger picture of systems, for example, what an organisation or entity might do in response to what you have learned. 

Analysing is a key element of being reflective. You must think through the task, ideas, or learning you are reflecting on and use categories to provide structure to your thought. This then translates into structure and language choices in your writing, so your reader can see clearly how you have used analysis to provide sense and structure to your reflections. 

Language for evaluation

Reflecting is fundamentally an evaluative activity. Writing about reflection is therefore replete with evaluative language. A skillful reflective writer is able to grade their language to match the thinking it is expressing to the reader. 

Language to show how significant something is:

• Most importantly
• Significantly 
• The principal lesson was… 
• Consequential
• Fundamental
• Insignificant
• In each case the language is quantifying the significance of the element you are describing, telling the reader the product of your evaluative thought. 

For example, ‘when team working I initially thought that we would succeed by setting out a plan and then working independently, but in fact, constant communication and collaboration were crucial to success. This was the most significant thing I learned.’ 

Language to show the strength of relationships:

• X is strongly associated with Y
• A is a consequence of B
• There is a probable relationship between… 
• C does not cause D
• A may influence B
• I learn most strongly when doing A

In each case the language used can show how significant and strong the relationship between two factors are. 

For example, ‘I learned, as part of my research methods module, that the accuracy of the data gained through surveys is directly related to the quality of the questions. Quality can be improved by reading widely and looking at surveys in existing academic papers to inform making your own questions’

Language to evaluate your viewpoint:

• I was convinced...
• I have developed significantly…
• I learned that...
• The most significant thing that I learned was…
• Next time, I would definitely…
• I am unclear about… 
• I was uncertain about… 

These language choices show that you are attaching a level of significance to your reflection. This enables the reader to see what you think about the learning you achieved and the level of significance you attach to each reflection. 

For example, ‘when using systematic sampling of a mixed woodland, I was convinced that method A would be most effective, but in reality, it was clear that method B produced the most accurate results. I learned that assumptions based on reading previous research can lead to inaccurate predictions. This is very important for me as I will be planning a similar sampling activity as part of my fourth year project’ 

Evaluating is the main element of reflecting. You need to evaluate the outcomes of the activities you have done, your part in them, the learning you achieved and the process/methods you used in your learning, among many other things. It is important that you carefully use language to show the evaluative thinking you have completed to the reader.

Varieties of reflective writing in academic studies

There are a huge variety of reflective writing tasks, which differ between programmes and modules. Some are required by the nature of the subject, like in Education, where reflection is a required standard in teaching.

Some are required by the industry area graduates are training for, such as 'Human Resources Management', where the industry accreditation body require evidence of reflective capabilities in graduates.

In some cases, reflection is about the 'learning to learn' element of degree studies, to help you to become a more effective learner. Below, some of the main reflective writing tasks found in University of York degrees are explored. In each case the advice, guidance and materials do not substitute for those provided within your modules. 

Reflective essay writing

Reflective essay tasks vary greatly in what they require of you. The most important thing to do is to read the assessment brief carefully, attend any sessions and read any materials provided as guidance and to allocate time to ensure you can do the task well.

Reflective learning statements

Reflective learning statements are often attached to dissertations and projects, as well as practical activities. They are an opportunity to think about and tell the reader what you have learned, how you will use the learning, what you can do better next time and to link to other areas, such as your intended career. 

Making a judgement about academic performance

Think of this type of writing as producing your own feedback. How did you do? Why? What could you improve next time? These activities may be a part of modules, they could be attached to a bigger piece of work like a dissertation or essay, or could be just a part of your module learning. 

The four main questions to ask yourself when reflecting on your academic performance. 

• Why exactly did you achieve the grade you have been awarded? Look at your feedback, the instructions, the marking scheme and talk to your tutors to find out if you don't know. 
• How did your learning behaviours affect your academic performance? This covers aspects such as attendance, reading for lectures/seminars, asking questions, working with peers... the list goes on. 
• How did your performance compare to others? Can you identify when others did better or worse? Can you talk to your peers to find out if they are doing something you are not or being more/less effective?
• What can you do differently to improve your performance? In each case, how will you ensure you can do it? Do you need training? Do you need a guide book or resources? 

When writing about each of the above, you need to keep in mind the context of how you are being asked to judge your performance and ensure the reader gains the detail they need (and as this is usually a marker, this means they can give you a high grade!). 

Writing a learning diary/blog/record

A learning diary or blog has become a very common method of assessing and supporting learning in many degree programmes. The aim is to help you to think through your day-to-day learning and identify what you have and have not learned, why that is and what you can improve as you go along. You are also encouraged to link your learning to bigger thinking, like future careers or your overall degree. 

Other support for reflective writing

Online resources.

The general writing pages of this site offer guidance that can be applied to all types of writing, including reflective writing. Also check your department's guidance and VLE sites for tailored resources.

Other useful resources for reflective writing:

Appointments and workshops 

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General tips for academic reflections

An overview of key things to keep in mind for academic reflections.

Make sure you know what the assessor is asking for

Your main consideration when producing written or any kind of academic reflection is to know exactly what is expected of you. Therefore, you should ask your assessor what kind of language and structure they are expecting. With that in mind, the characteristics described here and in the sections on language and structure for academic reflections are what is often sought after.

Language of academic reflections

Structure of academic reflections

Using private reflections as foundations for academic reflections

Academic reflective writing is often used to evidence that you have done reflection. Therefore, it is often beneficial to first do a private reflection where you can be as informal and unstructured as you want, and then readapt that into a piece of academic writing.

By using a private reflection initially, you can ensure that you get the full learning opportunity without censoring yourself or being conscious of language, before deciding how best to present your reflections to your assessor. This is similar to figuring out what your argument is and taking notes before writing an essay, or to all the background work you do to solve a technical/mathematical problem that you do not include in your hand-in.

Just as developing your argument and working through each step of a problem can be essential for the final essay or hand-in, for some people doing a private reflection can be very helpful in writing an effective academic reflection. For others, writing their reflection in a formal and structured way from the outset helps them structure their thoughts.

The core elements of academic reflective writing

Academic reflective writing is a genre and just like an essay has characteristics, so does academic reflective writing.

Academic reflective writing requires critical and analytic thought, a clear line of argument, and the use of evidence through examples of personal experiences and thoughts and often also theoretical literature.

You should aim for a balance between personal experience, tone, and academic practice and rigor.

Academic reflective writing should:

• develop a perspective or line of reasoning
• develop a link between your experience or practice and existing knowledge (theoretical or personal)
• show understanding and appreciation of different perspectives to your own
• show recognition that your own understanding is likely incomplete and situations are rarely clear-cut and simplistic
• show learning resulting from the reflection (either by discovering something new or confirming existing knowledge) and how you plan to use it
• be written in an appropriate style with language relevant to your academic discipline
• sometimes, but not always, use theoretical literature to inform your understanding. 

People can have misconceptions about academic reflective writing – some of the common ones are described below.

Developed from:

Ryan, M., 2011. Improving reflective writing in higher education: a social semiotic perspective. Teaching in Higher Education, 16(1), 99-111.

University of Portsmouth, Department for Curriculum and Quality Enhancement (date unavailable). Reflective Writing: a basic introduction [online].  Portsmouth: University of Portsmouth.

Queen Margaret University, Effective Learning Service (date unavailable).  Reflection. [online].  Edinburgh: Queen Margaret University.

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Reflective writing is a process of identifying, questioning, and critically evaluating course-based learning opportunities, integrated with your own observations, experiences, impressions, beliefs, assumptions, or biases, and which describes how this process stimulated new or creative understanding about the content of the course.

A reflective paper describes and explains in an introspective, first person narrative, your reactions and feelings about either a specific element of the class [e.g., a required reading; a film shown in class] or more generally how you experienced learning throughout the course. Reflective writing assignments can be in the form of a single paper, essays, portfolios, journals, diaries, or blogs. In some cases, your professor may include a reflective writing assignment as a way to obtain student feedback that helps improve the course, either in the moment or for when the class is taught again.

How to Write a Reflection Paper . Academic Skills, Trent University; Writing a Reflection Paper . Writing Center, Lewis University; Critical Reflection . Writing and Communication Centre, University of Waterloo; Tsingos-Lucas et al. "Using Reflective Writing as a Predictor of Academic Success in Different Assessment Formats." American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 81 (2017): Article 8.

Benefits of Reflective Writing Assignments

As the term implies, a reflective paper involves looking inward at oneself in contemplating and bringing meaning to the relationship between course content and the acquisition of new knowledge . Educational research [Bolton, 2010; Ryan, 2011; Tsingos-Lucas et al., 2017] demonstrates that assigning reflective writing tasks enhances learning because it challenges students to confront their own assumptions, biases, and belief systems around what is being taught in class and, in so doing, stimulate student’s decisions, actions, attitudes, and understanding about themselves as learners and in relation to having mastery over their learning. Reflection assignments are also an opportunity to write in a first person narrative about elements of the course, such as the required readings, separate from the exegetic and analytical prose of academic research papers.

Reflection writing often serves multiple purposes simultaneously. In no particular order, here are some of reasons why professors assign reflection papers:

• Enhances learning from previous knowledge and experience in order to improve future decision-making and reasoning in practice . Reflective writing in the applied social sciences enhances decision-making skills and academic performance in ways that can inform professional practice. The act of reflective writing creates self-awareness and understanding of others. This is particularly important in clinical and service-oriented professional settings.
• Allows students to make sense of classroom content and overall learning experiences in relation to oneself, others, and the conditions that shaped the content and classroom experiences . Reflective writing places you within the course content in ways that can deepen your understanding of the material. Because reflective thinking can help reveal hidden biases, it can help you critically interrogate moments when you do not like or agree with discussions, readings, or other aspects of the course.
• Increases awareness of one’s cognitive abilities and the evidence for these attributes . Reflective writing can break down personal doubts about yourself as a learner and highlight specific abilities that may have been hidden or suppressed due to prior assumptions about the strength of your academic abilities [e.g., reading comprehension; problem-solving skills]. Reflective writing, therefore, can have a positive affective [i.e., emotional] impact on your sense of self-worth.
• Applying theoretical knowledge and frameworks to real experiences . Reflective writing can help build a bridge of relevancy between theoretical knowledge and the real world. In so doing, this form of writing can lead to a better understanding of underlying theories and their analytical properties applied to professional practice.
• Reveals shortcomings that the reader will identify . Evidence suggests that reflective writing can uncover your own shortcomings as a learner, thereby, creating opportunities to anticipate the responses of your professor may have about the quality of your coursework. This can be particularly productive if the reflective paper is written before final submission of an assignment.
• Helps students identify their tacit [a.k.a., implicit] knowledge and possible gaps in that knowledge . Tacit knowledge refers to ways of knowing rooted in lived experience, insight, and intuition rather than formal, codified, categorical, or explicit knowledge. In so doing, reflective writing can stimulate students to question their beliefs about a research problem or an element of the course content beyond positivist modes of understanding and representation.
• Encourages students to actively monitor their learning processes over a period of time . On-going reflective writing in journals or blogs, for example, can help you maintain or adapt learning strategies in other contexts. The regular, purposeful act of reflection can facilitate continuous deep thinking about the course content as it evolves and changes throughout the term. This, in turn, can increase your overall confidence as a learner.
• Relates a student’s personal experience to a wider perspective . Reflection papers can help you see the big picture associated with the content of a course by forcing you to think about the connections between scholarly content and your lived experiences outside of school. It can provide a macro-level understanding of one’s own experiences in relation to the specifics of what is being taught.
• If reflective writing is shared, students can exchange stories about their learning experiences, thereby, creating an opportunity to reevaluate their original assumptions or perspectives . In most cases, reflective writing is only viewed by your professor in order to ensure candid feedback from students. However, occasionally, reflective writing is shared and openly discussed in class. During these discussions, new or different perspectives and alternative approaches to solving problems can be generated that would otherwise be hidden. Sharing student's reflections can also reveal collective patterns of thought and emotions about a particular element of the course.

Bolton, Gillie. Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development . London: Sage, 2010; Chang, Bo. "Reflection in Learning." Online Learning 23 (2019), 95-110; Cavilla, Derek. "The Effects of Student Reflection on Academic Performance and Motivation." Sage Open 7 (July-September 2017): 1–13; Culbert, Patrick. “Better Teaching? You Can Write On It “ Liberal Education (February 2022); McCabe, Gavin and Tobias Thejll-Madsen. The Reflection Toolkit . University of Edinburgh; The Purpose of Reflection . Introductory Composition at Purdue University; Practice-based and Reflective Learning . Study Advice Study Guides, University of Reading; Ryan, Mary. "Improving Reflective Writing in Higher Education: A Social Semiotic Perspective." Teaching in Higher Education 16 (2011): 99-111; Tsingos-Lucas et al. "Using Reflective Writing as a Predictor of Academic Success in Different Assessment Formats." American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 81 (2017): Article 8; What Benefits Might Reflective Writing Have for My Students? Writing Across the Curriculum Clearinghouse; Rykkje, Linda. "The Tacit Care Knowledge in Reflective Writing: A Practical Wisdom." International Practice Development Journal 7 (September 2017): Article 5; Using Reflective Writing to Deepen Student Learning . Center for Writing, University of Minnesota.

How to Approach Writing a Reflection Paper

Thinking About Reflective Thinking

Educational theorists have developed numerous models of reflective thinking that your professor may use to frame a reflective writing assignment. These models can help you systematically interpret your learning experiences, thereby ensuring that you ask the right questions and have a clear understanding of what should be covered. A model can also represent the overall structure of a reflective paper. Each model establishes a different approach to reflection and will require you to think about your writing differently. If you are unclear how to fit your writing within a particular reflective model, seek clarification from your professor. There are generally two types of reflective writing assignments, each approached in slightly different ways.

1.  Reflective Thinking about Course Readings

This type of reflective writing focuses on thoughtfully thinking about the course readings that underpin how most students acquire new knowledge and understanding about the subject of a course. Reflecting on course readings is often assigned in freshmen-level, interdisciplinary courses where the required readings examine topics viewed from multiple perspectives and, as such, provide different ways of analyzing a topic, issue, event, or phenomenon. The purpose of reflective thinking about course readings in the social and behavioral sciences is to elicit your opinions, beliefs, and feelings about the research and its significance. This type of writing can provide an opportunity to break down key assumptions you may have and, in so doing, reveal potential biases in how you interpret the scholarship.

If you are assigned to reflect on course readings, consider the following methods of analysis as prompts that can help you get started :

• Examine carefully the main introductory elements of the reading, including the purpose of the study, the theoretical framework being used to test assumptions, and the research questions being addressed. Think about what ideas stood out to you. Why did they? Were these ideas new to you or familiar in some way based on your own lived experiences or prior knowledge?
• Develop your ideas around the readings by asking yourself, what do I know about this topic? Where does my existing knowledge about this topic come from? What are the observations or experiences in my life that influence my understanding of the topic? Do I agree or disagree with the main arguments, recommended course of actions, or conclusions made by the author(s)? Why do I feel this way and what is the basis of these feelings?
• Make connections between the text and your own beliefs, opinions, or feelings by considering questions like, how do the readings reinforce my existing ideas or assumptions? How the readings challenge these ideas or assumptions? How does this text help me to better understand this topic or research in ways that motivate me to learn more about this area of study?

2.  Reflective Thinking about Course Experiences

This type of reflective writing asks you to critically reflect on locating yourself at the conceptual intersection of theory and practice. The purpose of experiential reflection is to evaluate theories or disciplinary-based analytical models based on your introspective assessment of the relationship between hypothetical thinking and practical reality; it offers a way to consider how your own knowledge and skills fit within professional practice. This type of writing also provides an opportunity to evaluate your decisions and actions, as well as how you managed your subsequent successes and failures, within a specific theoretical framework. As a result, abstract concepts can crystallize and become more relevant to you when considered within your own experiences. This can help you formulate plans for self-improvement as you learn.

If you are assigned to reflect on your experiences, consider the following questions as prompts to help you get started :

• Contextualize your reflection in relation to the overarching purpose of the course by asking yourself, what did you hope to learn from this course? What were the learning objectives for the course and how did I fit within each of them? How did these goals relate to the main themes or concepts of the course?
• Analyze how you experienced the course by asking yourself, what did I learn from this experience? What did I learn about myself? About working in this area of research and study? About how the course relates to my place in society? What assumptions about the course were supported or refuted?
• Think introspectively about the ways you experienced learning during the course by asking yourself, did your learning experiences align with the goals or concepts of the course? Why or why do you not feel this way? What was successful and why do you believe this? What would you do differently and why is this important? How will you prepare for a future experience in this area of study?

NOTE: If you are assigned to write a journal or other type of on-going reflection exercise, a helpful approach is to reflect on your reflections by re-reading what you have already written. In other words, review your previous entries as a way to contextualize your feelings, opinions, or beliefs regarding your overall learning experiences. Over time, this can also help reveal hidden patterns or themes related to how you processed your learning experiences. Consider concluding your reflective journal with a summary of how you felt about your learning experiences at critical junctures throughout the course, then use these to write about how you grew as a student learner and how the act of reflecting helped you gain new understanding about the subject of the course and its content.

ANOTHER NOTE: Regardless of whether you write a reflection paper or a journal, do not focus your writing on the past. The act of reflection is intended to think introspectively about previous learning experiences. However, reflective thinking should document the ways in which you progressed in obtaining new insights and understandings about your growth as a learner that can be carried forward in subsequent coursework or in future professional practice. Your writing should reflect a furtherance of increasing personal autonomy and confidence gained from understanding more about yourself as a learner.

Structure and Writing Style

There are no strict academic rules for writing a reflective paper. Reflective writing may be assigned in any class taught in the social and behavioral sciences and, therefore, requirements for the assignment can vary depending on disciplinary-based models of inquiry and learning. The organization of content can also depend on what your professor wants you to write about or based on the type of reflective model used to frame the writing assignment. Despite these possible variations, below is a basic approach to organizing and writing a good reflective paper, followed by a list of problems to avoid.

Pre-flection

In most cases, it's helpful to begin by thinking about your learning experiences and outline what you want to focus on before you begin to write the paper. This can help you organize your thoughts around what was most important to you and what experiences [good or bad] had the most impact on your learning. As described by the University of Waterloo Writing and Communication Centre, preparing to write a reflective paper involves a process of self-analysis that can help organize your thoughts around significant moments of in-class knowledge discovery.

• Using a thesis statement as a guide, note what experiences or course content stood out to you , then place these within the context of your observations, reactions, feelings, and opinions. This will help you develop a rough outline of key moments during the course that reflect your growth as a learner. To identify these moments, pose these questions to yourself: What happened? What was my reaction? What were my expectations and how were they different from what transpired? What did I learn?
• Critically think about your learning experiences and the course content . This will help you develop a deeper, more nuanced understanding about why these moments were significant or relevant to you. Use the ideas you formulated during the first stage of reflecting to help you think through these moments from both an academic and personal perspective. From an academic perspective, contemplate how the experience enhanced your understanding of a concept, theory, or skill. Ask yourself, did the experience confirm my previous understanding or challenge it in some way. As a result, did this highlight strengths or gaps in your current knowledge? From a personal perspective, think introspectively about why these experiences mattered, if previous expectations or assumptions were confirmed or refuted, and if this surprised, confused, or unnerved you in some way.
• Analyze how these experiences and your reactions to them will shape your future thinking and behavior . Reflection implies looking back, but the most important act of reflective writing is considering how beliefs, assumptions, opinions, and feelings were transformed in ways that better prepare you as a learner in the future. Note how this reflective analysis can lead to actions you will take as a result of your experiences, what you will do differently, and how you will apply what you learned in other courses or in professional practice.

Basic Structure and Writing Style

Reflective Background and Context

The first part of your reflection paper should briefly provide background and context in relation to the content or experiences that stood out to you. Highlight the settings, summarize the key readings, or narrate the experiences in relation to the course objectives. Provide background that sets the stage for your reflection. You do not need to go into great detail, but you should provide enough information for the reader to understand what sources of learning you are writing about [e.g., course readings, field experience, guest lecture, class discussions] and why they were important. This section should end with an explanatory thesis statement that expresses the central ideas of your paper and what you want the readers to know, believe, or understand after they finish reading your paper.

Reflective Interpretation

Drawing from your reflective analysis, this is where you can be personal, critical, and creative in expressing how you felt about the course content and learning experiences and how they influenced or altered your feelings, beliefs, assumptions, or biases about the subject of the course. This section is also where you explore the meaning of these experiences in the context of the course and how you gained an awareness of the connections between these moments and your own prior knowledge.

Guided by your thesis statement, a helpful approach is to interpret your learning throughout the course with a series of specific examples drawn from the course content and your learning experiences. These examples should be arranged in sequential order that illustrate your growth as a learner. Reflecting on each example can be done by: 1)  introducing a theme or moment that was meaningful to you, 2) describing your previous position about the learning moment and what you thought about it, 3) explaining how your perspective was challenged and/or changed and why, and 4) introspectively stating your current or new feelings, opinions, or beliefs about that experience in class.

It is important to include specific examples drawn from the course and placed within the context of your assumptions, thoughts, opinions, and feelings. A reflective narrative without specific examples does not provide an effective way for the reader to understand the relationship between the course content and how you grew as a learner.

Reflective Conclusions

The conclusion of your reflective paper should provide a summary of your thoughts, feelings, or opinions regarding what you learned about yourself as a result of taking the course. Here are several ways you can frame your conclusions based on the examples you interpreted and reflected on what they meant to you. Each example would need to be tied to the basic theme [thesis statement] of your reflective background section.

• Your reflective conclusions can be described in relation to any expectations you had before taking the class [e.g., “I expected the readings to not be relevant to my own experiences growing up in a rural community, but the research actually helped me see that the challenges of developing my identity as a child of immigrants was not that unusual...”].
• Your reflective conclusions can explain how what you learned about yourself will change your actions in the future [e.g., “During a discussion in class about the challenges of helping homeless people, I realized that many of these people hate living on the street but lack the ability to see a way out. This made me realize that I wanted to take more classes in psychology...”].
• Your reflective conclusions can describe major insights you experienced a critical junctures during the course and how these moments enhanced how you see yourself as a student learner [e.g., "The guest speaker from the Head Start program made me realize why I wanted to pursue a career in elementary education..."].
• Your reflective conclusions can reconfigure or reframe how you will approach professional practice and your understanding of your future career aspirations [e.g.,, "The course changed my perceptions about seeking a career in business finance because it made me realize I want to be more engaged in customer service..."]
• Your reflective conclusions can explore any learning you derived from the act of reflecting itself [e.g., “Reflecting on the course readings that described how minority students perceive campus activities helped me identify my own biases about the benefits of those activities in acclimating to campus life...”].

NOTE: The length of a reflective paper in the social sciences is usually less than a traditional research paper. However, don’t assume that writing a reflective paper is easier than writing a research paper. A well-conceived critical reflection paper often requires as much time and effort as a research paper because you must purposeful engage in thinking about your learning in ways that you may not be comfortable with or used to. This is particular true while preparing to write because reflective papers are not as structured as a traditional research paper and, therefore, you have to think deliberately about how you want to organize the paper and what elements of the course you want to reflect upon.

ANOTHER NOTE: Do not limit yourself to using only text in reflecting on your learning. If you believe it would be helpful, consider using creative modes of thought or expression such as, illustrations, photographs, or material objects that reflects an experience related to the subject of the course that was important to you [e.g., like a ticket stub to a renowned speaker on campus]. Whatever non-textual element you include, be sure to describe the object's relevance to your personal relationship to the course content.

Problems to Avoid

A reflective paper is not a “mind dump” . Reflective papers document your personal and emotional experiences and, therefore, they do not conform to rigid structures, or schema, to organize information. However, the paper should not be a disjointed, stream-of-consciousness narrative. Reflective papers are still academic pieces of writing that require organized thought, that use academic language and tone , and that apply intellectually-driven critical thinking to the course content and your learning experiences and their significance.

A reflective paper is not a research paper . If you are asked to reflect on a course reading, the reflection will obviously include some description of the research. However, the goal of reflective writing is not to present extraneous ideas to the reader or to "educate" them about the course. The goal is to share a story about your relationship with the learning objectives of the course. Therefore, unlike research papers, you are expected to write from a first person point of view which includes an introspective examination of your own opinions, feelings, and personal assumptions.

A reflection paper is not a book review . Descriptions of the course readings using your own words is not a reflective paper. Reflective writing should focus on how you understood the implications of and were challenged by the course in relation to your own lived experiences or personal assumptions, combined with explanations of how you grew as a student learner based on this internal dialogue. Remember that you are the central object of the paper, not the research materials.

A reflective paper is not an all-inclusive meditation. Do not try to cover everything. The scope of your paper should be well-defined and limited to your specific opinions, feelings, and beliefs about what you determine to be the most significant content of the course and in relation to the learning that took place. Reflections should be detailed enough to covey what you think is important, but your thoughts should be expressed concisely and coherently [as is true for any academic writing assignment].

Critical Reflection . Writing and Communication Centre, University of Waterloo; Critical Reflection: Journals, Opinions, & Reactions . University Writing Center, Texas A&M University; Connor-Greene, Patricia A. “Making Connections: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Journal Writing in Enhancing Student Learning.” Teaching of Psychology 27 (2000): 44-46; Good vs. Bad Reflection Papers , Franklin University; Dyment, Janet E. and Timothy S. O’Connell. "The Quality of Reflection in Student Journals: A Review of Limiting and Enabling Factors." Innovative Higher Education 35 (2010): 233-244: How to Write a Reflection Paper . Academic Skills, Trent University; Amelia TaraJane House. Reflection Paper . Cordia Harrington Center for Excellence, University of Arkansas; Ramlal, Alana, and Désirée S. Augustin. “Engaging Students in Reflective Writing: An Action Research Project.” Educational Action Research 28 (2020): 518-533; Writing a Reflection Paper . Writing Center, Lewis University; McGuire, Lisa, Kathy Lay, and Jon Peters. “Pedagogy of Reflective Writing in Professional Education.” Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (2009): 93-107; Critical Reflection . Writing and Communication Centre, University of Waterloo; How Do I Write Reflectively? Academic Skills Toolkit, University of New South Wales Sydney; Reflective Writing . Skills@Library. University of Leeds; Walling, Anne, Johanna Shapiro, and Terry Ast. “What Makes a Good Reflective Paper?” Family Medicine 45 (2013): 7-12; Williams, Kate, Mary Woolliams, and Jane Spiro. Reflective Writing . 2nd edition. London: Red Globe Press, 2020; Yeh, Hui-Chin, Shih-hsien Yang, Jo Shan Fu, and Yen-Chen Shih. “Developing College Students’ Critical Thinking through Reflective Writing.” Higher Education Research and Development (2022): 1-16.

Writing Tip

Focus on Reflecting, Not on Describing

Minimal time and effort should be spent describing the course content you are asked to reflect upon. The purpose of a reflection assignment is to introspectively contemplate your reactions to and feeling about an element of the course. D eflecting the focus away from your own feelings by concentrating on describing the course content can happen particularly if "talking about yourself" [i.e., reflecting] makes you uncomfortable or it is intimidating. However, the intent of reflective writing is to overcome these inhibitions so as to maximize the benefits of introspectively assessing your learning experiences. Keep in mind that, if it is relevant, your feelings of discomfort could be a part of how you critically reflect on any challenges you had during the course [e.g., you realize this discomfort inhibited your willingness to ask questions during class, it fed into your propensity to procrastinate, or it made it difficult participating in groups].

Writing a Reflection Paper . Writing Center, Lewis University; Reflection Paper . Cordia Harrington Center for Excellence, University of Arkansas.

Another Writing Tip

Helpful Videos about Reflective Writing

These two short videos succinctly describe how to approach a reflective writing assignment. They are produced by the Academic Skills department at the University of Melbourne and the Skills Team of the University of Hull, respectively.

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Guide on How to Write a Reflection Paper with Free Tips and Example

A reflection paper is a very common type of paper among college students. Almost any subject you enroll in requires you to express your opinion on certain matters. In this article, we will explain how to write a reflection paper and provide examples and useful tips to make the essay writing process easier.

Reflection papers should have an academic tone yet be personal and subjective. In this paper, you should analyze and reflect upon how an experience, academic task, article, or lecture shaped your perception and thoughts on a subject.

Here is what you need to know about writing an effective critical reflection paper. Stick around until the end of our guide to get some useful writing tips from the writing team at EssayPro — a research paper writing service

What Is a Reflection Paper

A reflection paper is a type of paper that requires you to write your opinion on a topic, supporting it with your observations and personal experiences. As opposed to presenting your reader with the views of other academics and writers, in this essay, you get an opportunity to write your point of view—and the best part is that there is no wrong answer. It is YOUR opinion, and it is your job to express your thoughts in a manner that will be understandable and clear for all readers that will read your paper. The topic range is endless. Here are some examples: whether or not you think aliens exist, your favorite TV show, or your opinion on the outcome of WWII. You can write about pretty much anything.

There are three types of reflection paper; depending on which one you end up with, the tone you write with can be slightly different. The first type is the educational reflective paper. Here your job is to write feedback about a book, movie, or seminar you attended—in a manner that teaches the reader about it. The second is the professional paper. Usually, it is written by people who study or work in education or psychology. For example, it can be a reflection of someone’s behavior. And the last is the personal type, which explores your thoughts and feelings about an individual subject.

However, reflection paper writing will stop eventually with one very important final paper to write - your resume. This is where you will need to reflect on your entire life leading up to that moment. To learn how to list education on resume perfectly, follow the link on our dissertation writing services .

Unlock the potential of your thoughts with EssayPro . Order a reflection paper and explore a range of other academic services tailored to your needs. Dive deep into your experiences, analyze them with expert guidance, and turn your insights into an impactful reflection paper.

Free Reflection Paper Example

Now that we went over all of the essentials about a reflection paper and how to approach it, we would like to show you some examples that will definitely help you with getting started on your paper.

Reflection Paper Format

Reflection papers typically do not follow any specific format. Since it is your opinion, professors usually let you handle them in any comfortable way. It is best to write your thoughts freely, without guideline constraints. If a personal reflection paper was assigned to you, the format of your paper might depend on the criteria set by your professor. College reflection papers (also known as reflection essays) can typically range from about 400-800 words in length.

Here’s how we can suggest you format your reflection paper:

How to Start a Reflection Paper

The first thing to do when beginning to work on a reflection essay is to read your article thoroughly while taking notes. Whether you are reflecting on, for example, an activity, book/newspaper, or academic essay, you want to highlight key ideas and concepts.

You can start writing your reflection paper by summarizing the main concept of your notes to see if your essay includes all the information needed for your readers. It is helpful to add charts, diagrams, and lists to deliver your ideas to the audience in a better fashion.

After you have finished reading your article, it’s time to brainstorm. We’ve got a simple brainstorming technique for writing reflection papers. Just answer some of the basic questions below:

• How did the article affect you?
• How does this article catch the reader’s attention (or does it all)?
• Has the article changed your mind about something? If so, explain how.
• Has the article left you with any questions?
• Were there any unaddressed critical issues that didn’t appear in the article?
• Does the article relate to anything from your past reading experiences?
• Does the article agree with any of your past reading experiences?

Here are some reflection paper topic examples for you to keep in mind before preparing to write your own:

• How my views on rap music have changed over time
• My reflection and interpretation of Moby Dick by Herman Melville
• Why my theory about the size of the universe has changed over time
• How my observations for clinical psychological studies have developed in the last year

The result of your brainstorming should be a written outline of the contents of your future paper. Do not skip this step, as it will ensure that your essay will have a proper flow and appropriate organization.

Another good way to organize your ideas is to write them down in a 3-column chart or table.

Do you want your task look awesome?

If you would like your reflection paper to look professional, feel free to check out one of our articles on how to format MLA, APA or Chicago style

Writing a Reflection Paper Outline

Reflection paper should contain few key elements:

Introduction

Your introduction should specify what you’re reflecting upon. Make sure that your thesis informs your reader about your general position, or opinion, toward your subject.

• State what you are analyzing: a passage, a lecture, an academic article, an experience, etc...)
• Briefly summarize the work.
• Write a thesis statement stating how your subject has affected you.

One way you can start your thesis is to write:

Example: “After reading/experiencing (your chosen topic), I gained the knowledge of…”

Body Paragraphs

The body paragraphs should examine your ideas and experiences in context to your topic. Make sure each new body paragraph starts with a topic sentence.

Your reflection may include quotes and passages if you are writing about a book or an academic paper. They give your reader a point of reference to fully understand your feedback. Feel free to describe what you saw, what you heard, and how you felt.

Example: “I saw many people participating in our weight experiment. The atmosphere felt nervous yet inspiring. I was amazed by the excitement of the event.”

As with any conclusion, you should summarize what you’ve learned from the experience. Next, tell the reader how your newfound knowledge has affected your understanding of the subject in general. Finally, describe the feeling and overall lesson you had from the reading or experience.

There are a few good ways to conclude a reflection paper:

• Tie all the ideas from your body paragraphs together, and generalize the major insights you’ve experienced.
• Restate your thesis and summarize the content of your paper.

We have a separate blog post dedicated to writing a great conclusion. Be sure to check it out for an in-depth look at how to make a good final impression on your reader.

Need a hand? Get help from our writers. Edit, proofread or buy essay .

How to Write a Reflection Paper: Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: create a main theme.

After you choose your topic, write a short summary about what you have learned about your experience with that topic. Then, let readers know how you feel about your case — and be honest. Chances are that your readers will likely be able to relate to your opinion or at least the way you form your perspective, which will help them better understand your reflection.

For example: After watching a TEDx episode on Wim Hof, I was able to reevaluate my preconceived notions about the negative effects of cold exposure.

Step 2: Brainstorm Ideas and Experiences You’ve Had Related to Your Topic

You can write down specific quotes, predispositions you have, things that influenced you, or anything memorable. Be personal and explain, in simple words, how you felt.

For example: • A lot of people think that even a small amount of carbohydrates will make people gain weight • A specific moment when I struggled with an excess weight where I avoided carbohydrates entirely • The consequences of my actions that gave rise to my research • The evidence and studies of nutritional science that claim carbohydrates alone are to blame for making people obese • My new experience with having a healthy diet with a well-balanced intake of nutrients • The influence of other people’s perceptions on the harm of carbohydrates, and the role their influence has had on me • New ideas I’ve created as a result of my shift in perspective

Step 3: Analyze How and Why These Ideas and Experiences Have Affected Your Interpretation of Your Theme

Pick an idea or experience you had from the last step, and analyze it further. Then, write your reasoning for agreeing or disagreeing with it.

For example, Idea: I was raised to think that carbohydrates make people gain weight.

Analysis: Most people think that if they eat any carbohydrates, such as bread, cereal, and sugar, they will gain weight. I believe in this misconception to such a great extent that I avoided carbohydrates entirely. As a result, my blood glucose levels were very low. I needed to do a lot of research to overcome my beliefs finally. Afterward, I adopted the philosophy of “everything in moderation” as a key to a healthy lifestyle.

For example: Idea: I was brought up to think that carbohydrates make people gain weight. Analysis: Most people think that if they eat any carbohydrates, such as bread, cereal, and sugar, they will gain weight. I believe in this misconception to such a great extent that I avoided carbohydrates entirely. As a result, my blood glucose levels were very low. I needed to do a lot of my own research to finally overcome my beliefs. After, I adopted the philosophy of “everything in moderation” as a key for having a healthy lifestyle.

Step 4: Make Connections Between Your Observations, Experiences, and Opinions

Try to connect your ideas and insights to form a cohesive picture for your theme. You can also try to recognize and break down your assumptions, which you may challenge in the future.

There are some subjects for reflection papers that are most commonly written about. They include:

• Book – Start by writing some information about the author’s biography and summarize the plot—without revealing the ending to keep your readers interested. Make sure to include the names of the characters, the main themes, and any issues mentioned in the book. Finally, express your thoughts and reflect on the book itself.
• Course – Including the course name and description is a good place to start. Then, you can write about the course flow, explain why you took this course, and tell readers what you learned from it. Since it is a reflection paper, express your opinion, supporting it with examples from the course.
• Project – The structure for a reflection paper about a project has identical guidelines to that of a course. One of the things you might want to add would be the pros and cons of the course. Also, mention some changes you might want to see, and evaluate how relevant the skills you acquired are to real life.
• Interview – First, introduce the person and briefly mention the discussion. Touch on the main points, controversies, and your opinion of that person.

Writing Tips

Everyone has their style of writing a reflective essay – and that's the beauty of it; you have plenty of leeway with this type of paper – but there are still a few tips everyone should incorporate.

Before you start your piece, read some examples of other papers; they will likely help you better understand what they are and how to approach yours. When picking your subject, try to write about something unusual and memorable — it is more likely to capture your readers' attention. Never write the whole essay at once. Space out the time slots when you work on your reflection paper to at least a day apart. This will allow your brain to generate new thoughts and reflections.

• Short and Sweet – Most reflection papers are between 250 and 750 words. Don't go off on tangents. Only include relevant information.
• Clear and Concise – Make your paper as clear and concise as possible. Use a strong thesis statement so your essay can follow it with the same strength.
• Maintain the Right Tone – Use a professional and academic tone—even though the writing is personal.
• Cite Your Sources – Try to cite authoritative sources and experts to back up your personal opinions.
• Proofreading – Not only should you proofread for spelling and grammatical errors, but you should proofread to focus on your organization as well. Answer the question presented in the introduction.

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Study Skills

Reflective practice toolkit, introduction.

• What is reflective practice?
• Everyday reflection
• Models of reflection
• Barriers to reflection
• Free writing
• Reflective writing exercise
• Bibliography

Many people worry that they will be unable to write reflectively but chances are that you do it more than you think!  It's a common task during both work and study from appraisal and planning documents to recording observations at the end of a module. The following pages will guide you through some simple techniques for reflective writing as well as how to avoid some of the most common pitfalls.

What is reflective writing?

Writing reflectively involves critically analysing an experience, recording how it has impacted you and what you plan to do with your new knowledge. It can help you to reflect on a deeper level as the act of getting something down on paper often helps people to think an experience through.

The key to reflective writing is to be analytical rather than descriptive. Always ask why rather than just describing what happened during an experience. 

Remember...

Reflective writing is...

• Written in the first person
• Free flowing
• A tool to challenge assumptions
• A time investment

Reflective writing isn't...

• Written in the third person
• Descriptive
• What you think you should write
• A tool to ignore assumptions
• A waste of time

Adapted from The Reflective Practice Guide: an Interdisciplinary Approach / Barbara Bassot.

You can learn more about reflective writing in this handy video from Hull University:

Created by SkillsTeamHullUni

• Hull reflective writing video transcript (Word)
• Hull reflective writing video transcript (PDF)

Where might you use reflective writing?

You can use reflective writing in many aspects of your work, study and even everyday life. The activities below all contain some aspect of reflective writing and are common to many people:

1. Job applications

Both preparing for and writing job applications contain elements of reflective writing. You need to think about the experience that makes you suitable for a role and this means reflection on the skills you have developed and how they might relate to the specification. When writing your application you need to expand on what you have done and explain what you have learnt and why this matters - key elements of reflective writing.

2. Appraisals

In a similar way, undertaking an appraisal is a good time to reflect back on a certain period of time in post. You might be asked to record what went well and why as well as identifying areas for improvement.

3. Written feedback

If you have made a purchase recently you are likely to have received a request for feedback. When you leave a review of a product or service online then you need to think about the pros and cons. You may also have gone into detail about why the product was so good or the service was so bad so other people know how to judge it in the future.

4. Blogging

Blogs are a place to offer your own opinion and can be a really good place to do some reflective writing. Blogger often take a view on something and use their site as a way to share it with the world. They will often talk about the reasons why they like/dislike something - classic reflective writing.

5. During the research process

When researchers are working on a project they will often think about they way they are working and how it could be improved as well as considering different approaches to achieve their research goal. They will often record this in some way such as in a lab book and this questioning approach is a form of reflective writing.

6. In academic writing

Many students will be asked to include some form of reflection in an academic assignment, for example when relating a topic to their real life circumstances. They are also often asked to think about their opinion on or reactions to texts and other research and write about this in their own work.

Think about ... When you reflect

Think about all of the activities you do on a daily basis. Do any of these contain elements of reflective writing? Make a list of all the times you have written something reflective over the last month - it will be longer than you think!

Reflective terminology

A common mistake people make when writing reflectively is to focus too much on describing their experience. Think about some of the phrases below and try to use them when writing reflectively to help you avoid this problem:

• The most important thing was...
• At the time I felt...
• This was likely due to...
• After thinking about it...
• I learned that...
• I need to know more about...
• Later I realised...
• This was because...
• This was like...
• I wonder what would happen if...
• I'm still unsure about...
• My next steps are...

Always try and write in the first person when writing reflectively. This will help you to focus on your thoughts/feelings/experiences rather than just a description of the experience.

Using reflective writing in your academic work

Many courses will also expect you to reflect on your own learning as you progress through a particular programme. You may be asked to keep some type of reflective journal or diary. Depending on the needs of your course this may or may not be assessed but if you are using one it's important to write reflectively. This can help you to look back and see how your thinking has evolved over time - something useful for job applications in the future. Students at all levels may also be asked to reflect on the work of others, either as part of a group project or through peer review of their work. This requires a slightly different approach to reflection as you are not focused on your own work but again this is a useful skill to develop for the workplace.

You can see some useful examples of reflective writing in academia from Monash University ,  UNSW (the University of New South Wales) and Sage . Several of these examples also include feedback from tutors which you can use to inform your own work.

Laptop/computer/broswer/research by StockSnap via Pixabay licenced under CC0.

Now that you have a better idea of what reflective writing is and how it can be used it's time to practice some techniques.

This page has given you an understanding of what reflective writing is and where it can be used in both work and study. Now that you have a better idea of how reflective writing works the next two pages will guide you through some activities you can use to get started.

• << Previous: Barriers to reflection
• Next: Free writing >>
• Last Updated: Jun 21, 2023 3:24 PM
• URL: https://libguides.cam.ac.uk/reflectivepracticetoolkit

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How To Write A Reflection Statement – A Step-By-Step Guide

Do you know how to write a reflection statement? In this post, we give you a clear process for writing reflection statements.

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Do you know how to write a reflection statement? Reflection statements are tasks that will increasingly be part of your assessments. In the past, reflection statements were only set for Extension 2. Now they will be commonplace in Advanced English for both Year 11 and Year 12.

In this post, we will demystify reflection statements and give you a step-by-step guide to producing statements that will impress your teachers!

What is a Reflection Statement?

A reflection statement is a complementary task that will accompany other assessment types. A reflection statement requires students to discuss the process of producing the associated assessment task.

In a reflection statement, students need to explain why they made the decisions they did. The reflection statement also offers the student an opportunity to say what they think they did well, or did poorly. Students can reflect on what they would change if they could do it over.

If you want to learn more about why self-reflection is such an important skill for students, you should read this excellent article by Cathy Costello at Virtual library .

Why can’t you give a specific definition of what reflection tasks involve?

The exact nature of the reflection task will depend on the assessment task you’ve been asked to reflect on. To give you an idea of this, we’ll look at some examples of the tasks that reflection statements might accompany and what the reflection statements need to address.

As you can see, there are a wide variety of tasks where you could be asked to provide an accompanying reflection task.

How long is a reflection statement?

This will vary.

English Extension 2 reflection statements need to be 1500 words. If you’re not doing English Extension 2, it is unlikely that you will be required to produce something that long.

The tasks you will be set for English Advanced will range between 300 and 800 words. Most reflection tasks will be on the shorter side of things at around the 400-word mark.

Need help perfecting your reflections for Module C?

Learn how to write insightful and constructive reflections with our structured online video lessons, quality resources, and forums to ask your Matrix teachers questions and feedback! Learn more about Matrix+ Online Courses now. 

Where will I encounter reflection statements?

You will be set reflective statements throughout Years 11 and 12. They can be attached to any assessment task for any Module.

However, due to the nature of the Common Module: Reading to Write it is likely you will be set one to accompany the main writing task for that Module.

Similarly, in Year 12, Common Module: Texts and Human Experience and Module C: The Craft of Writing are the most likely Modules where you will be asked to reflect on your process of composing.

Remember, there is no limit on how many reflections you will need to produce as they supplement a larger assessment task. You may need to write as many as two in both Year 11 and Year 12.

In the HSC English Advanced Paper 2 (from 2019) and HSC English Extension 1 Paper, you may be asked to write a composition and a reflection statement.

If you study English Extension 2, this is a mandatory accompaniment for your major work. (Please note, while the process discussed in this post is similar to the one for producing an Extension 2 reflection statement, it does not discuss the research and referencing components that you need to complete for an Extension 2 work).

Clearly, it is important to be confident writing reflection statements. Matrix students learn how to produce reflection statements and get help refining them.

The secret to producing killer reflection statements is to follow a process when writing them.

What we’ll do now is look at the process for how to produce ace your reflection statement.

How to write a Reflection Statement – a step-by-step guide

Like everything in English, there is a process you can follow to produce a reflection statement. Even though the specific task may vary. The process for writing the reflection will largely remain the same.

The process for writing reflection statements looks like this:

Step 1: Produce the main piece of work for the assessment

Reflection statements are never tasks in and of themselves, they supplement the main task. You will not be able to produce your reflection statement until you have completed and edited your main task.

If you are stuck on your main task and need help, you should read our Beginner’s Guide to Acing HSC English  for detailed advice on all aspects of Year 11 and 12 English.

This can be useful. You may well discover that your reflection statement makes you reconsider some of your choices in your main task. In the process of writing your reflection statement, you may decide you need to redraft your main work.

This is one of the key purposes of writing a reflection statement. It forces you to consider what you have produced and the process of producing it. This is a key part of editing and improving your work.

Step 2: Read the assessment notification

Once you’ve produced your main piece of work, you need to revisit your assessment notification. A task that involves a reflection statement will come in two sections:

• Section 1 will be the instructions for the main task;
• Section 2 will be the instructions for the supplementary reflection task.

Rereading the notification is important as it will help you check that you have completed the main task correctly. It will also tell you exactly what you need to do for the second part of the task.

Step 3: Read the marking criteria

For every assessment task that you are given, you MUST be given accompanying marking criteria. Marking criteria are very important. They tell you explicitly what you need to do to get full marks for a specific task.

Reading through the marking criteria at this point serves two purposes:

• You can double check that you have addressed all the criteria for a Band 6 result for your main task.
• You can see what you need to do to achieve a Band 6 result for your reflection statement.

Your reflection statement may have very different requirements for a Band 6 mark than your main task. It is important that you are aware of the differences.

Step 4: Unpack what the reflection statement needs you to discuss for a Band 6 result

Now you’re familiar with the notification and marking criteria for the assessment task, you need to get these understandings down in writing.

To do this, you need to take a few steps:

• Read through the instructions for the task and highlight or underline the keywords (these will usually be the verbs and nouns in the instructions).
• Now you want to write these words down and define them. If you are unsure of a what a word means, that’s okay. Look it up. This is how you expand your vocabulary.
• Next, do the same for the marking criteria. Underline what you feel are the keywords and terms. Again, write them down and define them.
• Now you need to write down what you need to do for a Band 6 result. To do this, write down the instructions in your own words. Include what you need to do for a Band 6 mark in this instruction. Be sure to make note of whether this is meant to be written informally or formally, in the first or third person. You must follow the instruction regarding form for these tasks.

Now you’ve unpacked the question. This means you are now equipped to answer the question you’ve been set.

Next, you need to revisit your main task so you can see what you’ve done and evaluate how you’ve put it together.

Step 5: Reread what you have produced for your main task

Your reflection statement will require you to explain the choices you’ve made in your main composition.

You may not have thought too much about these things when you produced the work. And this is fine. It just doesn’t help you with the reflections statement.

If this is you, you need to read your work with an eye on how you have conveyed information. You must unpack how you have presented your ideas. Essentially, you need to reverse engineer your writing through textual analysis.

Some useful questions to ask yourself when doing this are:

• How does my work address the assessment instructions and marking criteria?
• What am I trying to convey here?
• How does this part of my work address the marking criteria?
• What technique have I used to convey meaning?
• Why have I used that technique?
• Could I have conveyed this idea differently? Would this have been more effective? Why?

Make notes while you do this. You want to be able to refer back to your findings in detail when you write the reflection statement.

Once you’ve finished this, you’re ready to start planning. By now you should have:

• A detailed breakdown of what your task requires you to discuss in your reflection statement and how to discuss it.
• A detailed set of notes about the piece you have produced for the main task.

Step 6: Plan your reflection statement

As with any task, you want to plan things before you get stuck in. Planning your work forces you to consider what information you must include and how you will structure that information in your response. This is an important part of the critical thinking process.

Reflection statements need to have structure, too.

You need to ensure that you introduce your ideas clearly, then expand on them, and, finally, summarise and conclude your statement. Even if you only need to produce a 250-word paragraph, you still need to ensure that it follows the conventions of composition structure. You will lose marks for presenting idea soup.

To plan your response, you’ll need to get your notes on the task and your notes on your response together. Then:

• Read through your notes on the question. Remind yourself what you need to discuss in your reflection statement.
• Write down what you will discuss in your reflection statement.
• Now you need to think about what parts of your main task you will discuss. To do this, refer to your notes about your main task. Ask yourself, “which parts of my task are most relevant to what the task is asking me to discuss?”
• Note down what you think will be the order for presenting your reflection. For example, you may want to start with your structural decisions before discussing your use of techniques or you may want to discuss your influences before discussing your ideas.

Once you’ve got your plan together, you’re ready to write. Matrix students get advice on their assessment tasks from their Matrix Tutors and Teachers. It might be helpful to ask a peer or parent for their thoughts if your school teacher can’t provide advice.

Step 7: Write your introductory statement

The length of your introduction will be contingent on the specifics of your task:

• If your reflection statement is less than 400 words, you will need to produce one or two sentences.
• If you are writing a longer reflection statement of more than 400 words, you will need to write a short introduction.
• If you are producing an Extension 2 reflection statement, this will need to be a longer and more detailed introductory paragraph.

When writing your introduction, you must:

• Introduce the topic you will discuss;
• Explain how this reflects on the work that you are discussing;
• Make reference to the Module you are studying.

Once you have produced your introduction, you are now ready to develop your discussion and discuss the specifics of your main piece of work.

Step 8: Write the body of your argument

Now you’ve introduced your subject matter you need to start presenting an argument. Even though you are reflecting on your own work, you still need to use examples to demonstrate how you’ve set about responding to the main task.

You will need to present several examples to support your argument, but the number of examples will vary depending on the length of the task you’ve been set.

For a shorter reflection, try to present two or three examples and discuss them in detail. If you need to produce several paragraphs, you should be aiming at around four per paragraph.

To do this:

• Introduce the idea you were trying to convey (this might be an influence on your work, a technique you’ve tried to use, or a theme you’ve tried to explore).
• Present an example of this idea.
• Explain how you have attempted to use or explore this idea.
• Explain how this addresses the instructions and marking criteria for the task.
• Explain how this is relevant to the Module you are studying.
• Comment on other choices you could have made and why you didn’t use the other option.
• Repeat this for each example that you need to support your point.

Once you’ve done this, you need to conclude your reflection.

Step 9: Write your concluding statement

Your final statement needs to address the broad idea you have discussed in your response. It will need to be at least two sentences. A longer reflection will require a longer concluding statement; if you had a separate introduction you will require a separate conclusion.

To write your concluding statement:

• Summarise the key ideas that you have discussed.
• Make a statement about what you have taken away from your study of the Module and the process of producing this task and reflecting on it.

Now you need to revise what you’ve written.

Step 10: Proof and edit your work

It is really important that you proof and edit your work before submitting. You don’t want to throw away marks on typos and unnecessary grammatical errors. Proofing your work is something you must do after you finish any task.

To proof your reflection statement:

• Reread your summary of the notification of the task and the marking criteria.
• Read your reflection statement aloud.
• Whenever you encounter a mistake or a sentence that sounds ungrammatical, correct it.
• Pay attention to the logic of your argument. Does it make sense?
• Ask yourself, have I addressed the instructions for the task?
• Ask yourself, have I addressed the marking criteria for a Band 6 response.
• Redraft your reflection statement in its entirety. Don’t submit your first draft. Your second draft will always be better.

If you would like to know more about the editing process, you should read Part 7 of our Beginner’s Guide to Acing HSC English: How to Edit Your Work .

Now you’ve finished a second draft you can submit. If you can, you should try and get some feedback. Matrix students get regular feedback from their Matrix Tutors and Teachers. Feedback on your work allows you to take somebody else’s perspective and use it to improve your marks.

Written by Matrix English Team

© Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au, 2023. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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Reflective report structure: here is the brief guide and help

Reflective reports are written to explain your experiences concisely and informally. They should be written like short essays and be structured as separate sections. Unlike articles, however, reports are more practical and should focus on lessons learned. The descriptions of situations and feelings should be brief, and the main lessons learned should be expressed and applied in the future.

Writing a reflective report

The introduction to a reflective report should explain what the topic is about. It should also summarise what you learned through a certain activity. Then, in your body paragraphs, provide at least three points supporting your opinion. You can include arguments for and against each method. Finally, it would help if you connected back to the audience.

Reflective reports are different from other kinds of academic assignments. Instead of presenting a researcher’s viewpoint, students present their own. They must also provide evidence to support their arguments. While some students enjoy writing this type of paper, others find it challenging. Not everyone can formulate opinions on various topics, and so seeking help is important.

Paragraphs should be three to eight sentences long. They should be structured like small essays. They should also emphasise the lessons learned. It’s important to provide enough details to help the reader envision the setting or experience. The points can range from the visual appearance of a scene to the sounds and general ambience.

A reflective report can be structured using several different models. While Gibb’s reflective cycle is an example of one of these models, it is not the only one that applies to this type of writing. You may also consider Kolb’s model, which is much more compact. The overall goal of a reflective report is to examine the process and outcome of a specific event, activity, or process, and then to apply the learning to future practice.

Reflective reports generally include three parts: context description, analysis, and conclusions. There is no set proportion for these three parts, but remember that the learning process occurs during the latter two stages. Therefore, describe the context briefly but include details that make the reader feel they are living in the setting.

When writing a reflective report, there are a few rules to follow. It is important to keep the report concise, with each section having a clear purpose. The content should focus on lessons learned. Typically, the first part of the report should describe the event and the methods you used. The second part of the report should evaluate the experience by considering what you learned, how you responded, and what you would do differently next time.

The introduction is usually the most difficult part of the report, so it is advisable to write it last. Reflective reports generally follow a more structured format than essays, with sub-headings and section headings. The structure may vary by assignment, but it should follow the assignment guidelines.

A reflective report is a great way to express what you learned in a specific situation. It can be written in a five-paragraph essay structure or in a format like the Gibbs Reflection Cycle. In either case, there are some tips you should follow in order to create a good structure for your reflective report.

First, you should be as specific as possible. This means that you should name two main things you learned and how you plan to use your learning in the future. For example, if you studied conflict resolution in school, you can use the new skills you learned in the workplace.

The structure of a reflective report is a critical component of the writing process. It must demonstrate critical analysis and thoughtful reflection. There are many different models for reflective writing. While Gibb’s reflection cycle is widely used, Kolb’s version is more concise. The structure of a reflective report should be a reflection of the student’s experiences.

Reflective report structure should include separate sections, each with a distinct purpose. Rather than discussing complex theories, a reflective report should focus on the lessons learned.

Owen Ingram is a research-based content writer, who works for Cognizantt, a globally recognised professional SEO service and Research Prospect , a Servizio di redazione di saggi e dissertazioni . Mr Owen Ingram holds a PhD degree in English literature. He loves to express his views on a range of issues including education, technology, and more.

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Student Presentation Reflections

Teachers as Paragons

I struggle with articulating this point, but for the purposes of this post, I think that the most valid student-teacher dynamic is not the Jedi Master and Padawan method, but instead one where a teacher serves as a paragon of a small set of skills/attributes and the student’s role is to assimilate their experiences with all of their teachers into their own paradigm.

While this viewpoint is not revolutionary, I find that hubris often prevents a teacher from maximizing the benefit of this approach. Too often I find myself or my peers trying to be too many things to too many students. I think it is important for a teacher to make explicit commitments about which skill or attribute they wish to be the avatar for.

I chose presentation skills as my niche of instruction because I benefited greatly from the Public Speaking and Speech and Debate classes I took in high school. When I was in college, I saw very clearly those of my peers who did not have those same opportunities. I vowed that my students would be afforded opportunities to develop their presentation skills in my class no matter the other classes offered by my school.

Reflection Process

I plan on creating many posts about the different resources, examples, and assignments that I use to improve my students’ presentation skills. One of the core strategies, and I believe the most powerful, that I use to improve student presentations is a presentation reflection process.

In order to make presentation reflections be a valid assignment, you must film your students as they present—something that my 11th grade Public Speaking teacher Mrs. Shank did for me 15 years ago. Admittedly, being filmed for a presentation was nerve-wracking; however, it was also amazing beneficial. However, instead of recording presentations on VHS cassette like Mrs. Shank did, I record presentations digitally and post them as unlisted YouTube videos .

Recording Presentations

Do yourself a favor and make sure that you use a tripod to record the student presentations. You might think you can cobble together books and tape to hold a camera steady, but this is the wrong call.

• If you plan on using your phone as the camera, you will need a mount to attach it to your tripod , and an improved microphone will certainly help with the audio quality, but it’s not necessary.
• If you plan on using a DSLR or mirrorless camera, then you really need to improve the audio. To improve the quality of the video’s captured sound, I suggest using a shotgun microphone .

Whatever hardware you use, it is important to share with the students the camera’s field of view, so they know where they should stand. The reflection assignment is much harder if the student does not appear on camera.

Reflection Assignment

Recording the presentation is the first step, but students will need to thoughtfully watch their presentations to see areas for improvement. To guide the students’ thoughts while they watch their presentation video, I developed three sequential reflection assignments, one for each of the major presentations in my class.

This reflection process is truly eye-opening. Students are routinely shocked when they watch the video and see the nervous fidgeting or hand-wringing that they swear never happened. The pedagogical impact of a student watching themselves on video is many times more powerful than even the most helpful rubric or feedback.

In addition to reflecting on what happened, an important part of the assignment is also identifying five points on which to improve and coming up with action items for each point. An example of an improvement point and an action item would be:

• I will look up the phonetic pronunciation of the words ahead of time and practice saying them to my teacher.

I always assign this as homework and give students a week to do the assignment after their presentation. I try very hard to make sure the videos get processed, uploaded, and shared with the students as soon as possible to make sure that things are fresh in their mind.

Students sometimes balk at the number of words they have to write. However, since they are writing semi-informally about themselves and have a video to go off, students routinely surpass 1000 words without blinking an eye.

Sometimes when I explain presentation reflections to teachers, they exclaim that it is too much work for them to do or they don’t know how to do the “video stuff” or something else along those lines. The video recording/editing process can be as basic or as advanced as you want it to be. Since video editing is a core part of my multimedia business, there is a lot of stuff that I do to the videos that is unnecessary but a point of pride for me.

In all honesty, a perfectly functional presentation video takes less than 3 minutes more than the presentation itself. Whether you spend 3 minutes or 30 minutes editing a presentation video, that time is returned many-fold by the presentation skill increase of your students.

Hands down, the most consistent piece of feedback I receive from alumni is that they dominate their presentations in college. This makes me very proud. I committed to developing presentation skills in my students since my very first year of teaching. Hearing back from alumni that they are drastically better than their peers at presenting puts a smile on my face every time.

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Academic & reflective writing

Reflective writing.

  The following guide has been created for you by the  Student Learning Advisory Service . For more detailed guidance and to speak to one of our advisers, please book an  appointment  or join one of our  workshops . Alternatively, have a look at our  SkillBuilder  skills videos.  

What is reflective writing?

We all reflect naturally from time to time on things that happen to us in order to improve our performance. However, at university, students are often required to write their reflections in the form of a blog, journal or reflective report. This encourages a habit in students which is deemed to be useful in becoming a more reflective learner. 

At university , reflective writing is a technique that allows you to consider any experience associated with your studies – everything from a work placement to a group presentation – in order to learn from it. You may choose to keep a private learning journal in which to reflect informally on such experiences during your course. Alternatively, you may be given a specific reflective writing assignment. In both cases, the process involved is the same.

The reflective process

Reflective learning is based on the idea that we can improve our ability to learn by recording and thinking about the experiences we have. 

In higher education and graduate employment high value is placed on the skill of being a reflective learner. This means that students can:

• critically evaluate their learning
• identify areas of their learning that require further development
• make themselves more independent learners

There are various ‘models’ of how the ‘reflective cycle’ works, however the basic stages are as follows:

• The experience: the activity or event you wish to reflect upon
• Reflection/observation: what went well, what didn’t, how you felt about the outcome? Had you done this activity before? What struck you most about the experience
• Analysis/evaluation: why didn’t everything go as expected? What could you have done differently? What did you learn about yourself, the activity, or the associated theory?
• Action plan/improvement: based on this knowledge, what will you do to improve the outcome in a similar situation in the future?

This process can be repeated in a constant cycle of improvement and increased self-knowledge, especially if you keep a learning journal, whether privately or as part of your course.

Private learning journals

 As reflective writing begins with ‘the experience’ a learning journal entry (for example, exploring your concern over how you allocate your time) may begin with ‘I ran out of time today…’ You may then consider what parts of your course are worrying you, what study methods are (or are not) working for you and whether there are any learning issues you feel you need to address. The results of your reflections may be a to-do list of learning priorities – ‘get organised with folders’, ‘join reading group’ etc. In a private journal the style and content of what you write is, of course, entirely up to you. By contrast, formal reflective assignments, set as part of your course, will have specific requirements.

Reflective writing assignments

Whether the assignment comprises of an ongoing reflective journal charting your progress across a module, or a single piece of work reflecting on a specific experience, such as a work placement or group presentation, common principles apply.

Reflective writing assignments are designed to help you develop, and demonstrate, your ability to:

• Think critically about your own skills and practice
• Analyse rather than just describe
• Use evidence to illustrate your reflections
• Apply what you have learned

If you know reflective writing will be required on a specific event or experience, make a log (journal type entry) of the event to capture your early reflections, ready to explore in more detail afterwards.

As reflective writing is a technique to help you learn and improve it can be helpful to reflect on pivotal decisions, or aspects of an experience that you found difficult or challenging – or in which you made mistakes. This will provide good raw material for you to demonstrate your use of this technique to turn negative experience into a positive plan for the future. Additionally, you may reflect on why something went particularly well, so that the positive outcome may be duplicated in future.

Basic principles

Reflective writing assignments are different from standard essays in that, for example, parts of them may be written in the first person, ‘I felt that I should have…’. However, despite this element of informality, common academic practices apply, including the need to:

• Follow the guidelines
• Answer the question
• Present your work within an organised structure
• Use clear, coherent prose
• Support your observations with reference to academic literature and evidence
• Demonstrate critical analysis (see ‘Critical thinking’ study guide)

Linking theory and practice

Critically exploring the link between what should have happened in a given situation (according to the relevant theory), and what actually did happen, offers a level of practical insight into a topic that a standard essay cannot. Accordingly, it is a key requirement of a reflective writing assignment. You need to ask:

• Did the experience help me understand the theory?

‘It helped me understand why best practice guidelines suggest that…’

• Did the theory prepare me well for the experience?

‘According to theory xxxx I was expecting the parent to…. But instead…’

• Did the experience and the theory match up?

‘The theory didn’t allow for the eventuality of… In practice…’

• Were there conflicts between the experience and the theory? What were they?

Reflective writing, therefore, allows you more fully to assess and evaluate the theories you have learned about in lectures/seminars.

Although you should always follow instructions provided by your school or lecturer, the main components of a reflective writing assignment may be as follows:

Introduction: briefly describing the experience on which you will be reflecting (such as a work placement, a presentation you made, an article you read). What was the event? Where? When? Who was involved?

Main body: comprising a series of well-structured paragraphs.

• For a short assignment, these may comprise the four stages of the reflective process (experience, reflection, analysis, action plan) for a single experience or aspect of it.
• For longer assignments the paragraphs might each address a different aspect of the experience (reflecting on a group presentation it could be your planning process, your team dynamics, your own performance) each containing the reflective process within it.

In both cases, your analysis and ideas should be backed up with reference to relevant theories, case studies and other academic evidence, all of which should be accurately referenced.

Conclusion: summarising what happened, how you felt about it, the key things you learned and how you will use this knowledge to move forward. 

Remember: reflective writing is a tool that you can use to enhance your learning.     

• Academic Writing / Conferences

Presenting a Poster Presentation: Tips and Reflections

by Purdue Global Academic Success Center and Writing Center · Published December 9, 2015 · Updated December 8, 2015

By Amy Sexton, Kaplan University Writing Center Tutor

Active professional development and scholarship are extremely important for educators, and conferences can provide an excellent avenue for both. As a virtual employee, I find it especially refreshing to attend physical conferences and interact face-to-face with colleagues in my field.  I recently had the opportunity to present at a poster session at the Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy in Savannah, GA.  As a writing tutor, I constantly help students with tasks related to information literacy, so I wanted to attend and present at this conference. I have presented workshops and traditional presentations at conferences before, but I had never presented a poster presentation, so that is what I proposed.  I wanted to broaden my horizons and try something new and different.  Designing and making the poster and then presenting to a group of educators was interesting and fruitful and  resulted in numerous takeaways, including practical suggestions for designing and producing posters and thoughtful reflections.

Designing and Creating a Poster:   Prior to this conference, my experience with primarily visual communication had been limited to PowerPoint presentations and the occasional bulletin board, so I needed assistance with poster design.  I found the following sites and articles helpful:

Creating Effective Poster Presentations – This site contains comprehensive links that cover important elements from planning to presenting the poster (Hess, Tosny, & Liegel, 2015).

How to Distinguish a Good Poster Design from a Bad One – This article gives helpful guidelines and pictures of good, bad, and ugly poster designs.  As a visual learner, I appreciated seeing examples (“How to Distinguish”, n.d.).

Free Research Poster PowerPoint Templates – While I did not use a template, I found it helpful to see templates and examples (“Free Research Poster”, 2015).   I would definitely use a template if I had arranged to have my poster printed (see below).

When I created my poster, I first wrote a PowerPoint presentation and then printed the slides and arranged them on a 36X48 trifold poster board.  I used adhesive tabs to attach the slides to the poster.  This worked well, and I was happy with my poster design, but, as always, hindsight and reflection have helped me pinpoint some things I may have done differently.  I share these here in hopes that they may be helpful to others who may not be very familiar with poster design and creation.

One reason that I did not use a template was I realized that doing so would require a special printer to print the larger PowerPoint slides. I do not have a special printer, so I would have had to arrange for a printing company to print my poster.   The starting price for printing a poster the size of mine is $45 at PosterPresentations.com (“Price Guide”, 2015), and a quick Internet search suggests that this is a typical price.  While this may seem expensive, to compare, it is approximately the same amount that I spent preparing my poster.  Also, if I had flown to the conference rather than driven, as many conference attendees do, having the  poster printed and shipped to the hotel or conference site would have been necessary.  Obviously, having a poster printed would be an extra step that would need to be factored into the planning process.

Conference Reflections:   Preparing the poster, traveling with it, and setting it up at the conference went smoothly, but, once I was in the room and presenting with colleagues, I noticed that many of  the other presenters had a related, tangible action that they discussed with conference participants, such as a study, project, or course revision.   The presenters to my left talked about an ongoing traveling librarian program at their university; the presenter on my right detailed the successes of implementing an information literacy component using Web 2.0 technologies into a library research course.  While my project had good ideas and research, I have not yet implemented any of my findings (other than to publish an article on this blog: Exploring and Preventing Plagiarism in a Digital Age ), so I am now thinking about ways that I can use the knowledge I gained from my research  in my daily work and future presentations.

Overall, proposing and presenting this presentation was a worth-while and fun professional learning experience.  Perhaps best of all, it was something new and unfamiliar, which forced me to step, metaphorically, into the shoes of our students as each and every course they begin is likely new and unfamiliar to them.

Free research poster PowerPoint templates.  (2015).  Retrieved from http://www.posterpresentations.com/html/free_poster_templates.html

Hess, G., Tosney, K. & Liegel, L.  (2015).  Creating effective poster presentations:  An effective poster.  Retrieved from http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/index.html

How to distinguish a good poster design from a bad one.  (n.d.).  Retrieved from http://www.nuigalway.ie/remedi/poster/media/Posters_Good_and_bad.pdf

Price guide: Products and services.  (2015). Retrieved from http://www.posterpresentations.com/html/price_guide.html

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Tags: Academic Conferences

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2 Responses

• Pingbacks 0

Hi Kathleen, Thank you for your feedback! I am so happy that you found my blog post helpful and that it has inspired you to consider doing your own poster presentation!

Fantastic blog, thanks! I’ve never done a Poster Presentation, but now I feel that I can do one in the future!

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Assessment guidance.

4. A reflective presentation

A reflective presentation or evaluation is an opportunity to reflect on your experiences of the unit as a whole, identify your key learning, and to help frame your assessment submission. The format of the presentation can take a number of forms, as described by the following students.

“I thought a video presentation would be the best way to showcase sketchbook work and talk through the learning objectives. I feet it was more effective having images to back up the limited words allowed.” 

I opted for a... “written evaluation - putting things on paper is how I naturally work through my thoughts and sift my ideas. The literal editing process helps me to refine my reflections and draw out the essence of my experience.” 

“A video was easier to communicate how I felt and more relaxed.” 

“My video skills are currently non-existent and due to pressure of time I needed to use the medium I am most proficient in. I was intrigued by the idea of the video though and would like to try it at some time in the future. I did watch other students video presentations on the forum with interest.”

“ On this occasion (I opted for) a written evaluation as I'd already prepped for it that way. In future, with the new skills I've learned, I will produce a video.”

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How To Write A Reflective Report: Expert Guide

Are you required to write a reflective report? If so, what is a reflective report? And do they differ from other reports that you have written in the past? Well, in this article, we shall analyze what makes up a reflective report and answer all the questions that you may have regarding the topic. We shall cover:

• The meaning of a reflective report
• What reflective reports are composed of
• The process of generating a reflective report
• Reflective report examples

We shall go through all this and so much more. Hence if you have any queries on reflective reports, you do not want to miss out on this article.

Table Of Contents

What is a reflective report, what are the different types of reflective reports, how to do reflective writing, components of a reflective report, how to write a reflective report perfectly, how to write a reflective report introduction, how to write a reflective report body, how to write a reflective report conclusion, how to write a critical reflection, how to write a reflective report on group work, good reflective topics for you, reflective report example.

A reflective report usually refers to a written account of your thoughts and feelings about something. It typically includes an explanation of what happened and your opinion on it.

For example, you might write a reflective report after a particular event, or you might take time to reflect on things that regularly occur in your life. A reflective account is not only beneficial for writing assignments and assessments, but it’s also helpful for taking stock of your life. Reflective reports are widely used in education programs and many vocations. They are also common as assignments in many UK universities.

There are many different types of reflective reports, academic to the personal. Most of the time, a reflective report is written about an event, but it could also be about something that is happening in your life or even about something you have read. You could also write a reflective report at any time after an event has happened.

• Academic reflective reports: Academic reflective reports are typically used in college and university classes when students want to evaluate their work or the work of others. For example, if you’re in a business education program, you might write a reflective report about your experiences in the field. A reflective report can also be used to learn how to write an academic paper. An instructor often evaluates this type of reflective report for quality and content.
• Personal reflective reports: Personal reflective reports are just that – reports about your own life and the things that happen to you on a daily basis. They can be about school, work, hobbies, or something else entirely. For example, you can write a reflective report when you’ve just had a bad day at the office when you are in the process of developing a new hobby, or even if you just want to take some time to reflect on your life. These reports are typically used for self-improvement or reflection.
• Critical incident analysis: Critical incident analysis is quite common in subjects such as teaching, social care, and health. Hence if you are looking to take up a professional practitioner course, you are likely to be tested using this type of reflective report. In this reflective report, you are asked to look closely into a single event you found challenging. You are then supposed to reflect on why the event was challenging.
• Demonstrating professional attributes: They focus a lot on identifying then providing evidence on your development. Demonstrating professional attributes reflective reports are similar to the types of writing that you would do in a job application.
• Reflective journal: Relates to a blog or a diary in that it is pretty much structured around chronological entries, mostly weekly. They hence take time to write but help you develop a habit of reflecting regularly.
• Case study: If you are drawing a case study from your own experience, then this can fall under reflection writing. A case study aims to demonstrate your understanding of a particular theory, model, or concept by applying it into your practices then showing how it predicts, typifies, and explains.

To tackle reflective reports perfectly, you have to:

• Recall past experiences clearly
• Explore, analyze and then explain whatever happened and the reasons why
• Incorporate theory and models
• Uses proper academic language
• Greatly consider your strengths and weaknesses, anxieties, and ultimately errors

Therefore, i f you have poor writing skills, it’s better to order online paper writing help .

Reflective reports have three main components, that is:

• The introduction
• The conclusion

Each of these components has to be perfected to develop a flawless reflective report. Messing up in any of the sections can end up hurting your overall grade immensely.

Writing a reflective report for university or college assignments, work purposes, or any other reason can be undoubtedly tricky. If you do not know how to start a reflective report, build up your story, and bring it to a halt, then developing one can be hectic. Well, in this section, we shall clearly define how to write a reflective learning report that is thrilling by maneuvering through the mentioned components flawlessly. However if you feel stressed about this work process, you can pay for research paper and do no more. Our professionals would be pleased to write your paper for you well and really fast. 

Do you like awful movie or novel introductions? The answer to this question is most probably a “NO.” Well, if this is the case, then you should put yourself in your reader’s shoes. In doing so, you will realize that a boring, plain introduction ruins the mood for the entire paper. Hence, you should write a catchy introduction if you wish to gain more marks. So how can you perfect your introduction? The introduction part is where you start your reflective report. This is your chance to introduce the reader to the topic. The first portion should consist of a summary of what you’ve learned from a specific activity. You can demonstrate this by using previous mistakes or errors and how you’ll handle them in the future. The introductory paragraph should also be the place where you explain what influenced your learning experience and why it’s essential for people to learn about this topic. Finally, you can use this section as an opportunity to connect back with your audience, explaining what they can gain from reading this paper. Here is an example of a reflective report introduction to guide you further. Reflective report introduction example :

“I have always felt that I excel incredibly in terms of written communication. Through this skill, I effectively communicate my feelings and thoughts via words and expressions with no complications at all. However, I did not realize how much my writing was lacking, up until my feelings and thoughts were nearly pushed to the edge by a course I took on creative writing.”

This is where your reader will be able to see the fruits of your labor. The body section should be a well-developed section that shows your thought process and how you build on previous ideas. If you’re writing about a topic that’s related to education, this section is an important place to describe all of the aspects of the class and explain how it affected you. If you’re reporting on an experience outside of school, this portion will usually detail what happened and how it was interpreted. Describe what you heard, saw, and felt vividly and in detail, for example :

“I saw a couple of people participating in our height experiment. The atmosphere around felt nervous but also inspiring. Every participant was excited….”

Your final paragraph should recap what you’ve learned and how it can be applied to future situations. Whether it’s an academic paper or an essay about a personal experience, this portion should be short but powerful. Your conclusion may demonstrate some critical points about the topic that you want the reader to take away from your writing, allowing them to learn more about it in the future. Reflective report conclusion example :

“Expressing every change that this writing class wrought in my writing is pretty challenging. However, in the eight weeks that I spent learning, I became a more competent writer. My writing now contains more soul and depth, which has opened doors to new areas that I never thought were possible. By researching new approaches and studying new techniques, I now have a robust arsenal in terms of writing and a sturdy foundation for great future endeavors.”

When you critically reflect on something, you utilize course materials to efficiently examine your biases, search for triggers and causes, compare different theories with current actions, and hit problems at their very core. Critical reflection aims to change your way of thinking towards a particular subject. To come up with a great critical reflection, you have to go through two phases:

• Analysis – analyze the problem at hand and your role in it by asking yourself critical questions. Try to jot down points as you try to answer these questions. At this point, you do not have to worry about grammar.
• Articulate – utilize the points that you gathered in the analysis phase to generate a clear argument on what you discovered. Organize your facts and ideas in a clear and precise manner.

Use the reflection report structures discussed earlier plus the points gained here to develop an outstanding critical reflection of high quality.

Writing a reflective account on group work can be pretty tricky; that is why professors like to test this reflective report a lot. However, in this section, we shall go through how to develop this kind of report and how to spice it up to gain top grades and beat any deadline with ease.

• Reflection definition – Reflection is the main term in this essay. Therefore, it would be best to define its meaning even before getting into your reflective report’s main parts.
• Multiple perspectives that emerge
• Unique skills contribution
• Improvement in communication skills
• Time consumption
• Learning style conflicts
• Freeloaders
• Communication breakdown
• Isolated group challenges – Here, you get to isolate the challenges and benefits that your group faced. Think about the freeloaders in your group, those who came late, disagreements that emerged, and so on. On the positive side, think of the super active group members, the relations you made, etc. All this will give you excellent points.
• How were all handled challenges faced – In this section, define how you dealt with the challenges you faced in step 4. Take your reader through the growth that your group went through.
• Conclude – students mostly skip this crucial section. Here is where you get to show your reader that you have not just reflected on what you did but that you have also gained the knowledge to change for a better tomorrow.

That is how you write a reflective report on group work. To better understand reflective writing, you should go through more examples that can be accessed online easily. All you have to do is, for example, search for a reflective report example on the topic at hand, and you will get a sample to work with. What’s more, you can get a reflective report template to work with; this will improve the reflective report’s structure. However, you should always ensure that you follow a trusted link. Most sites offer these resources free but some charge an affordable price. 

These reflections could be on any topic, but it is usually best to focus on something that has affected you in a significant way. Whether you’re writing about an educational setting or an outside experience, your content must be easy to understand and concise. When writing this type of assignment, it’s also essential to think about the audience; who will be perusing the reflective report? Who has assigned it? These questions should help determine your main points and how you can refine them while developing your paper. Here is a list of possible topics for a reflective report:

• Your favorite online shopping store.
• What is the influence of social media on teenagers?
• How to deal with a customer.
• What do you like about your job?
• Your visit to your new school.
• Your favorite restaurant.
• The last vacation you had.
• Why do you think your school/college shouldn’t be shut down?
• The last book that you read.
• What is the influence of television on children?
• Having lunch with your friends.

Here is a simple reflective report example on “reading my favorite book.” You can use this example to gain more details on structures and message delivery, which is crucial in reflective writing.

Reading books did not give me much of an appeal. I would read books meant for assignments passively, not grasping any fuss on any book. However, when I read “pride and prejudice,” all this changed. It was like the book opened my literary eyes for the very first time. Pride and prejudice stirred up a love for classic novels that I did not think could exist within me. When I received the assignment to read through pride and prejudice, I scoffed and eye-rolled, just like all my friends. I calculated, internally, of course, the amount of time that I would spend reading and writing a report on the book. I then signed after realizing how much time I was going to “waste.” Opening up the book’s cover, I was super determined to hate it even before reading the first sentence. By the time I reached the third page, I had almost called it quit. It was then that something about a character known as Elizabeth Bennet grasped my interest. I cannot specifically point out where, but somewhere along the way, I remember devouring the book’s pages instead of simply trudging along. By the time I finished reading the book, I was disappointed and ecstatic at the same time. The book had a great ending, no doubt about that, but then I realized that I’d miss the characters and their world. Even though I had read a couple of books earlier, this was the very first-time story characters had such an effect on me. I tried my best to shake off the feeling of sadness that I had but to no success. After a couple of days, I headed off to our schools’ library and searched for a classic book to read. The moment I opened the next classic, there was no going back. If anyone had ever told me that a book could change my life earlier, I would have thought of them as crazy, but it happened. The great love that I found in pride and prejudice opened doors to a world of classic literature that I cannot imagine living without. To date, the book is still my favorite.

That is how you tackle a simple reflective report. Of course, there are more complex reports, but this example gives you a rough idea of how to handle such papers. If you find it challenging to write a reflective report, you can get online research paper help from professional writers from all over the world. For example, you can search for “an expert reflective report writer” online. In doing so, you will get access to many writers, local and international. It does not matter whether you are from the UK, London, British et cetera. What’s more, these writers can even do the reflective paper for you, for a cheap price, of course, hence relieving you of all the research pressure.

Tired Of Writing Reports Yourself?

Writing a reflective report is not an easy feat. However, with the guidelines provided in this article and significant research, acing your test will be super easy. We hope we’ve answered all the questions that you might have had regarding reflective writing and how to tackle such an essay. Furthermore, research paper help online will be happy to save your assignment anytime, if you need us. You just need to write something like “Please, do my assignment for me now!” and we will write your paper soon. 

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How to Write 1st Class Reflective Reports

Reflective Reports are a common assignment in UK universities. Unlike traditional essays and presentations, the Reflective Report gives students a chance to highlight their own experiences and opinions in an academic setting. Reflective Reports need to contain a good level of critical analysis, but they can also be fun and useful for students.

What Is a Reflective Report?

As the name suggests, a Reflective Report is a piece of writing that summarises a student’s critical reflection on a subject. While traditional academic writing discourages first-person accounts, Reflective Reports rely on them. Reflective Reports are frequently used as part of the assessment of practical projects. In group projects, individual Reflective Reports can document each student’s own contribution to the collective work.

How Is a Reflective Report Different from Other Types of Academic Assignment?

The reflective report is different from traditional assignments because it allows students to explore their own experiences and viewpoints. In these assignments you will not be expected to maintain impersonal objectivity; instead you are expected to highlight your own actions, emotions, and opinions. To be successful, students should critically evaluate their own actions and progress, and demonstrate an ability to link their personal experience with theoretical knowledge.

What Does a Reflective Report Normally Contain?

The contents of the Reflective Report will vary according to the discipline, but it typically provides an overview of the practical project and a thorough account of its progression. Students should highlight their own role in the project if it is a group assignment, and they should always provide critical analysis of their own achievements. In general, Reflective Reports often address the following points:

• What were the project goals and how did you attempt to achieve them? Describe your project plan and how it addressed the requirements of the assignment and your broader area of practice.
• What did you learn? Connect theoretical knowledge from your course to the practical work you undertook. Discuss how particular actions reflect major theories in your field.
• What did you do and feel? Describe your own opinions about the project, including choices that were made and actions that were taken. What were your own contributions and why did you perform in the way that you did?
• What did others do and feel? If this is a group project, discuss the opinions that other group members conveyed to you, and the actions they took. Did you disagree about any points, and if so how did you resolve these issues?
• What was the outcome? Critically assess the success or failure of your practical work. Point out the ways that it benefited users, and/or met the project objectives.
• What were your personal strengths and weaknesses that were revealed? What have you learned about your own professional development from this project? What skill areas do you still need to develop?
• What would you do differently next time?

What Use Are Reflective Reports to Students?

Many students enjoy assignments that contain Reflective Reports, because they allow them to think critically about their own scholarly development and practical progress. Reflective Reports also develop a capacity for critical reflection on professional performance. This is key to developing ethical practice in a wide range of fields, from business to medicine to teaching. People who have experience with Reflective Reports are better able to reflect on their day to day practice, and they also have the ability to summarise and contextualise their performance for colleagues and governing authorities.

How to Write a Good Reflective Report

• Be critical . Although the content of a reflective portfolio will be more personalised than other assignments, you should use the same level of critical analysis as you do for any essay or exam .
• Be thorough . Make sure that you write about all the stages of your project, from the planning phases through to completion. You also need to include a comprehensive post-project analysis.
• Don’t be afraid to state what went wrong! Writing about the least successful aspects of your project allows you to demonstrate a capacity for true critical analysis. It also lets examiners see that you are self-aware and capable of independent professional development.
• Don’t be afraid to state what went right! Some students find it difficult to write confidently about the most successful parts of their work. Scholars are normally expected to be highly objective, and they are often discouraged from celebrating an individual achievement or personal contributions. However, in the Reflective Report you should be sure to state clearly and concisely how your own actions contributed to a successful outcome.
• Analyse outcomes and suggest future improvements. To earn the highest possible marks your Reflective Report should include a detailed critique of the project outcomes. Part of this should include a few well-thought-out suggestions for improving similar projects in the future.

Mistakes to Avoid in Writing Reflective Reports

The most common mistake in Reflective Writing is to be either too objective and scholarly, or too emotional and non-critical. Either mistake is equally wrong. Students should aim for a middle ground in their writing, in which they highlight their own personal feelings and reflections but analyse these with reference to theoretical course material.

Avoid blaming others for things that went wrong . Try to maintain some level of objectivity with regard to both failures and successes. To avoid being overly personal, emphasise the way that theories from your field could address any weaknesses that you encountered.

Finally, be professional . It is true that Reflective Reports require a less formal style of writing, but students sometimes believe that this allows for illegible handwriting and poor grammar. Remember that this is still an academic assignment , and all the normal standards of presentation apply!

University of Kent, 2013. Reflective Learning Study Guide. Available: https://www.kent.ac.uk/learning/documents/PDP/reflectivelearningstudyguide1112.docx. Last Accessed 01 Oct, 2020.

Ursula Lucas and Leng Tan, 2007. Developing a Reflective Capacity Within Undergraduate Education: the role of work-based placement learning. York: Higher Education Academy.

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I Tried the New iPad Pro's Nano-Texture Anti-Reflective Display

It definitely reduces glare, but it costs extra and most people should stick to standard glossy.

I know, new iPads. But hear me out: The new iPad Pros and iPad Airs are really nice. They’re expensive, but they’re so, so nice and powerful. So are the upgraded Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro accessories.

After the “Let Loose” virtual event yesterday, I got to spend around 45 minutes with the new iPads and get a better sense of why you should pay top dollar for any of them. Here are my first impressions.

Thin and Powerful

Apple boasted how the new iPad Pros (11 and 13-inch displays) are thinner than the last iPod nano the company sold (5.4mm). The tablets are indeed really slim — thin enough for me to wonder if I could use one to slice a loaf of bread . (Probably not, but somebody will surely try on TikTok.) The thinness doesn’t mean flimsy, though — the aluminum unibody design (in silver or Space Black) didn’t flex when I applied a little pressure, which hopefully means we won’t get another #bendgate.

More than the skinny profile, I was surprised by the weight. Both tablets are light (0.98 lbs for the 11-inch and 1.28 lbs for the 13-inch). I have a 2021 13-inch iPad Pro with M1 chip and it is a tank; it’s thick and heavy and I hate using it with one hand because it hurts my wrist holding it. These new iPad Pros — especially the 13-inch model — are a return to the thinness and lightness of the 2018 iPad Pros, and I love it. The reason why the 13-inch iPad Pro was so manageable back then was because it didn’t feel like a massive tablet when you actually used it.

The 2024 11-inch iPad and 13-inch iPad Pros with M4 chip on display at Apple.

I was drawn to the Space Black iPad Pros even though they do show fingerprints more than the silver. But I don’t care. Space Black is the only “pro” color to me .

I’m really happy to see the FaceTime HD selfie camera has moved to the landscape edge of the iPad Pros. And on the topic of the cameras, Apple has removed the ultra-wide camera that was on past iPad Pros — there’s only a single 12-megapixel camera. The rear camera bump is CNC’d as part of the aluminum body this time and not glass, and there’s a new ambient light sensor that helps calibrate the screen alongside the Lidar scanner and adaptive True Tone flash.

The webcam is finally on the landscape side.

Apple had a bunch of apps on hand to demo the power of the M4 chip. I saw a 3D modeling app where a 3D model of a mask made up of 12 million polygons was manipulated in real-time with no stutter. Another app that stood out was Procreate Dreams and I could use an Apple Pencil Pro to animate the movement of a traffic cone across a scene just by rotating it using the barrel roll feature. This would have required individual keyframing on a desktop computer, but it was as simple as rotating an Apple Pencil from left to right on the iPad’s screen. If these apps are so responsive on the new iPad Pros, I seriously wonder how slow they’d be on older iPads.

Gorgeous Display

It’s impossible to not get sucked into the iPad Pros’ displays when they look so good. The move to OLED definitely has its upsides, including 1,000 nits of sustained brightness (most laptops or other tablets max out at 500 or 600 nits for sustained) and rich colors. I didn’t see any of the blooming issues that plague past iPad Pros with mini-LED displays; blacks look pure blacks and whites are blinding whites. If I could have, I would have licked the screen. Content, particularly HDR content, looks incredible on it from all angles.

I was able to try out the iPad Pro with nano-texture display. This is the matte display option that costs an extra $100 and is only available for the 1TB and 2TB storage models. Similar to the nano-texture display on Apple’s Studio Display and Pro Display XDR, the display option dramatically reduces reflections and cuts down on glare, but the downside is that colors don’t look as vibrant. Some people on X and Threads also seem to really hate that the nano-texture doesn’t extend to the bezels.

New Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro

The nano-texture display costs an extra $100 and is only available on the 1TB and 2TB iPad Pro models.

Both of these accessories are a solid upgrade, too. The new Magic Keyboard is sturdier with an aluminum base, and more functional thanks to the row of function keys for adjusting settings such as screen brightness, volume, and media. The whole accessory is more compact and slightly slimmer than the previous one. Apple says the trackpad is larger and more responsive; it felt the same to me, which is not a knock, but a testament to how good the trackpad already is on the previous Magic Keyboards.

As for the Apple Pencil Pro — it’s really nice. The squeeze gesture is really convenient for bringing up toolbars and menus in apps; the barrel roll feature, as I mentioned, can make certain tasks simpler (the iPads even cast a digital shadow of the Pencil Pro that’s tracked in real-time as you move and rotate it); the haptics are nice confirmations that you’ve done something like a squeeze or double-tap. It pairs and charges to the iPad Pros magnetically on top of the webcam bezel; because of the webcam’s new location, Apple Pencil (2nd-generation) isn’t compatible with the new iPad Pros. The tablets only work with the Pencil Pro and the Pencil (USB-C).

Like the iPad Pros, the accessories are on the pricey side, but these are from Apple and the integration is spot on.

The 13-inch iPad Air

The 2024 13-inch iPad Air and 11-inch iPad Air.

I’ll keep this short because the new 13-inch iPad Air is the only one worth talking about. It’s got the same size screen as the 13-inch iPad Pro, the only difference is that it’s a regular LCD and not OLED and not mini-LED. That means it doesn’t support HDR content.

Performance is “only” M2, but that’s no slouch. Sure, it’s not as fast as the M4 chip, but for basic iPad things, you’re not going to miss out on much.

From a size and weight perspective, the 13-inch iPad Air is lighter than the 13-inch M1 and M2 iPad Pro and I could feel it; the 13-inch iPad Air weighs 1.36 lbs and the M2 iPad Pro weighs 1.5 lbs.

The 11-inch iPad Air attached to a current-gen Magic Keyboard.

Like the iPad Pros, its FaceTime selfie camera is also on the landscape edge. Instead of Face ID, it has Touch ID in the power button. It has two landscape stereo speakers and two microphones compared to the four speakers in the iPad Pros and four “studio-quality microphones.”

To Buy or Not to Buy?

That depends on how much iPad you want or need, right? If you’ve got an iPad that’s chugging along and can barely run iPadOS smoothly, then it might be time for an upgrade.

For the iPad Pros, most people should probably stick with the standard glossy display. The nano-texture is really for creative professionals who need the option to better color-match with their professional monitors. Plus, it costs extra and can only be configured for the two high-end storage models. That tells you exactly who Apple is targeting.

As for the iPad Air; it’s really for anyone who wants the display sizes of the iPad Pro, but doesn’t need all the bells and whistles like a thinner and lighter design, M4 chip performance, and more base storage (256GB on the Pros versus 128GB on the Airs). Get the iPad Air if you want to save a few hundred dollars and don’t need the bleeding edge.

Overall, Apple has finally made the iPad compelling for the first time in years. The last few years of iPad releases have been fine, but never felt like they had a lot of thrust to them, just more of the same old. At least with the iPad Pros and the 13-inch iPad Air, Apple seems to have kicked into fifth gear, and even people who have never owned iPads (like Inverse senior editor James Pero) are taking serious notice .

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