how to write a reflection on an assignment

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.

'If only someone could write my essay !' you may think. Ask for help our professional writers in case you need it.

Do You Need a Well-Written Reflection Paper?

Then send us your assignment requirements and we'll get it done in no time.

How To Write A Reflection Paper?

How to start a reflection paper, how long should a reflection paper be, related articles.

• PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
• EDIT Edit this Article
• EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
• Browse Articles
• Learn Something New
• Quizzes Hot
• This Or That Game New
• Train Your Brain
• Explore More
• Support wikiHow
• About wikiHow
• Log in / Sign up
• Education and Communications
• College University and Postgraduate
• Academic Writing

How to Write a Reflection Paper

Last Updated: March 27, 2024 Fact Checked

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 3,810,853 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.

Things You Should Know

• Write an introduction that outlines the expectations you had and provide a thesis statement in the last sentence.
• State your conclusions in the body paragraphs of the paper. Explain how you arrived at your conclusions using logic and concrete details.
• Conclude the paper with a concise summary of your overall experience.

Sample Outline and Paper

Brainstorming

• 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?

Organizing a Reflection Paper

• 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.

As You Write

• 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.

Expert Q&A

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

• Send fan mail to authors

Reader Success Stories

Stella Cheboi

Jul 22, 2016

Did this article help you?

Luz Gisela Perez

Nov 19, 2017

Apr 27, 2016

Debra Cust Bramble

Mar 20, 2016

Courtney Fulmer

May 22, 2020

Featured Articles

Trending Articles

Watch Articles

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Do Not Sell or Share My Info
• Not Selling Info

wikiHow Tech Help Pro:

Develop the tech skills you need for work and life

• Peterborough

How to Write a Reflection Paper

Why reflective writing, experiential reflection, reading reflection.

• A note on mechanics

Reflection offers you the opportunity to consider how your personal experiences and observations shape your thinking and your acceptance of new ideas.  Professors often ask students to write reading reflections.  They do this to encourage you to explore your own ideas about a text, to express your opinion rather than summarize the opinions of others.  Reflective writing can help you to improve your analytical skills because it requires you to express what you think, and more significantly, how and why you think that way.  In addition, reflective analysis asks you to acknowledge that your thoughts are shaped by your assumptions and preconceived ideas; in doing so, you can appreciate the ideas of others, notice how their assumptions and preconceived ideas may have shaped their thoughts, and perhaps recognize how your ideas support or oppose what you read.

Types of Reflective Writing

Popular in professional programs, like business, nursing, social work, forensics and education, reflection is an important part of making connections between theory and practice.  When you are asked to reflect upon experience in a placement, you do not only describe your experience, but you evaluate it based on ideas from class.  You can assess a theory or approach based on your observations and practice and evaluate your own knowledge and skills within your professional field.   This opportunity to take the time to think about your choices, your actions, your successes and your failures is best done within a specific framework, like course themes or work placement objectives.  Abstract concepts can become concrete and real to you when considered within your own experiences, and reflection on your experiences allows you to make plans for improvement.

To encourage thoughtful and balanced assessment of readings, many interdisciplinary courses may ask you to submit a reading reflection.  Often instructors will indicate to students what they expect of a reflection, but the general purpose is to elicit your informed opinions about ideas presented in the text and to consider how they affect your interpretation.   Reading reflections offer an opportunity to recognize – and perhaps break down – your assumptions which may be challenged by the text(s). 

Approaches to Reflective Inquiry

You may wonder how your professors assess your reflective writing.  What are they looking for? How can my experiences or ideas be right or wrong?  Your instructors expect you to critically engage with concepts from your course by making connections between your observations, experiences, and opinions.   They expect you to explain and analyse these concepts from your own point of view, eliciting original ideas and encouraging active interest in the course material.

It can be difficult to know where to begin when writing a critical reflection.  First, know that – like any other academic piece of writing – a reflection requires a narrow focus and strong analysis.  The best approach for identifying a focus and for reflective analysis is interrogation.   The following offers suggestions for your line of inquiry when developing a reflective response.

It is best to discuss your experiences in a work placement or practicum within the context of personal or organizational goals; doing so provides important insights and perspective for your own growth in the profession. For reflective writing, it is important to balance reporting or descriptive writing with critical reflection and analysis.

Consider these questions:

• Contextualize your reflection:  What are your learning goals? What are the objectives of the organization?  How do these goals fit with the themes or concepts from the course?
• Provide important information: What is the name of the host organization? What is their mission? Who do they serve? What was your role? What did you do?
• Analytical Reflection: What did you learn from this experience? About yourself? About working in the field? About society?
• Lessons from reflection: Did your experience fit with the goals or concepts of the course or organization?  Why or why not? What are your lessons for the future? What was successful? Why? What would you do differently? Why? How will you prepare for a future experience in the field?

Consider the purpose of reflection: to demonstrate your learning in the course.  It is important to actively and directly connect concepts from class to your personal or experiential reflection.  The following example shows how a student’s observations from a classroom can be analysed using a theoretical concept and how the experience can help a student to evaluate this concept.

For Example My observations from the classroom demonstrate that the hierarchical structure of Bloom’s Taxonomy is problematic, a concept also explored by Paul (1993).  The students often combined activities like application and synthesis or analysis and evaluation to build their knowledge and comprehension of unfamiliar concepts.  This challenges my understanding of traditional teaching methods where knowledge is the basis for inquiry.  Perhaps higher-order learning strategies like inquiry and evaluation can also be the basis for knowledge and comprehension, which are classified as lower-order skills in Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Critical reflection requires thoughtful and persistent inquiry.  Although basic questions like “what is the thesis?” and “what is the evidence?” are important to demonstrate your understanding, you need to interrogate your own assumptions and knowledge to deepen your analysis and focus your assessment of the text.

Assess the text(s):

• What is the main point? How is it developed? Identify the purpose, impact and/or theoretical framework of the text.
• What ideas stood out to me? Why? Were they new or in opposition to existing scholarship?

Develop your ideas:

• What do I know about this topic? Where does my existing knowledge come from? What are the observations or experiences that shape my understanding?
• Do I agree or disagree with this argument?  Why?

Make connections:

• How does this text reinforce my existing ideas or assumptions? How does this text challenge my existing ideas or assumptions?
• How does this text help me to better understand this topic or explore this field of study/discipline?

A Note on Mechanics

As with all written assignments or reports, it is important to have a clear focus for your writing.  You do not need to discuss every experience or element of your placement.  Pick a few that you can explore within the context of your learning.  For reflective responses, identify the main arguments or important elements of the text to develop a stronger analysis which integrates relevant ideas from course materials.

Furthermore, your writing must be organized.  Introduce your topic and the point you plan to make about your experience and learning.  Develop your point through body paragraph(s), and conclude your paper by exploring the meaning you derive from your reflection. You may find the questions listed above can help you to develop an outline before you write your paper.

You should maintain a formal tone, but it is acceptable to write in the first person and to use personal pronouns.  Note, however, that it is important that you maintain confidentiality and anonymity of clients, patients or students from work or volunteer placements by using pseudonyms and masking identifying factors. 

The value of reflection: Critical reflection is a meaningful exercise which can require as much time and work as traditional essays and reports because it asks students to be purposeful and engaged participants, readers, and thinkers.

• Jump to menu
• Student Home
• Accept your offer
• How to enrol
• Student ID card
• Set up your IT
• Orientation Week
• Fees & payment
• Academic calendar
• Special consideration
• Transcripts
• The Nucleus: Student Hub
• Referencing
• Essay writing
• Learning abroad & exchange
• Professional development & UNSW Advantage
• Employability
• Financial assistance
• International students
• Equitable learning
• Postgraduate research
• Health Service
• Events & activities
• Emergencies
• Volunteering
• Clubs and societies
• Accommodation
• Health services
• Sport and gym
• Arc student organisation
• Security on campus
• Maps of campus
• Careers portal
• Change password

Examples of Reflective Writing

Types of reflective writing assignments.

A journal  requires you to write weekly entries throughout a semester. May require you to base your reflection on course content.

A learning diary is similar to a journal, but may require group participation. The diary then becomes a place for you to communicate in writing with other group members.

A logbook is often used in disciplines based on experimental work, such as science. You note down or 'log' what you have done. A log gives you an accurate record of a process and helps you reflect on past actions and make better decisions for future actions.

A reflective note is often used in law. A reflective note encourages you to think about your personal reaction to a legal issue raised in a course.

An essay diary  can take the form of an annotated bibliography (where you examine sources of evidence you might include in your essay) and a critique (where you reflect on your own writing and research processes).

a peer review  usually involves students showing their work to their peers for feedback.

A self-assessment task  requires you to comment on your own work.

Some examples of reflective writing

Social science fieldwork report (methods section), engineering design report, learning journal (weekly reflection).

Brookfield, S 1987, Developing critical thinkers: challenging adults to explore alternative ways of thinking and acting , Open University Press, Milton Keynes.

Mezirow, J 1990, Fostering critical reflection in adulthood: a guide to transformative and emancipatory learning , Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.

Schön, DA 1987, Educating the reflective practitioner , Jossey-Bass. San Francisco.

We thank the students who permitted us to feature examples of their writing.

Prepared by Academic Skills, UNSW. This guide may be distributed or adapted for educational purposes. Full and proper acknowledgement is required. 

Essay and assignment writing guide

• Essay writing basics
• Essay and assignment planning
• Answering assignment questions
• Editing checklist
• Writing a critical review
• Annotated bibliography
• How do I write reflectively?
• Examples of reflective writing
• ^ More support

Scholarly Resources 4 Students | scite.ai 21 May 2024

Discover your Library: Main Library 21 May 2024

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments

• Annotated Bibliography
• Analyzing a Scholarly Journal Article
• Group Presentations
• Dealing with Nervousness
• Using Visual Aids
• Grading Someone Else's Paper
• Types of Structured Group Activities
• Group Project Survival Skills
• Leading a Class Discussion
• Multiple Book Review Essay
• Reviewing Collected Works
• Writing a Case Analysis Paper
• Writing a Case Study
• About Informed Consent
• Writing Field Notes
• Writing a Policy Memo
• Writing a Reflective Paper
• Writing a Research Proposal
• Generative AI and Writing
• Acknowledgments

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.

• << Previous: Writing a Policy Memo
• Next: Writing a Research Proposal >>
• Last Updated: Mar 6, 2024 1:00 PM
• URL: https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/assignments

• Cambridge Libraries

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

© Cambridge University Libraries | Accessibility | Privacy policy | Log into LibApps

Mastering the Art of Writing Reflection Notes: A Comprehensive Guide

Learning how to write reflection notes is an essential skill for students, professionals, and lifelong learners alike. Reflection notes provide an opportunity to critically analyze experiences, thoughts, and feelings, fostering personal growth and development. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the concept of reflection notes, their structure, and step-by-step instructions on how to write them effectively.

Understanding the Concept of Reflection Notes

A reflection essay or reflection paper is a type of written assignment that allows individuals to critically analyze their experiences, thoughts, and feelings. The reflection paper definition encompasses a wide range of writing tasks, including reflection tasks and reflection statement definitions . These assignments are designed to encourage introspection, self-awareness, and personal growth.

Definition of reflection tasks and reflection notes

Reflection tasks involve the process of examining one's own thoughts, feelings, and actions in response to a particular experience or event. The definition of reflection tasks includes various forms of writing, such as journal entries, essays, and reports, which require individuals to critically assess their experiences and learn from them.

The importance of reflective writing in academic and professional settings

Reflective writing plays a crucial role in both academic reflective writing and professional reflection . In academic settings, reflective writing assignments help students develop critical thinking skills, enhance their understanding of course material, and foster personal growth. In professional contexts, reflective writing enables individuals to evaluate their performance, identify areas for improvement, and develop strategies for personal and professional development.

Reflection in-action vs reflection on-action: A comparative analysis

There are two primary types of reflection: reflection in-action and reflection on-action . Reflection in-action refers to the process of reflecting on one's thoughts, feelings, and actions while an experience is occurring. This type of reflection allows individuals to adapt and modify their behavior in real-time, leading to more effective decision-making and problem-solving.

On the other hand, reflection on-action involves analyzing one's experiences after they have occurred. This type of reflection enables individuals to evaluate their performance, identify areas for improvement, and develop strategies for personal and professional growth. Both reflection in-action and reflection on-action are essential components of reflective writing and contribute to the development of critical thinking and self-awareness skills.

The Structure of Academic Reflections

Understanding the structure of academic reflections is crucial for producing effective and well-organized reflective writing. This section will provide an overview of the basic structure of academic reflections, discuss the elements of reflective writing, and offer tips for maintaining an academic tone in your reflection notes.

The basic structure of academic reflections

The reflective writing structure typically consists of three main parts: introduction, body, and conclusion. In the introduction, you should briefly describe the experience or event you will be reflecting on and provide a thesis statement that outlines the main points you will discuss. The body of your reflection should be organized into paragraphs, each focusing on a specific aspect of your experience or event. Finally, the conclusion should summarize your main points and provide a closing statement that highlights the significance of your reflection.

Elements of reflective writing: What makes a reflection note effective

There are several key elements of reflective writing that contribute to the effectiveness of a reflective note . These elements include:

• Description: Provide a clear and concise account of the experience or event, including relevant details and context.
• Analysis: Examine your thoughts, feelings, and actions during the experience, and identify patterns, connections, or contradictions.
• Evaluation: Assess the significance of the experience, its impact on your personal or professional development, and any lessons learned.
• Integration: Connect your reflection to relevant theories, concepts, or course material, demonstrating a deeper understanding of the subject matter.

To write a reflective note effectively , it is essential to strike a balance between these elements, ensuring that your reflection is both descriptive and analytical.

Language of academic reflections: How to maintain an academic tone

The language of academic reflections should be clear, concise, and objective, while maintaining an academic tone . To achieve this, consider the following tips:

• Use formal language and avoid colloquial expressions or slang.
• Write in the first person, using "I" statements to describe your thoughts, feelings, and actions.
• Be specific and precise in your descriptions, avoiding vague or general statements.
• Use evidence and examples to support your analysis and evaluation.
• Be critical and reflective, questioning your assumptions and considering alternative perspectives.

By adhering to these guidelines, you can ensure that your academic reflections are well-structured, effective, and maintain an appropriate tone for an academic setting.

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

Writing a reflection paper can be a challenging task, but with the right approach and guidance, you can create a well-structured and insightful reflection note. This section will provide a step-by-step guide on how to write a reflection paper, including tips for starting your reflection, enhancing your writing process, and incorporating critical evaluation and thinking.

Starting your reflection paper: Tips and strategies

To start a reflection paper , it is essential to first understand the purpose of the assignment and the specific requirements provided by your instructor or institution. Once you have a clear understanding of the task, consider the following tips to start writing :

• Choose a meaningful experience or event to reflect on, ensuring that it is relevant to the assignment's objectives.
• Brainstorm your thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the experience, noting any significant insights or lessons learned.
• Identify the main points you want to discuss in your reflection, and create a thesis statement that outlines these points.
• Begin your introduction with a hook or engaging statement that captures the reader's attention and sets the tone for your reflection.

By following these strategies, you can effectively start your reflection paper and lay the foundation for a well-organized and insightful reflection note.

How to write reflectively: Enhancing your writing process

To write reflectively and create a compelling reflection paper, consider the following tips to enhance your writing process :

• Create a reflection paper outline that organizes your main points and supporting evidence, ensuring a logical flow of ideas throughout your reflection.
• Use descriptive language to provide a clear and vivid account of your experience, including relevant details and context.
• Incorporate analysis and evaluation of your thoughts, feelings, and actions, identifying patterns, connections, or contradictions.
• Connect your reflection to relevant theories, concepts, or course material, demonstrating a deeper understanding of the subject matter.
• Revise and edit your reflection paper, ensuring that it is well-structured, coherent, and free of grammatical errors.

By implementing these tips, you can write a good reflection paper that effectively communicates your insights and demonstrates your critical thinking skills.

Critical evaluation in reflective writing: Analysing events for deeper insight

Critical evaluation and critical thinking play a crucial role in reflective writing, as they allow you to analyze events and experiences for deeper insight and understanding. To incorporate critical evaluation in your reflection, consider the following strategies:

• Analyse the event by examining its causes, consequences, and underlying factors, as well as any patterns or connections that may emerge.
• Engage in critical reflection by questioning your assumptions, beliefs, and values, and considering alternative perspectives or interpretations.
• Assess the significance of the experience, its impact on your personal or professional development, and any lessons learned.
• Use evidence and examples to support your analysis and evaluation, ensuring that your reflection is grounded in fact and reason.

By incorporating critical evaluation and thinking in your reflective writing, you can create a more insightful and meaningful reflection note that demonstrates your ability to learn from your experiences and grow as an individual.

Different Types of Reflection Papers and Their Formats

In this section, we will explore various types of reflection papers and their formats, including reflective essay formats. Understanding the different formats will help you tailor your reflection paper to the specific requirements of your assignment and ensure a well-structured and coherent reflection.

Understanding the format of a reflection paper

A reflection paper outline is crucial for organizing your thoughts and ensuring a logical flow of ideas throughout your paper. The basic outline of a reflection paper typically includes an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Here's a brief overview of each section:

• Introduction: Introduce the topic, provide context, and present your thesis statement.
• Body paragraphs: Discuss your main points, including your thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the experience, as well as any insights or lessons learned. Support your points with evidence and examples, and connect them to relevant theories, concepts, or course material.
• Conclusion: Summarize your main points, restate your thesis, and provide a closing statement that highlights the significance of your reflection.

While this is a general outline, the specific format of your reflection paper may vary depending on the type of reflection paper you are writing.

Course reflection paper vs personal reflection paper: A comparative study

A course reflection paper focuses on your learning experiences within a specific course, including your understanding of the course material, your personal growth, and the development of your critical thinking skills. In contrast, a personal reflection paper is more focused on your individual experiences, thoughts, and feelings, often exploring a specific event or situation that has had a significant impact on your life.

Course Reflection Paper Personal Reflection Paper Focuses on learning experiences within a specific course Focuses on individual experiences, thoughts, and feelings Connects reflection to course material, theories, and concepts Explores a specific event or situation that has impacted your life Emphasizes personal growth and development of critical thinking skills Highlights personal insights, emotions, and reactions to the experience

Both types of reflection papers require a thoughtful and introspective approach, but the focus and content will differ based on the specific objectives of each paper.

Experiential reflection paper and critical reflection paper: What's the difference?

An experiential reflection paper is centered around a specific experience or event, often involving hands-on learning or practical application of skills. This type of reflection paper emphasizes the lessons learned from the experience and the impact it has had on your personal or professional development.

On the other hand, a critical reflection paper involves a more in-depth analysis of an experience, event, or concept, examining its underlying assumptions, beliefs, and values. This type of reflection paper encourages you to engage in critical thinking and evaluation, questioning your own perspectives and considering alternative viewpoints.

Experiential Reflection Paper Critical Reflection Paper Focuses on a specific experience or event Examines underlying assumptions, beliefs, and values Emphasizes lessons learned and personal or professional development Encourages critical thinking and evaluation Often involves hands-on learning or practical application of skills Questions own perspectives and considers alternative viewpoints

Understanding the differences between these types of reflection papers will help you choose the appropriate format and approach for your specific assignment, ensuring a well-crafted and insightful reflection.

Improving Your Reflective Writing Skills

Enhancing your reflective writing skills is essential for producing high-quality reflective writing assignments. In this section, we will discuss various strategies for improving reflective writing, the importance of practice through reflective assignments, and tips for confident writing reflection.

Strategies for improving reflective writing

There are several reflective writing strategies that can help you improve your reflective writing skills. Some of these strategies include:

• Active reading: Engage with the course material by taking notes, highlighting key points, and asking questions. This will help you better understand the concepts and make connections to your own experiences.
• Peer review: Share your reflective writing assignments with classmates or friends for feedback. This will help you identify areas for improvement and gain new perspectives on your writing.
• Revision: Reflect on your writing and revise it multiple times to ensure clarity, coherence, and depth of reflection. This will help you develop your critical thinking skills and improve the overall quality of your reflective writing.

Reflective writing assignments: Practice makes perfect

One of the most effective ways to improve your reflective writing skills is through consistent practice with reflective assignments . These assignments provide an opportunity to apply the reflective writing strategies discussed above and develop your ability to analyze and evaluate your experiences. Some examples of reflective assignments include:

• Reflective essays on course material or personal experiences
• Reflection journals or learning logs
• Group projects with a reflective component
• Case study analyses

By regularly completing reflective assignments, you will become more comfortable with the reflective writing process and develop the skills necessary for confident writing reflection.

Confident writing reflection: Overcoming common challenges

Many students face challenges when it comes to reflective writing. Here are some writing tips to help you overcome these common challenges and become more confident in your writing reflection:

• Be honest and authentic: Reflective writing is a personal process, so it's essential to be genuine in your thoughts and feelings. Don't be afraid to express your emotions and share your unique perspective.
• Use specific examples: Support your reflections with concrete examples from your experiences. This will help you provide context and make your writing more engaging and relatable.
• Organize your thoughts: Before you start writing, take some time to brainstorm and outline your main points. This will help you create a clear and coherent structure for your reflective writing.
• Proofread and edit: Carefully review your writing for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. This will help you present a polished and professional reflection.

By implementing these tips and strategies, you will be well on your way to improving your reflective writing skills and producing high-quality reflective writing assignments.

Examples and Models of Reflective Writing

In this section, we will explore various examples of reflective writing and discuss different reflective models that can guide your reflective process. By examining sample reflection essays and understanding the reflective process, you can enhance your reflective writing skills and produce high-quality reflection notes.

Examples of reflective writing: Learning from the best

Studying examples of reflective writing can provide valuable insights into the structure, language, and tone of effective reflection notes. By analyzing these examples, you can identify the key elements that contribute to successful reflective writing and apply them to your own work. Some sources for finding reflective writing examples include:

• Academic journals and publications
• Online essay databases
• Course materials and textbooks
• Writing centers and tutoring services

When reviewing these examples, pay close attention to the organization, depth of reflection, and use of evidence to support the writer's insights.

Reflective models: Guiding your reflective process

Various reflective models have been developed to guide the reflective process and help you structure your reflective writing. These models provide a framework for analyzing and evaluating your experiences, allowing you to gain deeper insights and enhance your learning. Some popular reflective models include:

• Gibbs' Reflective Cycle: This model consists of six stages - description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan - that guide you through the reflective process.
• Kolb's Experiential Learning Cycle: This model emphasizes the importance of learning from experience and includes four stages - concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation.
• Schön's Reflection-in-Action and Reflection-on-Action: This model distinguishes between reflecting during an experience (reflection-in-action) and reflecting after an experience (reflection-on-action), encouraging you to engage in both types of reflection for optimal learning.

By applying these reflective models to your reflective writing, you can ensure a structured and comprehensive analysis of your experiences, leading to deeper insights and more effective learning.

Sample reflection essay: A closer look

Let's examine a sample reflection essay to better understand the elements of effective reflective writing. In this example, a student reflects on their experience in a group project:

During our group project, I was assigned the role of team leader. Initially, I felt confident in my ability to manage the team and ensure a successful outcome. However, as the project progressed, I encountered several challenges, such as coordinating schedules and resolving conflicts among team members. Upon reflection, I realized that my initial confidence may have led me to underestimate the complexity of the task. I failed to establish clear communication channels and did not provide sufficient guidance to my team members. This resulted in confusion and delays in completing the project. Through this experience, I learned the importance of effective communication and leadership in group projects. In the future, I will take a more proactive approach to managing team dynamics and ensuring that all team members are on the same page. I will also seek feedback from my peers to continuously improve my leadership skills.

In this reflective essay , the writer effectively describes their experience, analyzes the challenges they faced, and identifies the lessons learned. By following this example and incorporating the reflective models discussed earlier, you can enhance your reflective writing skills and produce high-quality reflection notes.

The Role of Reflection Notes in Skill Development and Learning

Reflection on project tasks and learning experiences play a crucial role in skill development and personal growth. By engaging in reflection tasks, individuals can gain valuable insights into their strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. This process not only enhances learning but also fosters personal insight and self-awareness, ultimately leading to better decision-making and problem-solving abilities.

Reflection notes and skill development: A symbiotic relationship

Reflection notes serve as a powerful tool for skill development by providing a platform for individuals to analyze their experiences, identify patterns, and draw meaningful conclusions. This process of self-assessment and introspection allows individuals to gain a deeper understanding of their abilities, leading to personal insight and growth. Furthermore, reflection notes can help individuals identify areas where they need to improve, set goals, and develop strategies to achieve those goals, ultimately enhancing their overall skill set.

Learning experiences and their reflection in personal life experiences

Engaging in learning experiences not only contributes to academic and professional growth but also has a significant impact on personal life experiences. By reflecting on these learning experiences, individuals can gain valuable insights into their personal values, beliefs, and attitudes, which in turn shape their behavior and decision-making in various aspects of life. This process of self-discovery and personal growth can lead to improved relationships, increased self-confidence, and a greater sense of fulfillment and well-being.

The role of reflection tasks in learning journals

A learning journal is a valuable tool for documenting and reflecting on learning experiences, both in academic and professional settings. Incorporating reflection tasks into learning journals allows individuals to systematically analyze their experiences, identify patterns, and draw meaningful conclusions. This process not only enhances learning but also fosters personal insight and self-awareness, ultimately leading to better decision-making and problem-solving abilities.

Some benefits of incorporating reflection tasks in learning journals include:

• Improved understanding of personal learning styles and preferences
• Enhanced critical thinking and analytical skills
• Increased self-awareness and personal insight
• Greater ability to set and achieve personal and professional goals
• Improved communication and interpersonal skills

In this comprehensive guide, we have explored the concept, structure, and process of writing reflection notes. We have delved into the importance of reflective writing in academic and professional settings, as well as the differences between reflection in-action and reflection on-action. We have also discussed the basic structure of academic reflections, the elements that make a reflection note effective, and how to maintain an academic tone.

Furthermore, we have provided a step-by-step guide on how to write a reflection note, including tips and strategies for starting your reflection paper, enhancing your writing process, and conducting critical evaluation. We have also compared different types of reflection papers and their formats, such as course reflection papers, personal reflection papers, experiential reflection papers, and critical reflection papers.

To improve your reflective writing skills, we have shared strategies for improvement, the importance of practice, and how to overcome common challenges. We have also provided examples and models of reflective writing, as well as a sample reflection essay for reference. Lastly, we have highlighted the role of reflection notes in skill development and learning, emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between reflection tasks and skill development, the impact of learning experiences on personal life experiences, and the role of reflection tasks in learning journals.

By mastering the art of writing reflection notes, you can enhance your learning experiences, foster personal insight and self-awareness, and achieve personal and professional growth.

If you liked the post, consider joining Pyrilia .

Pyrilia is the perfect place to store your thoughts , memories , and reflections .

Capture daily thoughts, highlight meaningful experiences, and relive them with our unique Replay feature. Embrace a journey of enhanced memories and self-discovery. Your story , beautifully preserved.

Check out our other posts :

Stress Management Strategies for a Fast-Paced World in 2024

Explore effective stress management strategies for 2024, including mindfulness, balanced diet, and technology tools like Pyrilia, to navigate the challenges of a fast-paced world.

Transforming Your Morning Ritual: Innovative Breakfast Ideas for 2024

Discover innovative breakfast ideas for 2024 to transform your morning ritual with global flavors, superfoods, and mindful eating practices for a healthier, more enjoyable start to your day.

Travel Smarter: Innovative Travel Hacks and Tips for 2024

Discover innovative travel hacks and tips for 2024, including sustainable practices, budget-friendly strategies, and using Pyrilia for enriching travel experiences and memories.

The Power of Community: Social Impact Initiatives to Watch in 2024

Explore the transformative power of community in 2024 through innovative social impact initiatives, collaborative efforts, and the role of technology in driving sustainable, positive change.

Enhancing Creativity Through Digital Art: Tools and Trends for 2024

Explore the latest tools and trends in digital art for 2024, including AI, VR, and online resources, to enhance creativity and make a powerful impact in the world of art.

@2023 Pyrilia.

Made with ❤️ by Pyrilia Team

• Schools & departments

Structure of academic reflections

Guidance on the structure of academic reflections.

Academic reflections or reflective writing completed for assessment often require a clear structure. Contrary to some people’s belief, reflection is not just a personal diary talking about your day and your feelings.

Both the language and the structure are important for academic reflective writing. For the structure you want to mirror an academic essay closely. You want an introduction, a main body, and a conclusion.

Academic reflection will require you to both describe the context, analyse it, and make conclusions. However, there is not one set of rules for the proportion of your reflection that should be spent describing the context, and what proportion should be spent on analysing and concluding. That being said, as learning tends to happen when analysing and synthesising rather than describing, a good rule of thumb is to describe just enough such that the reader understands your context.

Example structure for academic reflections

Below is an example of how you might structure an academic reflection if you were given no other guidance and what each section might contain.  Remember this is only a suggestion and you must consider what is appropriate for the task at hand and for you yourself.

Introduction

Identifies and introduces your experience or learning

• This can be a critical incident
• This can be the reflective prompt you were given
• A particular learning you have gained

When structuring your academic reflections it might make sense to start with what you have learned and then use the main body to evidence that learning, using specific experiences and events. Alternatively, start with the event and build up your argument. This is a question of personal preference – if you aren’t given explicit guidance you can ask the assessor if they have a preference, however both can work.

Highlights why it was important

• This can be suggesting why this event was important for the learning you gained
• This can be why the learning you gained will benefit you or why you appreciate it in your context

You might find that it is not natural to highlight the importance of an event before you have developed your argument for what you gained from it. It can be okay not to explicitly state the importance in the introduction, but leave it to develop throughout your reflection.

Outline key themes that will appear in the reflection (optional – but particularly relevant when answering a reflective prompt or essay)

• This can be an introduction to your argument, introducing the elements that you will explore, or that builds to the learning you have already gained.

This might not make sense if you are reflecting on a particular experience, but is extremely valuable if you are answering a reflective prompt or writing an essay that includes multiple learning points. A type of prompt or question that could particularly benefit from this would be ‘Reflect on how the skills and theory within this course have helped you meet the benchmark statements of your degree’

It can be helpful to explore one theme/learning per paragraph.

Explore experiences

• You should highlight and explore the experience you introduced in the introduction
• If you are building toward answering a reflective prompt, explore each relevant experience.

As reflection is centred around an individual’s personal experience, it is very important to make experiences a main component of reflection. This does not mean that the majority of the reflective piece should be on describing an event – in fact you should only describe enough such that the reader can follow your analysis.

Analyse and synthesise

• You should analyse each of your experiences and from them synthesise new learning

Depending on the requirements of the assessment, you may need to use theoretical literature in your analysis. Theoretical literature is a part of perspective taking which is relevant for reflection, and will happen as a part of your analysis.  

Restate or state your learning

• Make a conclusion based on your analysis and synthesis.
• If you have many themes in your reflection, it can be helpful to restate them here.

Plan for the future

• Highlight and discuss how your new-found learnings will influence your future practice

Answer the question or prompt (if applicable)

• If you are answering an essay question or reflective prompt, make sure that your conclusion provides a succinct response using your main body as evidence.  

Using a reflective model to structure academic reflections

You might recognise that most reflective models mirror this structure; that is why a lot of the reflective models can be really useful to structure reflective assignments. Models are naturally structured to focus on a single experience – if the assignment requires you to focus on multiple experiences, it can be helpful to simply repeat each step of a model for each experience.

One difference between the structure of reflective writing and the structure of models is that sometimes you may choose to present your learning in the introduction of a piece of writing, whereas models (given that they support working through the reflective process) will have learning appearing at later stages.

However, generally structuring a piece of academic writing around a reflective model will ensure that it involves the correct components, reads coherently and logically, as well as having an appropriate structure.

Reflective journals/diaries/blogs and other pieces of assessed reflection

The example structure above works particularly well for formal assignments such as reflective essays and reports.  Reflective journal/blogs and other pieces of assessed reflections tend to be less formal both in language and structure, however you can easily adapt the structure for journals and other reflective assignments if you find that helpful.

That is, if you are asked to produce a reflective journal with multiple entries it will most often (always check with the person who issued the assignment) be a successful journal if each entry mirrors the structure above and the language highlighted in the section on academic language. However, often you can be less concerned with form when producing reflective journals/diaries.

When producing reflective journals, it is often okay to include your original reflection as long as you are comfortable with sharing the content with others, and that the information included is not too personal for an assessor to read.

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.

How To Write A Critical Reflection Assignment

29 April, 2022

13 minutes read

Author:  Tomas White

The act of discovering, examining, and evaluating our deep-seated beliefs and writing about these is known as critical reflection (also known as reflective essay). The assignment can concern our knowledge, our perceptions of events and issues, and our beliefs, feelings, and behaviors. When you critically reflect, you utilize study material (lectures, books, discussions, etc.) to […]

The act of discovering, examining, and evaluating our deep-seated beliefs and writing about these is known as critical reflection (also known as reflective essay). The assignment can concern our knowledge, our perceptions of events and issues, and our beliefs, feelings, and behaviors.

When you critically reflect, you utilize study material (lectures, books, discussions, etc.) to analyze the prejudices, compare theories with present behaviors, seek reasons and triggers, and discover underlying problems.

A critical reflection essay is neither a reading assignment, a description of events, nor an outlet for emotions. Rather, the goal is to alter people’s perceptions of the issue and, as a result, their behavior.

Why Are Critical Reflection Assignments So Popular?

Critical thinking writing is frequent in student assignments, although it can take several forms. Your teacher may require you to submit a common essay, make weekly blog updates, or respond to a series of questions in a limited amount of time.

Together with the tasks, you’ll have to do during your college and university courses, and this activity allows you to express yourself the most. It motivates you to see things from many angles and discuss your perspectives with others.

Without exaggeration, it is useful for both academic advancement and your journey of self-knowledge. So, let’s see how to create a paper that would amaze everyone.

The Main Purposes Of Critical Reflection

Rather than merely providing information, a critical reflection essay allows you to take a personal perspective and voice your ideas on the subject. It might be about anything, from your favorite movie to touring the Grand Canyon and debating evolution theories. An educational, professional, or personal critical reflection paper is possible.

They all have somewhat different styles:

• Answer to a previously studied book, video, or lecture is educational.
• Professional – a typical duty for teachers and social workers, focuses on analyzing a person’s conduct.
• Personal one shows how you feel about a more personal topic.

Which to select is determined by the subject. If you’re having trouble with this, talk to your supervisor.

How To Write A Critical Reflection Essay: Step-by-Step Guide

There are two steps to writing a good critical reflection essay:

• Analyze the situation and your involvement in it by asking critical questions. Freewriting is a great approach to coming up with new ideas. Don’t bother about paragraph organization or grammar at this point.
• To correctly formulate, use your analysis to clarify what you’ve learned in the second phase. Organize your thoughts so that the reader can understand them.

To help you, we’ll provide you with a general guide on how to choose a topic.

Come Up With the Topic

As a beginning point, consider any major moments in life that have significantly impacted you, either favorably or badly.

Real-life experience, imagined experience, a remarkable object or location, a person who has inspired you, or something you have ever seen or read are all common critical reflection essay topics.

If you’re writing a critical reflection essay for college, your professor will probably want you to focus on a certain incident. It’s also worth noting that in a critical reflection essay, the event’s impacts are vital. If you don’t include them, you’ll just be telling stories.

Uncover The Topic

It may seem self-evident, but the act of reflection is the foundation for writing such a paper. Therefore you must get it right from the start. It would be best to consider how the experience you have chosen to focus on has affected or changed you. Determine the effects for you individually using your recollections and experiences.

Once you’ve decided on an essay topic, start researching it thoroughly and devote a significant amount of time thinking about it. Make a list of everything you remember about the experience, explaining it as clearly and completely as possible.

Remember your sentiments and utilize terms to describe the experience when doing so. You can write notes using brief words at the start of writing, but you must ensure that you are capturing all responses, views, and experiences.

Make The Analysis Of Main Ideas And Problems Of The Critical Reflection Assignment Topic

It would help if you began thinking to evaluate your memory’s contents effectively. Picking a few questions to consider is a good way to start. They will assist you in delving deeper into your experiences. Here are some good questions to think about:

• What did your experience or event analysis teach you?
• Did you change as a result of it? How?
• Has it influenced your life positively or negatively?
• What would you do if you could go back in time?
• Why do you believe you made the decision you did? Do you believe it was the best decision you could have made?
• What did you think of the whole experience? Has it been beneficial for you? What specific talents or views have you gained?

These starter questions should assist you in beginning your reflective process. Remember that the key to thinking thoroughly and critically about your experiences is to ask yourself many questions. It is a crucial talent for creating a fantastic critical reflection essay.

Develop Logical Chains Between Research Stages

The creation of logical chains helps to remember and comprehend a large amount of information to identify the pattern of any events or phenomena. Logical chains are necessary for developing critical thinking and the ability to think logically.

A logical chain is a chain of sequential judgments and conclusions leading from the initial factors to the conclusion of logical construction.

The logical chain in the critical reflection essay is always present. Always, even if the judgment seems illogical. A judgment may come from incorrect factors, erroneous information – and therefore be incorrect, but there should be logic in any judgment and conclusion of a critical reflection essay.

Create a Critical Reflection Assignment Checklist

It is worth analyzing your article on three levels to produce a decent checklist.

Level of criticality

• Is there any relevant theory or professional references in the text?
• Are you able to back up the claims with evidence?
• Has the event touched your professional experience?

Level of description

• Is your professional experience consistent with your personal experiences?
• Is it accurate in its information?
• Is it a problem or an opportunity to solve it?
• Is it a description of one or two solutions to a problem?

Level of analysis

• Is your text able to describe both the immediate and deeper causes?
• Is it an issue or an opportunity for other people to solve it?
• Do you have any immediate concerns about your career progress due to the experience?

Try to figure out the aim of your reflective writing. Different goals necessitate different materials, organization, and styles.

The necessity to show proof of learning based on experience is common in all varieties of critical reflection papers.

Aim for a mix of descriptive, analytical, and critical reflective writing aspects.

Template For Critical Reflection Essay

Traditional and creative (which are quite useful but hazardous) techniques for writing critical reflection essays are available:

• In a traditional way, the thesis should state the key concept, develop it throughout the main paragraphs with supporting reasons, and finish with the facts confirming the thesis.
• If you want to use creative options, begin a discussion on the subject and imply a conclusion. Assume where the discussion will lead, but leave some uncertainty. Make and write the personal analysis. Consider a conclusion that differs marginally or totally from what the audience expected at the start.

You will be able to write your critical reflections without problems if you use this or that option. By choosing one of the options, you can easily start writing a template for your paper.

Introduction Of Critical Reflection Paper

The most significant aspect of writing a critical reflection essay is expressing your views about a topic. Just don’t get too worked up over it. Instead of being emotional, you should convey your ideas logically. 

Give the reader a sense of what to expect in the next few paragraphs. Create a compelling concept: encapsulate the important statement in one sentence to draw attention.

It is when you delve deeper into the thesis. In a few paragraphs, you must describe the essential. Use a three-paragraph structure. Tell the audience more about your experience and how it influenced you. 

Compare and contrast other people’s experiences. Then tell the audience what you’ve discovered as a result of it.

The conclusion must be comprehensive and persuasive. The document’s conclusion demonstrates that your thoughts are completely developed. 

Strong accents are used to bring the conversation to an end. To offer readers food for thought, make a creative image of your experience.

Correct Formatting Of Critical Reflection Paper

The essay writer primarily discusses life experiences. The objective of writing such a paper is to allow the authors to explore how they have changed or learned from a particular life experience and how that experience has changed them.

You can present the critical reflection assignment in various ways, but learning logs or diary entries are the most common. Diary entries, in particular, are utilized to show how the author’s thoughts changed over time.

Everyone who has written at least one scientific paper in the past is familiar with the reflection paper format.

• A4 paper is the most popular.
• Each side of the field is 1 inch.
• The material is divided into 12 paragraphs.
• The font is easy to read (Arial, Helvetica, Calibri, Times New Roman, etc.)
• Two spaces separate the lines.
• Citations in APA, Chicago, and other styles are available (determined by the supervisor).
• The word count ranges from 250 to 750.

Depending on the intended audience, the format might change. The critical reflection essay can be scientific or given more general meaning, such as as a component of a larger work. Although the presentation structure may alter, the goal remains the same. Teachers hope to encourage students to think thoroughly and critically about a specific learning experience or series of events.

It is all you know how to write critical reflection paper.

Need Help Or Advice With Your Critical Reflection Paper?

It is tough for modern students to consistently complete all of the work assigned by university professors while receiving decent grades. The majority of students do not have enough time to do intelligent, high-quality tasks. If there is insufficient time to complete the academic paper, seek assistance from our service professionals.

Our employees assist students in preparing various educational and scientific projects and tasks. We can write a reflection paper on any topic but it is not the only thing that we can help with. You can order help with dozens of academic assignments.

The employees of the service have a lot of expertise in writing. You may place even the most urgent orders. We will deliver the completed work to the customer within the stipulated time frame. Or we will return the money.

Students from many faculties and specialties may order essays at our company and leave positive reviews.

A life lesson in Romeo and Juliet taught by death

Due to human nature, we draw conclusions only when life gives us a lesson since the experience of others is not so effective and powerful. Therefore, when analyzing and sorting out common problems we face, we may trace a parallel with well-known book characters or real historical figures. Moreover, we often compare our situations with […]

Ethical Research Paper Topics

Writing a research paper on ethics is not an easy task, especially if you do not possess excellent writing skills and do not like to contemplate controversial questions. But an ethics course is obligatory in all higher education institutions, and students have to look for a way out and be creative. When you find an […]

Art Research Paper Topics

Students obtaining degrees in fine art and art & design programs most commonly need to write a paper on art topics. However, this subject is becoming more popular in educational institutions for expanding students’ horizons. Thus, both groups of receivers of education: those who are into arts and those who only get acquainted with art […]

Introduction to Psychology: Reflective Journal Assignment

• How to Use This LibGuide
• Reflective Learning Journal Assignment
• How to Develop Search Terms and Strategies
• Databases for Psychology Research
• How to Find and Use Scholarly/Peer-Reviewed Articles
• Video: 7 Tips for Submitting Your Intro to Psych Paper
• Writing Center Resources
• Learning Commons and Library Support

Student Learning Librarian

Reflective Learning Journals

What is reflective learning.

Our default way of tackling almost anything - assignments, projects, and even life - tends to be more like a checklist. We "tick the boxes" when we've finished a task and move on. How often do we REALLY stop to think, question, or reflect on what we've read or learned, or what we've learned. Mostly we're just glad to be done!

Watch the video below to learn a better approach. The concept of reflection - deciding how to make use of knowledge, information, or experience is a significant part of the learning process.

What is a Reflective Learning Journal?

A learning journal is about writing that's done for the purpose of learning.  You are writing to learn. There is no single right way or wrong way to write a reflective learning journal. You simply write down, using your own personal everyday language, what you thought about or what you felt or experienced as you engaged with the reading or other course materials. Reflective writing or reflective practice help you develop the skills to be an independent learner.

• Reflective Learning Journal Ideas A learning or reflective journal is a steadily growing document that you write to record the progress of your learning. This type of journal is not simply a summary of the course material; it should also include your reactions , your thoughts, your feelings and your questions about what you've learned. There is no right or wrong way to do this.

If You're Stuck....

How to get un-stuck when writing .

Your instructor explained her expectations in the guidelines she provided to the class, but you may still find yourself stuck when encounter that blank page. Here are some idea that might help you get unstuck:

• Write as though talking to yourself or a friend. This puts you in touch with your writing voice and helps you express your thoughts which in turn, helps you connect what you're learning to the ideas or experiences meaningful to you.
• Don't censor what you are thinking ahead of time. Don't judge what you are writing.Something that might seem silly or stupid at first may just be the seed that turns into something strong and focused as you continue to work with it.
• Don't be afraid to express a negative reaction to something you read. Again, as you work with it, you will begin to understand why you responded the way you did. You may learn something about yourself, you didn't expect to.
• Start to look for connections in the theories you are reading about to knowledge you have in other areas whether your personal life, other courses, your job or workplace, your family life, relationships etc. Notice patterns that may begin to emerge. This expands your learning and understanding in a real-world context.

Still stuck? Maybe some of the Student Reflection Question listed in the link below willhelp  jump start your thinking.

• Student Reflection Questions
• << Previous: How to Use This LibGuide
• Next: How to Use Western Library Databases (Short Videos) >>
• Last Updated: Apr 18, 2024 2:04 PM
• URL: https://westerntc.libguides.com/ReflectiveJournal

• OC Test Preparation
• Selective School Test Preparation
• Maths Acceleration
• English Advanced
• Maths Standard
• Maths Advanced
• Maths Extension 1
• Maths Standard 2
• Maths Extension 2
• UCAT Preparation
• UCAT Preparation Course Online

Select a year to see available courses

• Level 7 English
• Level 7 Maths
• Level 8 English
• Level 8 Maths
• Level 9 English
• Level 9 Maths
• Level 9 Science
• Level 10 English
• Level 10 Maths
• Level 10 Science
• VCE English Units 1/2
• VCE Biology Units 1/2
• VCE Chemistry Units 1/2
• VCE Physics Units 1/2
• VCE Maths Methods Units 1/2
• VCE English Units 3/4
• VCE Maths Methods Units 3/4
• VCE Biology Unit 3/4
• VCE Chemistry Unit 3/4
• VCE Physics Unit 3/4
• Castle Hill
• Strathfield
• Sydney City
• Inspirational Teachers
• Great Learning Environments
• Proven Results
• Jobs at Matrix
• Events and Seminars
• 1300 008 008
• Book a Free Trial

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.

Get free study tips and resources delivered to your inbox.

Join 75,893 students who already have a head start.

" * " indicates required fields

You might also like

James’ Hacks: My Guide to Balancing Sport and Academic Excellence

• Film Techniques: Lighting
• How To Respond To NESA Key Words To Ace Your HSC
• How To Choose The Perfect Related Text For Area Of Study: Discovery
• Literary Techniques: Juxtaposition

Related courses

Year 12 common module study guides, year 12 business studies, year 12 chemistry.

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.

Learning methods available

Boost your Business Studies marks and confidence with structured courses online or on-campus.

Boost your Chemistry marks and confidence with structured courses online or on-campus.

Related articles

The Nature Of Light | HSC Physics Study Guide Part 3

Read this article on the Nature of light if you want to make your HSC Marks shine!

Alpha’s Hacks: How I Managed My Time Effectively And Scored 99.75

In this post, Alpha explains how she hacked her schedule to score an ATAR of 99.75 and achieve 99th percentile in UMAT.

Struggling to balance sport and study? In this article, James shares how he juggles his fitness and academic finesse.